Questions about How to Love Your Passengers

What are some ways that you can make this rule come alive in your life, team, and organization? In The Energy Bus, George, the main character, is handed a sheet of paper that lists five ways to love your passengers.

Let's review them here and answer the following questions.

1. Make time for them. When you love someone or something, you spend time with them. You nurture your relationship with them. Making time for someone means making an investment in them. Get to know them. Be engaged in the present moment. Really be with that person and focus your energy on them. They will feel the difference.

   How will you make time for the people in your family? Your team? Your organization?

    

    

    

2. Listen to them. This is not just about an active listening technique. It is about really sitting down and listening with your heart and caring about what they have to say. Empathy is the key. When you ask someone how they are doing, an easy way to show you are listening is to actually wait for the answer and make eye contact.

   How will you listen to the people in your family? Your team? Your organization?

    

    

    

3. Recognize them. This does not mean trophies or awards. Make your recognition real and personal. Honor them for who they are and what they do. The more people are recognized for doing things right, the more they will do things right.

   In what ways will you recognize the people in your family? Your team? Your organization?

    

    

    

4. Serve them. Great leaders understand that the higher they get in an organization, the stronger their duty is to serve the people below them, rather than having the people below serve them. The key is to serve their growth, their future, their career, and their spirit so they enjoy life, work, and being on your bus. The more you serve their growth, the more they will help you grow.

   In what ways will you serve the people in your family? Your team? Your organization?

    

    

    

5. Bring out the best in them. When you love someone, you want the best for them. You want them to be successful and happy. You want to bring out the best in them. Thus, the best way any leader can demonstrate their love for their team is to help each person discover their strengths and provide opportunities for that person to succeed. When you create a system that provides a way for your people to shine, you not only bring out the best in them, but also in others around them as well. If you really want to love your passengers, help them do what they do best. It's that simple.

   What will you do to bring out the best in your family? Your team? Your organization?

    

    

    

Love Your Passengers: Team-Building Activities

Best Practices

Organizations that have processes or programs to help develop their employees' careers are demonstrating love and caring. Some companies even invest in corporate universities or the Energy Bus “Driver of Positive Change” leadership program.

When companies serve the people who work in their organization with initiatives that enhance their growth, develop their career, and build their future, then their employees will be more engaged!

Leaders need to make the time to serve their employees in this fashion by creating programs that support career development and create paths for the employees to move forward.

It is also important to listen to your employees in order for them to feel loved and heard. Sometimes organizations are too large for leaders to sit down with every employee and listen to their input. One way organizations help make sure their employees have a voice is through an employee survey. You can put together a survey yourself with online tools, or you can partner with a firm that specializes in this field. By asking for input from your entire organization, this process demonstrates you care about your employees' opinions. It does not have to be expensive. It can be as simple as asking, “What do you think will make us even better?” or “What will make things even better for you as a part of this organization?” The most important part of this approach is to address the input provided and take action on some of the best ideas. This will let the employees know you were truly committed to their input and made it a priority to follow up on the information.

Another way to demonstrate love and caring for your passengers is to make time for them. This is true inside small and large organizations. A simple approach is to have managers take the time to do something special with their direct reports once or twice a year. Some companies have the managers take their employees out for a one-on-one lunch or a sporting event or other type of fun activity that the manager knows the employee enjoys. Spending this one-on-one time (that is not a regular work meeting) helps to increase communication and also offers a fresh environment for the manager and employee to build trust.

Love Your Passengers: Make Sure Everyone Feels Onboard

One leader decided to care for his employees and demonstrate appreciation by closing down the office on a Friday morning and taking everyone offsite for a huge company-wide rally. The leader of the program described it this way:

I was getting some grief that people were feeling left off the bus. I felt this was a good problem to have but needed to address it and find additional ways to show everyone they were a part of the program and were loved as a part of the team. The executive team supported me 100 percent in taking action. I brought Jon himself in to talk to everyone at the rally. We hired a local celebrity DJ who played really upbeat music. We shared success stories of employees who not only had been impacted at work, but also at home. It was the most incredible experience for the team to see how much they were appreciated and cared for as a part of the organization. It was the first time in our 48-year history that we ever closed the office down to celebrate our team. Additionally, we weren't just celebrating sales, numbers, or growth, we were celebrating our culture and our people.

Another organization planned a huge party for their team when they achieved a big milestone on their road to success. The leader thanked the team and had a huge cake made in the shape of a bus and gave out awards to people who made significant contributions to the achievement.

One public department in California issued an Energy Bus commendation to driving the success of their Energy Bus program. The commendation included specific examples of the person's contributions to the organization and showed appreciation for the way their behavior impacted everyone around them for the better. This type of thoughtful recognition is something any organization can implement at the individual or team level.

Another way to love your passengers is simply to tell them how much you appreciate and respect them, and keep telling them. One company showed their love for their employees by creating a spot on the company website to post profiles about the employees and explain why they are the heart of that company. Along with the employee profiles, the president of the company made a video of himself talking about the great team they built and how much he loves and depends on everyone in the organization to take care of their clients and the overall business. In the video, he said, “Without our employees, our company could not exist. I truly love each person, and we all work to demonstrate love and caring to each other as well as our clients.”

There are many examples of things organizations have done to show their employees that they are valued, loved, and truly cared for. They range from simple to elaborate, but the one ingredient present in all of them is authentic caring for employees' well-being.