What is This About a Bus?

At a telling point in my career a leader made the statement to a large audience, either you are on the bus or if not, leave! Must have read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins but missed some of the nuances? To the people that were listening, it sent a clear message and not a positive one.

Are you on the bus? Get off the bus! Thrown under the bus! My favorite is an image from my own personal experience of a senior executive lying on the floor of an office in a corporate headquarters talking about getting thrown under a “Triple axel bus …. Thump, thump, thump!” Ouch! Leadership politics at its worst (or best for entertainment value) and at least it was in private.

This popular metaphor, “on the bus”, comes from a most unlikely place. Then again many metaphors in business do come from some unlikely places. This comes from a 1960’s bus tour. When the bus would leave a stop sometimes one of the riders would miss the bus. (Shows how many 60's boomer executives are out there.)

“Now, you're either on the bus or off the bus. If you're on the bus, and you get left behind, then you'll find it again. If you're off the bus in the first place — then it won't make a damn.” Ken Kesey as quoted by Timothy Leary in the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

If you would like to read about Ken Kesey you can find a starting point here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey

The part that got me thinking is “If you’re on the bus, and you get left behind, then you’ll find it again”.

For this statement to mean something we needed to have gotten on the bus in the first place. We joined the organization, right? The real question is to know if people got left behind or if they were never on the bus.

Where we get screwed is when a plan (the bus route) isn’t followed. The bus no longer moves around its route. People who want to get back on the bus can’t find the stops and those who need help getting back on the bus don’t have a chance. This is why a leader must care about their business and their people as much as themselves. This aligns the bus route!

Have you experienced waiting at the bus stop but the bus never shows up or is too late to help?

In an organization, this is transmutation, nuclear bombardment! Not transformation. The organization will change and likely not in a good way.

If a plan was in place and the leader is following the plan then it becomes relatively easy. This becomes a process of identifying those left behind and showing them you care enough to help them get back on. This is how transformation occurs in its most successful way, follow the plan.

What we need to care about are those who got left behind and why. If we don’t care and let people know how we feel about them being left behind, how are we going to get them back on the bus?

This is a continuation of the "Heart On Your Sleeve Management". How to manage in a time where talented people have more choices and organizations who need them have to find new ways to engage and retain them. To read the original post visit Ron Berger's profile.

Thanks for reading and your feedback!