#moveyourbusmonday Chapters 4 & 5

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4: Riders are dead weight

#realtalk Just reading that title I thought, AMEN. 

To begin the chapter, Ron describes a rider and their thought process. 

Riders have "picked up their feet and are sitting there cross-legged!" Regardless of what is happening on the bus or with the bus, the riders are not involved. A rider will sit and watch others work, all the while expressing how they do not like their seat. A rider contributes next to nothing to the bus, however they feel 100% entitled to be riding. 

His analogy of riders being a "black hole of negative energy" allows you to see the picture he is painting of a rider. They do not care about their own personal success, let alone the success of the organization. Riders also tend to be a source of frustration to the Runners and Joggers. 

I also found it interesting to reflect on all of the previous jobs I have had, teaching and non teaching, and think about his theory of bosses paying extra attention to the riders. I can definitely see this has happened in my experiences. Riders tend to be the ones who are looking at change or new directions with a lens of negativity. It can almost feel as if they are actively looking for something to complain about. In my teaching life, Riders make me think of those teachers who sit in their rooms, in the lounge, or even stand in the hallway and complain. ALL. DAY. LONG. 

The people who you can't even think of one conversation you've had with them that didn't involve their circus or their monkeys attacking you. 

Bosses tend to pay extra attention to Riders in efforts to pull them along and make them see and work towards "the vision" of the organization. 

Chapter 5: Drivers Steer the Organization

The Driver of the bus is just as it would seem. This is the person leading and steering the bus. Ron's describes his philosophy from his experiences that have led him to steer his organization something like this: he "supports the Runners first and then, when they're off and running, I turn my attention to the Joggers, Walkers, and Riders either to help them improve or to kick them off the bus."

Ron then describes a situation where there was one particular rider at a former school that bothered him so much he begged the teacher to co-teach a lesson with him. While watching this teacher he realized a major point that I #puffyheartlove:

"I don't care how smart you are, if you don't have a strong work ethic, then you are slowing down the bus."

You guys, I'm telling you this next part is moving. 

We've all tried to help a rider, because we're teachers and that's what we DO.

But stop. 

As Ron says, we don't want to spend our life getting riders to walk. That's not going to fly our bus. Focusing resources, time, and attention on Runners will fuel the fire from the top down. Ron discovered that just giving 10 seconds of sincere praise, or by taking one task off the plate of a Runner actually made them more productive. Runners always add something back to their plate. 

"Having Runners maintain their speed is far more beneficial than having on Rider drop her feet and begin to walk."

And I loved this next part. 

Ron talked with his staff and said that on their bus, they were going to Run. Our goals are far too important to walk or ride. He also "let staff know that each of them may not necessarily want to run or jog, and I said that if that were the case, then that was okay because there were other buses they could get on."

That is so POWERFUL.
Imagine if we all had that leadership and passion.  Ron also tells Runners to allow yourself to make a mistake. Let that mistake go, Don't let it crush your spirit and weigh you down.  He also advises administrators:  "As an administrator, there is nothing you can do that is more detrimental to the organization than kill the spirit of your Runners." If you haven't gotten this book yet... DO IT!!!!!!
Join us next week when Amanda Patterson from Patterson in Primary  will be hosting the next set of chapters from Part 2: How to Accelerate.