Book Review: Driving A Vision

Ron Clark is an educator and heads the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta in the US. He trains thousands of teachers every year in his state-of-the-art academy who, in turn, teach millions across the US. Although being an educator is his foremost job, Clark also works with several Fortune 500 companies and shares his leadership methods on innovation, change and accelerating success.

So, when an educator writes a book on management, he or she is expected to make the concept far more articulate and a simple approach compared to others in the field. And Clark lives up to this expectation. In Move Your Bus, Clark takes management to everyday life chores that involve team work. For him, management does not only pertain to the big corporates or private entities. We can find management systems, small and large, all around us. And these little things in life too need some guidance in order to flourish and make them sustainable. The author portrays this with the help of a parable. He writes that every individual and the team working for an organsation is in a bus, a bus whose fuel is people power.

Clark classifies each person as a motivator or a drawback factor in the ‘organisation’. The people are classified into Runners, those with immense energy who always strive to do their best come what may; Joggers, who are not as motivated and successful as the runners but do their job to the best of their capability, without putting in any extra effort; Walkers, who just want to plod on, and finish their work because they have to, without any innovation or motivation; Riders, those who love to escape work, or dump their work on others. Others are dragged behind due to such people; and Drivers, who are leaders, role models and can turn anything minuscule into a flourishing business. In fact, Drivers have the foresight and capacity to mentor the Walkers to become Joggers and Joggers to Runners.

Every person at different point of life might have been in one or more categories stated above. The book illustrates how to identify which category one falls into and how one can improve the self and the organisation one is working in.

(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 11-01-2016)