by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
If there was anything speaker Jon Gordon wanted to get across to the members of the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association (JWLA), it would be to lead a positive lifestyle.
“When you are faced with someone who is negative, your positive energy must be greater than their negativity,” said Gordon, an author, speaker and driver of positive changes in people’s lives.
Gordon, who has lived in Northeast Florida for the past seven years, spoke at JWLA’s monthly meeting Wednesday. Gordon bases many of his talks on his current book, “The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Your Work, and Your Team with Positive Energy.”
The book, is based on an experience Gordon had with a bus driver in Colorado and is designed to help leaders be more positive in all types of industries.
“It teaches you how to be a positive business leader and how to get your team on your ‘bus’,” he said.
Before speaking to about 40 attorneys Wednesday, Gordon said he didn’t come with a prepared speech in hand aimed at a group of women attorneys.
“I used to prepare a lot,” he said. “Now I just let it come to me. I don’t really have a specific agenda. I like to give groups principles and strategies that they can use in every day life to help them be more positive.
“I would say the same things to women lawyers as I would to a room full of men. But the women will laugh more.”
Gordon said he spoke to the Utah State Bar Association, and everyone except for about 10 people in the audience, was male.
“I knew I shouldn’t try to be funny,” he said. “But I got a great review. Lawyers are a tough group, but if I got through that, I can get through anything.”
Gordon’s main focus Wednesday was to talk about positive energy.
“For attorneys to make the best case, they must perform at a high level, and they can succeed by strategizing,” he said. “Positive energy overcomes adversity and negativity.”
While speaking, Gordon uses a lot of his own life experiences, both humorous and serious, to convey his message.
“I used to be a professional complainer. I came from an Italian and Jewish family. My mother always wanted us (he and his brother) to be a doctor and a lawyer,” he said. “My brother was in pre-med and I was in pre-law and she couldn’t have been happier. Well, I did horrible on the LSATS (the law school entrance exam), went to law school for a year-and-a-half and found out it wasn’t for me.
“My mother was devastated. I do admire the work attorneys do and I know my mom would be proud that I am here speaking to you today.”
Gordon shared a few strategies that he uses to help people “cultivate more positive energy.”
• Live and work with a purpose everyday. “Energy is the most important thing in our lives,” he said.
• Energy of thought. “What is your vision for the road ahead?” he asked. “It is important to have a positive vision.”
• Daily 10-minute thankful walk. “I am thankful for my job even though it drives me crazy,” Gordon said as an example. “You cannot be stressed and thankful at the same time.”
• Change from “I have to do this” to “I get to do this.”
“I get to go to work and deal with my crazy clients,” he said again as an example.
• Drive with purpose. “Love your passengers, drive with purpose and fuel others with positive energy,” he said.
Gordon has been speaking across the country to companies, organizations and schools for the past six years. He has written three books and is currently working on his fourth, “No Complaining Rule,” which is based on a policy used in a Jacksonville company. He has also been on NBC’s “The Today Show” and CNN and will be in an article in the January edition of “O Magazine.”