# Jon Gordon

Jon O. Gordon (born January 20, 1971) is an American author and speaker on the topics of leadership, culture, sales, and teamwork.
Early on in Gordon's life at the age of 24 he opened a restaurant and bar in Buckhead Atlanta. He then started a non-profit raising money for youth focus charities. At the age of 26 he ran for City Council of Atlanta, he walked door to door of 7000 homes, but lost the election.
Gordon has worked with numerous athletic organizations, academic institutions, and corporations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, the University of Georgia's Bulldogs, Clemson University Tigers, University of Nebraska Athletic Department, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, the Atlanta Falcons, Campell Soup, Wells Fargo, Northwestern Mutual, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, West Point Academy, and more. He works frequently with K-12 educators and administrators in school associations and districts across North America.
Gordon's training program called "The Energy Bus Animated Training Program" was released in 2015 and is an interactive course based on Gordon's bestselling book, The Energy Bus. In 2016, Gordon launched Positive University, an ongoing online program that provides access to content focused on overcoming everyday challenges, bringing together a community of like-minded people.
Gordon's work has been featured in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post, among others.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in human ecology from Cornell University and a Master of Arts in teaching from Emory University.
Gordon is a believer in that negative thoughts separate, divide, and weaken us. Additionally, one needs to recognise that thoughts have no power over a person, but rather, a person can learn to examine their thoughts without listening to them. Ultimately, he believes we can choose a positive thought instead.

## Books

Gordon wrote several books including The Wall Street Journal best-sellers The Energy Bus, ISBN 9780470100288; The Carpenter ISBN 978-0470888544; The Power of Positive Leadership ISBN 1119351979, The Power of a Positive Team ISBN 1119430240, and You Win in the Locker Room First, which he co-authored with former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Mike Smith, and The Washington Post best-seller Training Campm ISBN 0470462086. Other books include The No Complaining Rule, ISBN 0470279494; The Shark and the Goldfish, ISBN 0470503602; Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture ISBN 0470487844 , The SeedISBN 0470888563; The Positive Dog, ISBN 0470888555; The Energy Bus for Kids, ISBN 1118287355; One Word, ISBN 1118809424; The Hard Hat, ISBN 9781119430261; Thank You and Good Night, ISBN 1118986911; Life Word,; The Energy Bus Field Guide ISBN 1119412455; and One Word for Kids, ISBN 1119430313.
Sam Presti, general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder (then Seattle SuperSonics), was quoted in The New York Times saying that Gordon's The Energy Bus is "a management book that shows readers how they can affect situations by how they frame them."
Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, wrote in his foreword to The Energy Bus, "If you want to fuel your family, your career, your team, and your organization with spirit, read this book. Jon's energy and advice will leap off the page and help you cultivate positive energy in everything you do—and you will make the world a better place for your having been here."

## Speaking

Gordon has delivered keynote addresses and speeches at conferences and organizations across North America, including the World Leaders Conference, United States Automobile Association, Mass Mutual, Northwestern Mutual, New York Life, SC Johnson, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, Clemson University Tigers, University of Nebraska Athletic Department, West Point Academy, FTD, Raymond James, Wells Fargo, BB&T, Southwest Air, SERVPRO, What a Burger, STAFDA, The University of Maryland Men's lacrosse team, and Five Guys.

## Personal life

Gordon grew up in a Jewish-Italian family and was bar mitzvahed, but later started to learn about Jesus and then followed Jesus. Gordon also studied Buddhism in his twenties.
Gordon grew up in Long Island, New York, and at the age of one, his biological father left when his parents divorced. Gordon and his sibling were raised by his step-father from the age of five, who was Italian and Catholic, and his mother who was Jewish. Gordon's mother died of cancer at the age of fifty nine.