And yes, vibe hoovers are real. Every clinic has had one at some point. They drain energy, suck the life out of meetings, and quietly lower standards. Everyone feels it, and it gets sickly fast.
A fun bus driver does the opposite.
They're absolutely not the clinic clown. They're not the forced fun adjudicator — policing smiles and organising compulsory "team spirit". They make work lighter, safer, more human. They pull people forward and take teams to places they'd never reach alone.
Here's the bit most leaders miss: you don't create fun bus drivers with slogans.
You create them through relationships. Actual friendships. Not work peers. Not colleagues - but friends who you happen to work with.
People who've had proper banter together. Beers, coffees, socials. That awkward first event that only gets better the more you do them.
One of my favourite things from Six wasn't the scale - it was hearing, years later, about people flying halfway across the world for each other's weddings.
That's not corporate culture. That's belonging.
Cut the hoovers and back the fun bus drivers.
Build the kind of team people want to stay on the bus with.