D2D Con 9 — Featured Speaker
Jon Gordon
Top 3 Leadership Speaker · 18x Bestselling Author
The positivity coach who proves culture drives success—from pro sports locker rooms to Fortune 500 boardrooms—all powered by positive energy. Author of 30+ books including The Energy Bus, Jon has helped champions like Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and leaders at Campbell Soup, Southwest Airlines and the LA Dodgers build winning cultures—and he once knocked 7,000 doors himself.
Get Tickets Now30+
Books Published
3M+
Energy Bus Copies Sold
7,000
Doors Knocked
2007
The Energy Bus Released
Key Facts
30+ Books, 3 Million+ Copies
Including the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide
Top 3 Leadership Keynote
Consistently rated among the top three leadership speakers in the world across corporate and education stages
Coach to Champions
Advises CEOs and NFL, NBA and MLB coaches — LA Dodgers, Miami Heat, Clemson football, Southwest Airlines, West Point
7,000 Doors Knocked
Ran for Atlanta City Council in his mid-20s and knocked every door himself
Industry Expertise
- Leadership
- Team Culture
- Mindset
- Positive Leadership
- Sales Teams
- Resilience
- Communication
- Security
- Recruiting
- Solar
About the Speaker
Who is Jon Gordon?
Jon Gordon is an American author and speaker on leadership, teamwork, and culture, known for his contagious optimism. In his mid-20s, running for Atlanta’s City Council, he knocked on 7,000 doors to share his vision. He lost the race—but the grit and connection he built foreshadowed his life’s work in motivating others.
After early ventures—including opening a restaurant and starting a non-profit—Jon found his calling in the power of positivity. He studied human ecology at Cornell and earned a Master’s in teaching at Emory, then channeled his passion into writing. His breakthrough came with The Energy Bus (2007), a business fable delivering 10 rules for fueling your life, work, and team with positive energy.
Since then he’s been invited to speak for dozens of elite organizations—from NFL locker rooms to Fortune 500 boardrooms and major universities. Champions like Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney and business icons at Campbell Soup have tapped Jon to boost their team culture, and he’s published over 30 books, including The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, The Carpenter, The Power of Positive Leadership, and The Power of a Positive Team.
Speaker Promise
What You Walk Away With
Jon does not just tell your team to stay positive — he hands them the habits that survive a bad day on the doors. You leave with the ten rules of The Energy Bus for fuelling your own energy, the No Complaining Rule for killing the negativity that spreads through a canvassing team, and a positive-leadership framework your managers can run in Monday’s meeting. Practical, high-energy, and built for people who hear “no” all day and still have to knock the next door.
Why It Matters
Why Jon Matters for D2D
- Pioneered Positive Leadership frameworks that help teams “feed the positive and weed the negative,” creating contagious optimism that drives results. His training programs (e.g. Energy Bus workshops) are used in businesses, sports, and schools nationwide.
- D2D runs on energy, and rejection drains it faster than anything else. Jon’s entire body of work is about refuelling that energy on purpose instead of hoping it holds.
- The No Complaining Rule is a culture fix a sales manager can implement this week: nobody complains unless they bring one or two possible solutions with them.
- He has built winning cultures in the two environments closest to a D2D team — pro sports locker rooms and large sales organisations — from Clemson football to Campbell Soup’s U.S. sales force.
- He knocked 7,000 doors himself running for Atlanta City Council in his mid-20s, so the rejection he coaches through is not theoretical.
Resources
The Jon Gordon Podcast
jongordonpodcast.com
The Energy Bus
jongordon.com
The Power of Positive Leadership
jongordon.com
The Power of a Positive Team
jongordon.com
The Sale
jongordon.com
The No Complaining Rule
jongordon.com
Training Camp
jongordon.com
The Carpenter
jongordon.com
The Coffee Bean
jongordon.com
7 Commitments of a Great Team
jongordon.com
Difficult Conversations Don’t Have to Be Difficult
jongordon.com
Positive Tips Newsletter
jongordon.com
Media
Watch & Listen to Jon
Short clips, keynote footage and long-form conversations on positive leadership, team culture and staying positive when the doors get hard.
What Jon Speaks On
Signature Stage Programs
Join us at D2DCon to hear from door-to-door industry leaders and experts who share practical strategies you can run with your team.
The Energy Bus
Ten rules for fueling your life, work, and team with positive energy—including ‘You’re the Driver of Your Bus’ and ‘No Energy Vampires Allowed.’
The Power of Positive Leadership
How optimism and grit lead teams through adversity—a how-to for sales leaders and owners.
The Power of a Positive Team
What makes great teams great: unity, purpose, and culture as the X-factor.
The No Complaining Rule
Turn negativity into solutions and build a culture where energy vampires can’t survive.
Steal the Playbook
Three frameworks you can run with your team today.
1) The No Complaining Rule
Why: complaining is like an undetected cancer—a slow spread of negativity that will eventually destroy the body of your organization if left unchecked.
How:
- Implement Jon’s simple rule: you are not allowed to complain unless you also offer one or two possible solutions.
- Announce it to the team and build it into hiring—let newcomers know chronic complainers won’t thrive here.
- Channel every gripe into a constructive idea: a rep who complains about a tough lead list must also suggest a way to improve lead quality or approach.
Do next: Run a 7-Day No Complaining Challenge with your team this week.
2) Feed the Positive Dog — Daily Mindset Habits for Reps
Why: positivity is a muscle; whichever dog you feed—the positive or the negative one—gets stronger.
How:
- Recognize the two dogs inside every rep and name which one rejection is feeding.
- Start a simple daily positivity practice for the team so optimism overwhelms fear and doubt.
- Make it a habit, not an event—in D2D, rejection and stress are constant, so the feeding has to be daily.
Do next: Add a one-minute positivity practice to tomorrow’s morning huddle and keep it for 30 days.
3) “The Star of the Team Is the Team” — Build Championship Culture
Why: talent alone isn’t enough; culture is the X-factor that turns individuals into a championship unit.
How:
- Build on unity and purpose—a shared positive vision unites and strengthens teams the way negativity divides them.
- Treat culture as your competitive advantage, not a soft skill.
- Lead the way champions do: the principles Jon has brought to Clemson and pro locker rooms apply to sales teams.
Do next: Read The Power of a Positive Team with your leadership bench and pick one principle to install this quarter.
Has Spoken At
- D2DCon
- NFL Teams
- Clemson Football
- Fortune 500
D2DCon Appearances
- 2026
What They Said
Impact Beyond the Stage
Leaders in pro sports, aviation and Fortune 500 sales organisations on what happens after Jon leaves the stage.
Jon Gordon was one of the best speakers we’ve had in the last 10 years.Damian OmaniCo-President, Fisher Investments
The Energy Bus should be required reading in this country. In a time and world where we deal with so many negative things and people, Jon beautifully articulates the power of positive energy and attitude. This book will change your life and teach you how to be the driver of your bus.Dabo SwinneyHead Coach, Clemson University
Jon Gordon’s presentation on The Energy Bus to our U.S. sales organization was top notch. He quickly engaged the group with his high-energy style and provided everyone in the audience with a powerful and memorable user-friendly framework for taking their own energy management to a new level. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, we will work with him again.Douglas R. ConantPresident and CEO, Campbell Soup Company
Our leaders loved Jon’s keynote talk at our Leadership Summit. His preparation and commitment to make sure his time with us would be effective was outstanding. I personally appreciated his willingness to customize his speech, and the following Q&A, to our overall learning objectives for the day. His energy, enthusiasm and humor didn’t hurt either.Jeff LambEVP and Chief People Officer, Southwest Airlines
Quote Bank
“If your purpose is greater than your challenges, you will find a way.”
— Jon Gordon
FAQs
Common Questions
Which Jon Gordon book should I start with?
Start with The Energy Bus—a fun, quick read about a man down on his luck who learns 10 rules for infusing work and life with positive energy. Sales leaders should also pick up The Power of Positive Leadership; anyone building a team culture, The Power of a Positive Team.
How does Jon’s message apply to door-to-door sales?
Directly. In D2D, rejection and stress are constant negatives—Jon’s daily positivity habits, the No Complaining Rule, and his team-culture principles give reps and leaders a system for staying resilient and motivated.
Has Jon actually done door-to-door?
Yes—in his mid-20s, running for Atlanta City Council, he knocked on 7,000 doors to share his vision.
Other Speakers
Jon shares the stage with the biggest names in direct sales and entrepreneurship.
Year 9 · January 22–24, 2026 · Salt Lake City
See Jon live at D2DCon 9.
Three days. Thousands of direct sales pros. One room where the next chapter of your business gets built.
Get Tickets Now