My job is in real estate. My company, family owned for over 75-years, invests in under valued commercial real estate. Our work is to bring out that value.
Everything I wrote above can sound triumphalist. It’s not meant that way.
You’ve heard the phrase, “He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.”
I wasn’t born on third base, but it was likely first base. I could minimize that by saying it was first base on a junkyard baseball diamond. But it was still first base.
My parents loved me, they had a deep faith, my father was a dynamic entrepreneur, and I grew up surrounded by cherry orchards we now call Silicon Valley. The timing, the situation, and the opportunity all came together.
So what does this have to do with bolt cutters?
After college, my job was managing property. That is to say I managed tenants who rented space from us to operate their a small business. Most of them were amazing. Many of them have stayed in our buildings for decades.
But a minority were just tough people. Tough to work with. Tough to reason with.
For them, after all the legal shenanigans, we had bolt cutters. Because ultimately, bolt cutters are the landlords master key. More than once, in an abandoned building, we cut the chain. Or busted the deadbolt. Or just knocked the door down. It was direct and no nonsense.
This brought clarity. Certainly to our employees, who appreciated that a long confrontation with a difficult tenant was finally over. But the tenant also knew it was over and had clarity. Even the deputy (who often had to join us as we went into the unit) appreciated we didn’t mess around.
Just cut the bolt. Knock the door down.
Everyone appreciated the direct, bold, immediate impact of bolt cutters. It brought clarity.
When you read my books, the bolt cutter mentality is where the authenticity comes from. I try to write the things others are thinking. I can throw out the niceties, the spin, the diplomacy. All have their place; no need for being brutal. But people crave authenticity. I try, as best I can, to be authentic in my writing.
Now that you see the metaphor, let me put it another way: I write with bolt cutters.
When we were searching for the right subtitle to my new book Junkyard Wisdom Advent, it was my assistant Anne who pushed me toward Authentic, Daily Devotions About the Human, Humorous, and Sometimes Messy Side of the Advent Story.
Authentic. Human. Humorous. Messy.
In a post-truth world, each one attempts to bring clarity.
That’s why I write with bolt cutters.