A few years ago — okay, seven years ago, which I guess is more than a few — my book Salvaged was released. Each chapter told a story, often from the junkyard, with a leadership lesson I learned from the experience. It ended with a biblical perspective on the lesson.
It didn’t sell so well. Probably because leadership books are a dime a dozen. And because my style of writing doesn’t always fit the bible bookstore mode, you know? The people who buy Christian books tend to like pastors or triumphalists more than a junkyard kid.
Still, it was a fun book to write. The stories all shaped me, or at least made me laugh, so I’m glad I was allowed to publish the book.
Why bring this up? Because as with all books, a lot was left on the cutting room floor. That is to say, like editing a film, you have to cut some things. Otherwise you end up with 1000 page books (or 4 hour movies). So a lot of paper was thrown in the trash can (digitally speaking).
Sharing a few of the diamonds in the rough from the cutting room floor might be fun, so here are four Junkyard Wisdom™ truisms that didn’t end up in the book.
- Make a damn decision. Good leadership is not for the meek. That doesn’t mean you have to be some alpha idiot, and it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t weigh options. But ultimately you have to make a damn decision and move forward.
- Employers need an employee enrichment program that teaches employees how to love one another. What a concept, eh? Imagine taking the principle message from Jesus on how we are to live with each other and applying it to work. It would be transformational.
- The money is in the big picture and the profit is in the details. The people who profit most are the ones who understand the big picture. They see around corners and know what the next big thing is going to be. But even if they understand the big picture, they still have to focus on the details and execute to be profitable.
- I’d rather catch my lip with a fish hook than listen to the naysayers. This comes from a fishing trip with my brother when I caught my lip with a fish hook. I was holding the line in my mouth while changing flies when I accidentally pulled the line and set it in my lip as if I were a 200 pound trout. That same month I had a loan broker tell me our properties were poorly run, our books were a mess, and for gawdsakes buy a suit or we’d never get a new loan. But I’d rather go fishing with my brother and do something stupid (and embarrassing) than put up with people who just don’t get it.
There’s more of course, but I hope you enjoyed these scraps from the cutting room floor. Um, I mean stories tossed in the trash can.