Growing up in the junkyard meant working in the impure and unclean. Actually, not just working in it, but embracing it. It was routine to come home covered in grease, dust, oil, and sweat. After a long day of work with my dad, my mom would insist I go through
Someone asked what my next book might be and I flippantly answered, “Jesus the Standup Comic. It’s the words of Jesus redone for a modern comedy club setting.” Everyone laughed and the conversation moved on. But I still wonder if such a book makes sense. We often tend to see
Every now and then somebody asks me to mentor them. I suppose this is God’s way of reminding me I’m getting older. But it is also God’s way of reminding me to give back. For much of my young adult life I wanted a good mentor but never could find
Have we forgotten how to listen? Have we forgotten how to communicate? Is it all just slogans, memes, and bumperstickers these days? Are those mostly written to be abrasive and provoke others, as they reaffirm our own bias? I’m not quite ready to say, “Yes, yes, yes, and yes.” But
This was a week unlike any other. It has been a week of sorrow, frustration, anger, and loss. Reflecting on what to write has left me dizzy and finding the right words is beyond me. Hopefully, in time a unique Junkyard Wisdom perspective on the recent events will come to
Jesus made it clear to the disciples: you are to be known by your love. Note that he didn’t say we would be known by our theology, our politics, our opinions, our anger, our success, or our popularity. Surprisingly, he also didn’t say we would be known by our intelligence,
Ownership matters to the success of an endeavor. A business, nonprofit, team, family, or just about any effort needs people who act like owners. My book Salvaged touched on this in the chapter about scaling (hint: don’t be suckered into scaling). There is a unique power of an owner compared
A simple way to broaden your leadership impact is to give your team the opportunity to be wrong. That doesn’t mean you actively encourage being wrong of course. You must still do all you can as a leader to ensure their success. But many of us can, at times, become