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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
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You steer into a skid; you don't try to get out of it because then you lose control. We have to exploit opportunities and deal with setbacks resiliently—"bouncing forward."Blaming and complaining are for children and immature adults. Never let up. The key is to be at your best when you're under the maximum pressure. We should be able to make minor …
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Relativism holds that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, and/or historical context and are not absolute. I’m not so sure (nor are a lot of other people).Let me speak of relativism today. There is an old Monty Python skit where a one-legged man auditions for a theatrical role as Tarzan. After some awkward movements…
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The post-mortems from those who did not back the winner in this presidential election seem to be two-fold.On one hand, we have a group of insightful people asking, “What did we do wrong, and how can we improve?” On the other, we have people whose heads are exploding in vitriol and venom. The latter’s basic premises are that those who voted for the …
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We all need friends, but not the same ones! Friends need to evolve as we grow, mature, and change.Marshall Goldsmith and I wrote Lifestorming together, and we somewhat disagreed on this, but he wrote the terrific book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, so I think this applies to friends, as well!Your spouse is your best friend? That’s a cop-out…
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This election reflects a totally flawed Democratic strategy:• Painting your opponent as toxic but not having positive policies.• A candidate who cannot speak without a teleprompter and memorized sound bites.• A morally superior attitude that conveys people voting for the opposition are less educated, dumber, and morally inferior.• Rallying celebrit…
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The turning point in the American Civil War—and probably world history—occurred in Gettysburg on a rise called Little Round Top. At that place, at that time, a Union general saw a vast threat, and a Union Colonel and his regiment averted the threat through the brilliance of a single command.We need more courage in our lives because, unlike Gettysbu…
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We all get the kind of government we deserve. If you voted for the winner of the election, that’s good until such time as you feel promises aren’t being kept. If you voted for the loser of the election, that means not enough people in the right places agreed with you, and you have to submit to the system. However, you’re still free to protest, be s…
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Bill Russell, in Second Wind, defines pressure and performance.For example: - Brady coming back from 25 points down in the second half of the Super Bowl.- Houston, we have a problem (Apollo 13).- Sully Sullenberger landing in the Hudson River. The need is to really stay calm.- Three Mile Island as opposed to Chornobyl.- Bluffing in poker (vs. the “…
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Many people in Rhode Island have never been to Boston, let alone New York. I’ve coached a very successful entrepreneur who has never been to New York and doesn’t wish to go. Most people can’t locate Bolivia or Laos (or Nebraska) on a map.When Americans in a survey were asked the three most famous Japanese they could think of, it was Bruce Lee, Yoko…
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Esteem means respect and admiration. Hence, self-esteem would mean respect and admiration for yourself. Self-worth and self-esteem are the same thing to me, whereas self-confidence is your faith (or lack thereof) that you can do something: efficacy.Pride is feeling proud of your accomplishments, but vanity is insisting that others hear about them, …
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The rate of failures of small businesses is astounding: 20% fail during the first two years, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first ten years. While there are myriad reasons, such as succeeding generations of ownership not being as motivated or competent, most of these fail under the original founders and owners. That’s because t…
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Some suggestions to build credibility with a buyer during the initial meeting. (This assumes you’re meeting with a true economic buyer who controls the budget.)1. Assume a peer mentality. Don’t allow yourself to be cast in a “dog and pony show.” (I suggest you never show up with visual aids for this very reason.) Adapt an attitude that the two of y…
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There are 330 million people in the US that we know of. There are 12,500 school districts, 18,000 police departments, 17,000 libraries, 400 different languages spoken, 45,000 flights per day, 5 million privately and commercially owned vehicles, 200,000 dentists, and 641 amusement parks. There are nation-states (Japan, Korea), multi-state nations (S…
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This is a marketing lesson for the Catholic Church. I’m a lector and a Eucharistic Minister in the Church and converted 18 years ago. As some of you know, I’ve also spent a great deal of my coaching and consulting career in the field of strategy and have written two commercially published books on the topic.The average age in the church my wife and…
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The agenda of inequality and wealth focused only on the richest might not reconcile with reality.There have been increases in home ownership (even though buying always has its difficulties, from interest rates to inventory). There is a record of intergenerational wealth transfer from retirement savings and the Regan-era IRA legislation.In the West,…
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Just tell me what I want to know.People instead tell you everything that they know.College professors are reading their dissertation notes. Electricians are telling you about high and low voltage, amps, and watts. The tree guy tells you about diseases of poplars when you asked if he could prune some dead branches on an oak. The auto guy explains wh…
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Even in truly tough times and horrible market segments, there are winners and strong companies. You have to play the hand you’re dealt, and you have to play it well. If anything is happening to you more than two times out of ten, it’s you, not them.With high interest rates, houses are still being sold. With food being expensive, people are still di…
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If you win a race by .001 seconds, have you really “won.”? And certainly, you’re not the “best in the world.” On that day, in that place, at that time, you finished barely ahead of the next person. What if you did it again an hour later?Of course, if you constantly and consistently win, you might be the best in the world or the best ever: Yankees, …
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The Olympics sparked several replays of an Australian swimmer, Cate Campbell, being interviewed on what I think was an Australian TV news show. In a prior competition, she had beaten out the Americans for the gold medal. The interviewer asked her what it was like. She ranted on about how glorious it was because she detested the Americans using a co…
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You’ve known wowsers. They’re always trying to be the “second smartest person in the room,” and they correct you even though you’re correct to begin with.They are official “killjoys.” They are critical of others’ pleasures and accomplishments. Lacking expertise doesn’t inhibit their critiques and corrections. They never converse; they lecture as pe…
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People may think of a "Grand Challenge" as an exceptionally worthy and difficult problem to solve, and they'd be right. But it's also representative of a more formalized and impressive approach to what appear to be intractable societal issues.Seth Kahan specializes in these, his most recent being to remove stigma in mental health issues. This invol…
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My wife wasn't feeling well, so I went out to eat at 5:30 and brought her something back. When I do that, I bring my iPad and read a book at the bar.I finished, the takeout arrived in a shopping bag, and I drove home. At 10 pm I thought I'd play some Angry Birds before going to bed but realized my iPad was gone. I used "Find My iPhone" to determine…
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I recorded and wrote this prior to the presidential debate. When I couldn’t publish it before the debates, I was going to abandon it. But in view of what occurred, I’m publishing the recording and show notes now.In the upcoming debates, no notes will be allowed, and the moderators can mute the microphones. Moderators have had undue influence on pas…
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The only way to “coast” is when you’re going downhill. Even on a plateau, you have to pedal to keep moving. However, there is a way to “coast uphill.”To succeed, businesses must keep growing. And to keep growing, they must innovate. No business can grow simply by solving problems and “fixing” things (or, worse, blaming people). Problem-solving keep…
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They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?No, they don’t. The advent of the automobile around 1895 did not engender a huge equine genocide. We use horses today: for work, for recreation, for crowd control, for sport.Hence, the internal combustion engine is not disappearing in your lifetime, despite stupid political statements such as the recent “all cars must …
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Our 60th High School ReunionOn the way to the reunionWe’re on Amtrak on our way to our 60th high school reunion: Emerson High School, Union City, NJ. It was then and is now the most densely populated city in the country. Emerson is now a middle school, but back then it was one of two full-fledged high schools with all sports, and dances and typical…
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Show NotesMario Abbondanza and Noah Chantharangsy have been bartenders for quite a while, Mario for about a quarter century. I see them so often from the customer side of the table that I thought it would be fun to “step around the bar” with my listeners and discover what that would be like.You’ll find out that the hours are often brutal, but the j…
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We claim we don’t like elites, but we eagerly follow every ridiculous and pompous movement of the British Royals. (They’re now upset about a Nigerian trip that Harry and Megan took where they were treated too much like a state visit!) We belong to air clubs, hotel clubs. We have Amex green, gold, platinum, and black cards. Hertz has a platinum serv…
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I met Doug at Merck where he worked as a sales executive and I was an external consultant. Some years later, he called me from his current pharma company and asked my advice about an ethical issue he was seeing. About five years later, he was presented with a huge (listen to find out how much) “whistleblowers award” for turning the dangerous practi…
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The old apothegm is that the first generation starts it, the second expands it, and the third ruins it. Probably not so true any more.It’s not about a mandatory spendthrift or wasteful generation. It’s more about hunger. I don’t know about you, but I grew up poor, and when I was fired as president of a consulting firm, we had relatively little mone…
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The best leaders and most successful people I’ve met also exemplify generosity. This is not an accident.“Generosity” means “giving or sharing,” and being liberal in so doing. It isn’t primarily about money, but it is about credit, recognition, time, listening, coaching, supporting, and so forth. If it’s authentic, then it’s consistent, not situatio…
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I was required to engage in a “liberal arts” education at Rutgers. That meant that I had to have credits in languages over two or three years, science every year, history for two years, and English for two years. Although I majored in Political Science, because I thought I was going to law school (!), these other classes were required.The length an…
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Al McCree is a former fighter pilot who has flown 196 missions! He is an executive in the music business and has managed all kinds of talent. He’s also worked with top business executives.We talk about the differences and similarities of combat flying and the competition of the music business and the challenges of changing hearts and minds in a bus…
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Primary and secondary1 End the “warehousing” of children• Chronology is silly and hundreds of years old• Socialization is important, but not at this cost• Move kids as they learn• Measure learning by outcomes: application, tests, etc.2. Stop defaulting to college educations• Prepare for a range of employment opportunities• I sat next to too many du…
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Not just about the government or the banks or big Pharma, but even sports when YOUR team loses! “The refs were crooked, it was rigged.”9/11 was an “inside” job, and we never landed on the moon.Key elements: belief in a pattern underlying the event; provocative and deliberate plans; coalitions or groups are involved, even disparate ones; there is a …
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The more pressure you feel, the more your talent is “masked” and the worse you perform. You control pressure.You can’t allow yourself to feel “judged” every time you speak, write, or perform. And when and if you do need feedback, never accept it from unsolicited sources, which is always for the sender’s benefit, not yours. Seek solicited feedback f…
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Do you need shoes that you can put on without touching them, without bending down, without even sitting down? Barring those whose illnesses or conditions prohibit bending, just how lazy are the rest of us becoming?Skechers sells some shoes which have a patented device near the top of the heel that allows you to slip into them without manipulating t…
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Some things we can control, some we can influence, and some we can neither control nor influence. It’s important to understand the differences, and it’s vital to never cede control nor underestimate our abilities to control.Facing a prospect for the first time, what do you think you can control, influence, or affect neither? (Listen to the podcast …
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We’re going to need tens of millions of electric charging stations to satisfy goals for electric cars in six years set by the government. It looks like we might have 500,000. Electric cars might represent zero carbon footprint improvement. The mining of lithium is dirty and expensive and requires a lot of energy. Disposal of the batteries presents …
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I send out • Daily video • Monthly video • Weekly podcast • Monthly newsletter • Weekly newsletter • Blog 7 days publicly • Blog 7 days to community • Post on X 7 times per week • Post on LinkiedIn 3 times per week • Send out monthly promo pieceThat’s 1,651 potential contact points with clients and prospects annuallyThat’s why I receive unsolicited…
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The pandemic is a milestone event. Even if the medical effects have been ameliorated (which is debatable), the social impact is huge and continuing. Some of the evidence:• Some people continuing to wear masks, which also serve as a “warning” to others, and is an extreme behavior if one isn’t otherwise medically compromised. Covid transmission inter…
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Jeff is the publisher of Performance Magazine which has featured interviews of and articles from people as diverse as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Shaquille O’Neal, Sir Richard Branson, Joan Rivers, and Larry King, among hundreds of others.In this conversation we talk about the effectiveness, and lack thereof, of the media; the major issues on the m…
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I’ve met Rudy Giuliani. We belonged to the same cigar club in New York (which has since lost its lease). Those were the days when he was still in the afterglow of “America’s Mayor” from the way he led after 9/11. And those were the days when crime in New York was way down. He and the police commissioner, Bill Bratton, instituted tough approaches to…
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How do you create a million dollar idea and begin earning on it in one weekend? Noah Kagan is one of my buddies and a guy I greatly admire. He’s founded and sold several multi-million dollar enterprises—and readily admits to his share of failures, as well—and he’s put together an approach, summarized in Million Dollar Weekend, which is a clear reci…
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Isn’t Starbucks just a tad affected when the have “baristas” and sizes like grande and venti and trenta and Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Is it possible not to want to body slam a “barista” who informs you they don’t like to put whole milk in a cappuccino because of “poor frothing”? I saw a couple enter a diner for breakfast carrying takeout Starbucks co…
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One of the major issues with a lack of success is that people don’t hold themselves accountable. They fail to meet deadlines, fail to fulfill obligations. They put more work into making excuses than they would have doing the actual work. The old “dog ate my homework” is now “there was traffic,” “we have child care issues,” “my internet was down.” T…
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If you want to see writing exhaustion, this is the series. After two pretty decent seasons, the show devolved through the ensuing six as if the writers had become deprived of oxygen.Every time someone knocks on a door, the response is, “What are you doing here?” It’s not, “Good to see you,” or “How can I help you?”, or “Are you lost?” People discus…
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• We’re seeing huge changes in healthcare.• About 25% of patients used telehealth last year, far exceeding the 5% who accessed care this way before the pandemic.• Pharmacies with physicians present (like pet stores with vets present)• Physicians in private practice greatly reduced.• The share of doctors who worked in practices wholly owned by physi…
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• Cut your expenses: virtual assistants, subscription software, subcontracting (even in the Philippines).• Move work to the client.• Focus on advisory work, not project work.• Increase number of sales.• Increase amount of sales.• Increase duration of client relationships.• Increase solicited referrals.• Create community evangelism.• Produce new pro…
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When you have a great talent on stage, do we really need dancers, other singers, flashing lights, and magic tricks? What does Starbucks gain giving us all those choices in its own strange language?Have you ever noticed how visitors from Europe are astonished at the size and number of our restaurant dinner courses? Have you ever tried to quickly fin…
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