Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

You can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. That includes those who just want to be validated without making changes. That includes those who say, “Here’s how to coach me.” Coaching is for short-term improvement in skills, behaviors, and mental set (emotions) that are manifest and repeatable. Longer-term help is advising (sounding board) and reactive rather than proactive. Codependency is e...

Lou has been speaking professionally for over 40 years, during which he also logged time as a newscaster and talk show host. He and I met in the late 80s, and he was instrumental in helping my career, as well as many others. He’s known as one of the very funniest people in the profession, and we speak herein about the changing times, changing audiences, differing expectations of buyers, and adjust...

We often think of sustainability as having to do with the environment: food, clean air, power generation, and so forth. But a different kind of sustainability is, perhaps, even more important: human respect and ethical treatment. The restaurant NOMA has announced a closing in 2024. It has been rated the “best in the world” (if there is such a thing) and is ineligible for further nominations. But t...

Gene and I lived in adjoining towns in New Jersey but met here in Rhode Island decades ago. (He calls our origins “the old country.”) He’s won a ton of awards for local and national reporting, including being one of the first reporters inside the perimeter after 9/11 and covering Papal visits, presidential elections, and moderating election debates at state level. We talk here about the future of...

What Herb Kelleher had brilliantly created has come apart at the seams. The aerodynamics of the company don’t work anymore. But, what do you expect from a CEO who’s making a paltry $3 million? Would you believe that Southwest crew members have to get their scheduling assignments over an antiquated phone system that has an eight-hour wait? I am not making that up unless the Wall Street Journal is l...

I met Willie Jolly about 30 years ago at a meeting of the National Speakers Association. We were both new to the organization and he was a great “force” with a gorgeous singing voice, as well. We kept in touch over the years and he and Dee and Maria and I became good friends. What impressed me most about Willie was, and is, his insatiable positive attitude, and his commitment to helping youth. We...

Ironically, in these very liberal times we’re experiencing the greatest restrictions on free speech I can remember: in the media, on social media, in schools, in workplaces. It’s like Animal Farm, you have to read what’s on the barn wall this morning and what’s been removed from it. We distort meaning in order not to offend an issue that’s not really offensive. We talk of “micro-aggressions” which...

I first “met” Noah a couple of years ago when he asked to interview me on one of his podcasts. I wasn’t familiar with him but he was very personable and I liked his interview style. The session went extremely well. And the next day my numbers blew up on social media. Turns out that Noah Kagan has a kijillion followers, some of whom are on other planets, that’s how extensive his “reach” is. He’s be...

Here are my suggestions for fixing our public schools so that every student is respected, educated, and supported. 1. Stop electing amateurs to school boards who merely use it as a stepping stone. Appoint people using objective criteria to determine expertise. 2. Anyone with children in the private schools instead of public is ineligible. 3. Spread vouchers and increase charter schools. 4. End uni...

Are the community newspapers doomed to extinction? Are the major newspapers truly objective or biased in their reporting? Are we really talking about “news” and not “newspapers” because the latter are past “the point of no return”? I met Clark Hoyt through our greatly respected mutual friend, Dr. William Winter, the former president of the American Press Institute (a client of mine for 20 years)....

Do you treat others as you would like to be treated? That’s not merely a Biblical injunction, it’s an ethical position. Yet we tend to treat others harshly, sometimes cruelly, and even evilly. I believe in pure evil. I’ve seen too much of it not to believe in it. Solipsism in the belief that only ourself is “real,” and that anything beyond our own mind is problematic and uncertain. We see this in...

Fripp and I met 20 years or so ago at the National Speakers Association (the “NSA” she refers to in her comments). She was in their Hall of Fame a decade before I was (that’s the “CPAE” designation she cites). She is a legendary speaker and speaking coach, and the only thing she has more of than awards in her closet are hats. She is an insatiable learner, and studies body movement, acting, screenw...

Science fiction movies proliferated in the 1950s, all with dire threats for earth, and probably accidental or deliberate metaphors for the nuclear age ushered in during 1945. The aliens were tough, but we usually won, though not always (e.g., “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”). In 1938 Orson Welles, on his Mercury Theater radio show which was extremely popular in the New York area, broke in with a...

I met Dan Pink several years ago when we were both writing books in Nantucket. He is a diligent, “stone mason” (by his definition) kind of writer. He creates thorough documents, tight cases for his topics, and his attitude is that we wants to learn new things and not write about what he already knows. As a guest speaker for me in my Thought Leadership conference, I remarked that he had a law degre...

“I didn’t walk in here and I’m not leaving.” That’s an example of paradoxical and misleading language. That was uttered by a drunk colleague, but “triple speak” is often deliberately unleashed to confound and confuse. Politicians virtually never answer the question they’re asked. They divert it. “Are you in favor of reduced taxes?” is met with, “Let me tell you first about my ardent support for so...

Somewhere along my journey I met Alan Goldberger who, aside from having an excellent first name, has an extremely interesting career. First, he’s an attorney with whom I enjoy talking. Part of that miracle is that he’s a nice guy, and part is because his specialty is sports law. Yes, there are such people. Alan chats with me here about the challenges and troubles of amateur sports officials as wel...

I have traditionally closed over 80% of my proposals using my format of 2.5 pages based on conceptual agreement with the buyer. Many people in my community have rates of over 90%. I’ve extracted the key components here that are covered in greater depth in my books for a “quick study.” If you follow my guidelines I can guarantee your “hit rate” will increase, providing you’re realistic and serious....

I met Joe over a decade ago when he began a pharma consulting firm with offices in New York, Cambridge (UK), and Tokyo. We worked together immediately before and after 9/11, with six feet of ashes piled on balconies in the financial district where he was located. After selling the company, he moved back to Europe (he currently lives in London) and delved into his interests in environmentalism, pol...

We live in a competitive world, a Darwinian, capitalist world, but I contend that winning can be dysfunctional when pursued merely for the sake of the win. Sometimes the closest theater seats are far from the best; the newest technology rapidly purchased is full of glitches; the tough restaurant seats are obtained amidst a loud and overwhelming crowd. All of us learn best when we occasionally have...

Nancy emerged from academia with the intent of finding “game-changers” in her life so that she could become one herself for others. She has built a global network of CEOs, business owners, and executives who learn from each other, facilitated by chairpeople, both in person and remotely. Her company provides education and leadership insights to people who can, in turn, share them with others. She h...

Are we in merely another pothole of history or are we actually turning a corner into the unknown? Does western liberalism stand a chance of continuing, or have personal grievances and greed turned us away from a melting pot or a mosaic and into hundreds of millions of separate fortresses? We’ve moved from a post-World War II period of working hard and advancing, saving some money, buying a house,...

How many people do you know who coach entrepreneurs making seven- and eight-figures? Ali coaches scores of them and assists with the turbulent times that show no sign of ending. She points out that something can supplant the internet tomorrow. And she’s probably going to “close down” her Facebook presence. Learn about the biggest problem for women attempting to network with current business commun...

Mistakes are unavoidable, whether from habit, being ill-advised, or changes in our understanding. They are inevitable and can’t be completely avoided. But we can learn from them. Pluto is a planet. No, it isn’t. Red meat is bad for you. No, it isn’t. Smoking low tar cigarettes is not as bad a health risk. Yes, it is. “New Math” improves kids’ learning. No, not even close. We need to learn to apolo...

Learn about the customer journey. Appreciate the “language of the customer” What do luxury brands really try to create? Join the “optimistic treasure hunt.” Is service better or worse in the US than abroad? Predictions about customer service.

We explore the need to help those who need help, as opposed to those who simply make irresponsible decisions.