Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 03/18/2024
I’ve written before about the distinctions of dogs: As a species they have common traits. They can interbreed (hence, “designer dogs”), provide unconditional love, and learn simple (and sometimes complex) commands.
As breeds, there are further limiting distinctions. Beagles (and hounds in general) have outstanding olfactory abilities. Siberian Huskies can pull significant loads. German Shepherds can herd larger animals, and can be used for security.
As individuals, dogs have “personalities.” We’ve had three white German Shepherds. (They aren’t rare, if they were a separate breed they’d be the 16th most popular. As a whole, Shepherds are third.) Koufax, our first, was a hunter, and had 16 confirmed kills in six species. Those are just the confirmed ones. He could actually catch squirrels. Yet our two-year-old grandchildren could lie on his stomach.
Our second, Bentley, was a great Frisbee dog, acrobatic and fleet. He, too, was superb with children. And now Royce, the only one who can sleep on his back, upside-down, without leaning on anything, has a friend 50 yards away across a back fence with which he “fights” (loud, unrelenting barking) until both of them have to be brought in.
I tell you this because we can’t treat people as being in huge “categories” (boomers, gen X, millennials, minorities, ad nauseum) because people are individuals, not defined by breed or species commonalties. Thus, I despise “categorization” and have met some millennials who are more in sync with boomers than with other millennials, for example. Yet, today, the “melting pot” seems to have given way to a “salad bowl” where everyone wants be part of a group or tribe and fiercely so.
I was never a “dog person” but Maria’s brother, being transferred from Jersey to Texas, couldn’t take his Siberian Husky, Buck. Despite his absolute stubbornness and need to run away to explore every day, he begat Trotsky on one of his excursions, meeting a female Husky in her yard with obviously loose morals. Trotsky turned out to be part German Shepherd. But, I’m being discursive.
My point is this: We’re all individuals and worth knowing on that basis, and labeling others demeans our own doggone humanity.
Perhaps it was made for itself. —Naturalist John Muir on being asked why God made poison ivy.
The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. —Warren Bennis
In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. —Edward Hoagland
Thought Leadership 2024
I’m hosting a tenth Thought Leadership Conference, and our first such session post-pandemic, in the West Palm Beach, Florida area on September 10-12, 2024. This will probably be the last such “live” event of its kind since my future plans are to create a quarterly Zoom subscription for this endeavor in 2025 and beyond.
We will focus on:
• The No Normal® of the workplace and how to market and succeed in continually turbulent times. • What the impending US presidential election will mean for professional services. • How to create weekly, relevant, dramatic IP. • Staying ahead of the innovation curve using your own past and continuing “body of work.” • Passive, global income generation—creation and sustainability. • Options for successful use of discretionary time. • Financial realities and metrics for safety and security (and prudent risk). • Topics raised in the prep work sent to participants.
We will have a special guest speaker whom I’ll announce soon. My newest book, Building Dynamic Communities: creating an evergreen client ecosystem, to be released in June, will be my gift to you, and the morning of the third day of the 2.5-day event will be optional and included in the fee. I’ll be “riffing” on that day on politics, society, education, personal wealth, and so forth.
The fee is $15,000, which includes rooms, breakfasts, lunches, and a cocktail reception. If you register during March, the fee is discounted to $12,000. Finally, if you attend this session you may join the quarterly Zoom sessions next year for free, a $2,000 value.
Register here, please: https://alanweiss.com/
In the Buyer’s Office
I’ve been asked to elaborate on the extremely popular “In the Buyer’s Office” videos on a regular basis. So I’m going to stop whining about doing it, and do it. I’m offering a 1.5-day, live session in Rhode Island during which everyone will get the chance to sell to the buyer and to be the buyer. You may record this if you like. You’ll learn how to, and apply how to:
- Open the meeting gracefully and move quickly to your objective.
- Handle distractions.
- Overcome objections.
- Reframe and pivot the conversation.
- Create trust, find key issues, create conceptual agreement, and “pour cement.”
- Create a resultant proposal with over an 80% probability of acceptance of options 2 or 3.
For those of you who can’t travel or are afraid of TSA, I’m offering the same experience (as much as possible) virtually over the course of three mornings. All of this will be recorded for distribution. https://alanweis
Building Dynamic Communities
I’ve been asked for years how people can replicate my worldwide community, which is operating 24/7 virtually and in real time. Is it solely possible with entrepreneurs and the “retail” market, or can it be done with corporate clients and executives?
These communities (don’t confuse them with “tribes” which are exclusionary) provide huge business development benefits:
- Evangelism among members to engage more thoroughly
- The Chain Reaction of Attraction® which creates exponential growth when community members themselves attract others
- A laboratory to test ideas and allow others to suggest ideas
- High profile as THE expert and THE thought leader
- “Guaranteed” subscription to new offerings and projects to create immediate critical mass and success
- Instant marketing with zero investment
- Smooth progression form virtual interactions (e.g., internet-based) to real-time experiences (e.g., conferences, symposia, and so forth)
- Impressive creation of high quality marketing lists (a good return on most lists is considered 2%, my lists generate 10%)
- Powerful brand building and brand extension
- Value accruing to you even when you are not present because members wouldn’t know each other without you
- Immediate tests of new IP
- May 15-16, 1.5 days, at my place! $5,000 Includes my hosting dinner and 60 days of support. https://alanweiss.
com/store/quick-pay/
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondoll
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/gr
Sentient Strategy Certification: My new book on the topic (above) has been released, so this is an ideal time to market Sentient Strategy. Write me to apply, join over 70 people certified in six countries. One-time fee of $12,000, includes 90 days of my support, free admission to all future certifications, and admission to a private web board with other Sentient facilitators. alan@summitcons
