Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 1/6/2025
I don’t feel “guilty” about my behavior and I don’t allow people to “guilt” me. I’m not scared easily, certainly not by making a speech or meeting a powerful person or daily publishing. (A clinician friend once told me those are also the signs of a psychopath, but I’ve tended to ignore that.) I atone for my errors and sins (apologize if possible, demonstrate empathy, fix it if I can, learn from it, get on with my life). I would be scared by a tornado or someone with a gun, but not by common interactions and obligations.
Perhaps some of you have found difficulties relating to others’ viewpoints, their perspectives, their “frames of reference.” I always have, until I figured out why. It’s easy to point out that few adults today ever used a rotary phone, or in many cases, even a landline. However, we have to consider that many of our daily interactions are with people who were born after Viet Nam; who were in dysfunctional public schools that never stressed English, history, math, or geography sufficiently; who never flew on prop planes; who didn’t experience a society vulnerable to polio; and who never had to send hard copy business letters.
The middle eastern wars don’t scare me because I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the Kennedy Brothers playing “chicken” with Khruschev, and then the Viet Nam War. I knew people who died or were maimed by polio and thought a vaccine was a brilliant gift. Rioting in the streets in the last few years wasn’t as bad as Watts or the cities burning in the 60s. As for Taylor Swift, hell, I lived through Woodstock and the Beatles. She needs to go a long way to measure up to that.
My “Boomer” generation with some help from the following Gen X people has pretty much led organizations, academia, and politics since the early 80s. Now it’s Gen X (the eldest of whom are retiring soon) and the beginning of the adult Millennials.
We all have to bear in mind frames of reference that are inclusive and exclusive. It’s hard to imagine Viet Nam today without reading the New York Times every morning and finding the body counts in the lead story, as we did then. Thus, I think, people tend to be scared more today of events and movements that pale in comparison to what many of us have experienced. And they just might be less resilient in terms of managing in calamity and leading through chaos. Yet our discussions and solutions, to be effective, must be commensurable.
My position, working with people globally from their 20s to their 80s, is not to assume they know what I know or I know what they know. I try to find out what our joint frames of reference may be in order to examine whether we’re on the same page in the moment, or the same book in our conversation, or in the same library of our lives.
Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms. —Sterling K. Brown
The greatest tragedy for any human being is going through their entire lives believing the only perspective that matters is their own. —Doug Baldwin
A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. —Steve Jobs
A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way. —Allen Klein
An Alan Live Experience: Beyond Success: What happens when you’re meeting your aspirations, when your lifestyle is fabulous, and your prospects are excellent? How much is “enough”? Is there a “retirement”? How do you change (or sell) your business and IP? Are philanthropy, volunteering, and service right for you? Are you able to care for family and important others? What will keep you excited and positive—and “youthful”?
We’ll explore this and more over two days of intense discussion and exercises in a small group. We’ll get together in Los Angeles for two 9-to-4 days, June 11 and 12, including a reception. As you know, you’ll learn a lot from your colleagues and peers in that room. $7,500. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/beyond-success/
Master Master Class 2025: I’m happy to once again offer the unique Master Master Class in 2025. It will be in the exquisite Newport area on March 12-13, two full days of learning, experimenting, and building new collegial relationships.
We will achieve:
- New offerings and IP for a volatile, No Normal® world.
- A consistent “voice” of expertise in your market—a “go to” magnetism and attraction.
- The identification and evaluation of your existing “body of work” to be repurposed and exploited for passive income.
- A book idea—commercially published or self-published, hard copy or electronic, written by you or “ghosted”—that will establish and perpetuate your stature. • The HOV lane for advisory work with high fees and low labor.
- The confidence and presence to deal successfully with anyone at any time in any environment. (Very special role plays.)
This will be all new material from prior Master Classes. The fee will be $15,000 which includes lodging and most meals and a reception. (This will probably be the last Master Class I conduct in person, on site. No, I’m not kidding.) I have three people already attending simply by hearing me discuss this informally. My limit is a dozen people. It will not be recorded, but you may attend by Zoom, although I caution you on the intrinsic disadvantages of so doing. Attendees may record the session on their own.
The fee will be $15,000 which includes lodging and most meals and a reception. (This will probably be the last Master Class I conduct in person, on site. No, I’m not kidding.) Write me to apply: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/master-master-class-2025/
Thought Leadership Quarterly: This is a Zoom series based on my popular Thought Leadership Workshops. I’ll be presenting ideas, based on current events and predictions, that will propel you to the forefront of recognition in your “public square.” This will be highly interactive and questions are welcome in advance. This will be 90 minutes and repeated twice to accommodate various time zones, once at 8 US eastern time and once at 5 US eastern time the same day.
March 18 June 17 September 23 December 18 $2,000 for the series. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/thought-leadership-quarterly/ Note that participants from the Delray FL Thought Leadership Conference can attend for free!!
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://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com
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/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World GRADUATE: Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/