Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 7/27/26
The true test of a champion is to give one’s best under maximum pressure.
Note that I didn’t say “to win under maximum pressure.” Sometimes one’s best isn’t better than the other’s best. Or sometimes an unexpected event occurs—an official makes a bad call, there’s a lucky bounce by the competition, the gods have another ending in mind.
It’s perfectly acceptable to lose having made your best effort. It’s not acceptable to lose failing to make your best effort (or, I can make a case, even to win not making your best effort but benefitting instead from others’ mistakes). When the Harvard rowing team, exhausted, finished last in the Olympics one year, the coach said, “There’s nothing wrong with being the eight best in the world.”
We’ve all seen athletes, writers, politicians, entertainers, and faculty members “mailing it in,” meaning they’ve submitted or performed something that’s adequate but not a top effort. I’ve experience professors simply read their dissertation notes, football players throw desultory blocks, politicians give platitudinal speeches.
It’s easy enough to say we owe our best to audiences, to clients, to students, to fans. But it’s more difficult to admit we owe it to ourselves. There’s talk of players and even teams “tanking” today and not caring about losing because they’re so far behind in the standings. And even very successful novelists today are “mailing in” average work because they have loyal readership and publishers which market aggressively.
It’s easy to “coast” when you’re successful and not raise your game when the competition and the circumstances are tough. That momentum can carry you forward for a while. But coasting is neither a successful business nor a life strategy.
Because there's no such thing as “coasting up.”
Courage is grace under pressure. —Ernest Hemingway
A true champion is a true champion. They go fight and win or lose, give it their all. —Glover Teixeira
A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning. —Billie Jean King
My New Book, The Courage of Your Talent, will be released in October. You can preorder here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/checkout/p/p-106-1971249-7883468/spc?pipelineType=Chewbacca&isBuyNow=1&referrer=spc
In today’s volatile business environment, professionals face relentless pressures that erode confidence and self-esteem. Too often, worth is confused with performance―rising with each “victory” and collapsing with every “defeat.” This book challenges that cycle, showing how true self-esteem can remain steady, resilient, and empowering without tipping into arrogance or slipping into impostor syndrome.
Drawing on proven techniques, it demonstrates how resilience means bouncing forward from setbacks rather than retreating, and how self-worth must be distinguished from efficacy. By breaking free from herd mentalities, external validation, and self-doubt, leaders and teams can reclaim their autonomy, project confidence, and thrive in times of disruption.
The methodology outlined here equips readers to:
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Book Bonus Program: Purchase now in advance or when the book appears but before December 1 in these numbers for these benefits:
Copies:
3: Free attendance at a 90-minute Zoom session on the topic (value $450) 6: One hour (or two half-hour sessions) one-on-one with Alan via Zoom (Value $2,500) 10: Free attendance in Alan’s monthly, 2027 Zoom workshops (Value $3,000) 20: Complimentary participation in The Den, a 45-minute, one-on-one meeting every week for eight weeks. (Value $4,500) 50: Alan will critique a book, web site, podcast series, or video series, existing or planned, with detailed recommendations for improvement and a powerful “draw.” (Value $7,500) 100: Dinner with Alan and a following morning (three hours) of in-person coaching (Value $15,000)
You can preorder here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/checkout/p/p-106-1971249-7883468/spc?pipelineType=Chewbacca&isBuyNow=1&referrer=spc
AI:AlanIntelligence®
The response to my special pricing for AI:AlanIntelligence® on my site has been so great that I’m maintaining the $450 fee for the summer with full access for lifetime to my body of work, including book contents.
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In addition, I’m providing a very special session you can read about below on how to command any room, under any conditions, at any time. The fee is $500, but if you sign up for it I’ll include AI:AlanIntelligence for free, as my gift.
https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
Alan Weiss Presents: How to Command A Room
These are the techniques of a Hall of Fame® speaker with the strongest solo consulting brand in the world, and the author of 57 books, 16 additional editions, appearing in 15 languages.
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• Learning what to ask, not what to answer.
Date: September 15, 2026 Time: 10 to noon, US eastern time, via Zoom
A video and a transcript will be provided after the session There will be volunteer role-plays to hone skills
Fee: $500 (includes AI:AlanIntelligence®) Option: Program plus four, thirty-minute coaching sessions, one-on-one: $2,000.
Fees increase to $750 and $2,500, respectively, on September 1.
Don’t delay, take charge of your discussions, your profits, and your life.
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2026 Zoom Workshops
January 6 Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic
February 3 Maximizing speaking spin-off business
March 3 Role-playing tough conversations
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May 5 Maximizing current events potential
June 12 Role-playing tougher conversations
July 8 Maximizing low project labor practices
NEXT: August 13 Maximizing panels—participant/moderator
September 8 Role-playing toughest conversations
October 6 Maximizing publishing potential
November 2 Maximizing lifestyle potential
December 8 Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally
All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary.
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