Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 09/02/2024
My father told me a story about his days in the military whereby a messenger brought an envelope for a colonel. The corporal at the desk signed for it in the log with his initials and, upon the colonel’s return, showed him the delivery.
The colonel told the corporal that he was not authorized to initial a delivery of this kind, so he should erase his initials and then initial his erasure.
Bureaucracy is the triumph of means over ends. “There’s no damn reason for it, it’s just our policy,” is a phrase I’ve actually had “explained” to me! I recall a CEO client and his entourage, intensely viewing fishbone charts at various assembly points in a fit of quality fanaticism, when I pointed out a machine leaking oil onto the plant floor. “Later,” shushed a vice president, “we’re busy now.”
Some restaurant hostesses see their jobs as making guests comfortable on arriving. Others see their jobs as filling in a seating chart. (They become splenetic if you ask to change your table after seeing it.) Some gym trainers see their work as improving customers’ health and well-being. Others see it as counting to 15 repeatedly. I remember a London restaurant near the Ritz that had a long staircase down to a dining room. The manager came by, saw me peering down and said, “Is everything all right?” I improvised with, “I’m meeting friends down there and I’m afraid of long stairways.”
“Pity,” she said and moved on.
Last night we had a poor meal in one of our regular restaurants. The staff noted the food largely untouched when they cleared, and told the manager. The manager came over and immediately voided the bill. That wasn’t a loss for the place, by the way, it was actually an investment.
Do you want to be known for laying bricks, or building a cathedral, or bringing people closer to God?!
Your choice.
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status. —Laurence J. Peter
If you’re going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy; God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t. —Hyman Rickover
Bureaucracy gives birth to itself and then expects maternity benefits. —Dale Dauten
NEW: The Esteem Machine
Low self-esteem creates high stress levels, guilt, and fear, and “masks” natural talents. You can never succeed to the utmost of your abilities if you’re worried about being “found out” and constantly concerned about how to “wear a costume” pretending you’re someone else.
Join me for 90 minutes and I’ll help you design a program for yourself that you can implement and follow by yourself, daily, to create a far greater sense of confidence and certainty about your true value and worth.
I’ve been helping people do this for 25 years in both corporate and entrepreneurial settings. However, this is the first time I’ve codified it so that, once the process is mastered, you need no further coaching or external support.
In other words, I’ll help you gain the esteem to perpetually power your Esteem Machine.
Oct 8 via Zoom, 10:30 to noon US eastern, recording provided. $450
https://alanweiss.com/growth-e
New Newsletter: Not Without Honor….
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” —The Gospel of Mark, 6:4
Join me for a monthly newsletter that will explore, analyze and predict ramifications of issues and events in global societies. Each issue will focus on topics that will include politics, social mores, the arts, sports, technology, financial affairs, and other contemporary issues.
Develop the ability to discuss current issues with dexterity and insight and become an object of interest to others, whether clients, colleagues, or friends. The discussions will be brief and focus on three-to-five issues per edition. Letters and commentary from readers will be welcome.
For example, as we are undergoing the dynamics of morbidity outpacing fertility in most developed countries, there will be a profound labor shortage if actions are not taken rapidly. This includes such diverse political systems as China and the US. There are three key areas, that must be utilized to accommodate what is apparently a multi-generational problem. We’ll discuss what they are and analyze what must be done to successfully resolve the dilemma.
You get the idea. The first issue launches in October. The fee is $500 for the year of newsletters, including all back issues if you join during the year. If you subscribe prior to August 1, the fee is $400. https://alanweiss.com/
NEW!! The Spontaneous Session
People laugh today when I tell them I’ve “prepared” for a Zoom or live session. They know my speeches are mainly riffs, and that I never change a word or phrase when I’m writing my books. (My all-time best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting, through six editions, has had exactly one paragraph changed by the publisher.)
What I want to do on Halloween is give you a treat by showing the tricks of my trade. I will actually demonstrate how you can be spontaneous and also highly impressive, controlled, and effective. You will walk out of the morning able to use spontaneity in business meetings, social and civic settings, in speeches and presentations, and in conflict. If you stay for the afternoon, you’ll be able to practice this with your colleagues and then with me. If you can do this with me, you can do it with anyone!
If anyone else is providing this kind of help, I don’t know about it. If you stay for the afternoon, I’m buying lunch. And at the end of the day we’ll vote as a group on the best extemporaneous performance of those remaining and I’ll provide a credit for your entire fee to use for any of my future programs.
Stop saying, “I wish I had said….” or, “Next time what I’ll do is….” You don’t have to risk $200,000+ (as I once did) and I guarantee you won’t be risking this tiny investment either in freeing yourself to be even more successful immediately.
October 31, 2024. Las Vegas, venue TBD 9 am to 4 pm (afternoon optional) Full day $1,250, Half day $950 Lunch included with full day. https://alanweiss.com/
Almost Here: Thought Leadership 2024
I’m hosting a tenth Thought Leadership Conference, and our first such session post-pandemic, in Delray, 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.
My newest book, Building Dynamic Communities: creating an evergreen client ecosystem, to be released later this year, will be personalized as my gift to you when it’s available, 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. Finally, if you attend this session you may join the quarterly Zoom sessions next year for free, a $2,000 value.
My very special guest is the leadership guru, Hall of Fame speaker, and great wit Lou Heckler, who will be with us throughout the workshop.
Register here, please: https://alanweiss.com/
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://
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/
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://
NOTE: I’ve reinstated my inexpensive, limited coaching program I last used during Covid because I’ve found people who need help right now growing their practices. I’ve offered it to past coaching participants, but I can handle several more people at this point. Five calls at your desire: review proposals, prepare for meetings, create passive income, etc. $2,024. You simply have to use them before the end of the year, 30 minutes each. Should pay for itself 20 times over. You can write to discuss ([email protected]) or sign up by paying here: https://alanweiss.com/
Want to join me for my Book Sprint? In 60 days complete a proposal for an agent or an acquisitions editor (or the outline and marketing plan for a self-published book). We have an 80%+ “hit rate” for obtaining book contracts, complete with my introductions. The schedule is flexible and I’ll create one around the first people to register. The fee is $4,500—we meet weekly by Zoom with assignments in between and a common Drop Box to review each other’s work. Write me at [email protected].
2024 Virtual Workshop Series:
Major Growth Issues for Professional Services Providers
I’ve designed this series around the most frequently asked questions in my global coaching program, and from the advice I’ve provided that has most rapidly propelled people to much higher income and far less labor intensity. Everyone enrolled in each 90-minute program will receive a recording. I also encourage questions in advance. You can choose individual sessions to attend. If you join during the series, all prior recordings will be sent, as well.
All sessions are on Mondays at 10:30 US Eastern time so that you can begin your week with new approaches. The sixth session is intended to create a far more powerful 2025.
Session One: Ghostbusters (recording available) July 22, 2014: Learn how to prevent people from “ghosting” and what to do in case they do refuse to return calls and emails. However, my methods for avoiding this entirely are highly effective, and can be applied immediately—in fact, as soon as you leave the workshop or video. People call me back because they can’t afford not to.
Session Two: The Real Story: August 26, 2024 Story telling has been proven to be one of the most effective and high impact methods to influence others. Learn the three components of any great story, how to create them, introduce them, deliver them, and exploit the results. Discover the events in your life that are great stories that you don’t even realize you own. And learn how to immediately recall the appropriate story when needed extemporaneously.
Session Three: Brevity: September 23, 2024 Learn to shut up.
Session Four: Achieving and Sustaining Results Leadership: October 21, 2024 Step away from the hackneyed “thought leadership” (Does that mean you have more thoughts than everyone else?) and into the rarefied atmosphere of unequivocal achievements and concomitant brand power. Believe it or not, the thinking didn’t go into creating drills, but rather how to create holes.
Session Five: How to Be A Contrarian and Live to Tell About it: November 18, 2024 You need an “edge,” the ability to unsettle people. There IS such a thing as “too much quality,” and “overly happy employees.” The customer is NOT always right, and while the early bird may get the worm, it’s the early worm that gets eaten. Follow me right to the edge without falling over it, and learn how be a constant object of interest.
Session Six: The 20-Hour Week, the Million Dollar Year: December 9, 2024 Some people say, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” I say, “The smarter I work, the luckier I get.” Learn how YOU can create a 20-hour-a-week approach to your profession and/or practice, and how that can create a million dollars (or more) annually. These are not metaphors. I’m serious. You don’t believe that? Well, what if a thousand people bought this entire series that you are considering right now? That’s over a million dollars for me “working” 90 minutes a month for six months. If you think I can do that, but not you, I thank you, but shame on you! Don’t you think you ought to invest enough to see what you’re capable of, and if it’s possible for you? I mean, even if it’s 25 hours….
All sessions are recorded and distributed promptly as part of the program. The Special Sessions (below) are arranged with me at mutually-convenient times over the ensuing 12 months.
Single Session: $350
Two Sessions: $650
Three Sessions: $900
Four Sessions: $1100
Five Sessions: $1,200
Six Sessions: $1,300
Register for all and you’ll receive videos of any you’ve missed.
Special Sessions: All six plus six 30-minute Zoom coaching calls with me, one-on-one: $2,500. These appointments will be adjusted to accommodate differing time zones.
