Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®
Episodes
Alone Again, Or Maybe Not
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: I heard an "influencer" today on a morning talk show explain that dating, or having any ongoing relationship, is no longer considered fav...
The Courage of Your Talent
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: I've been consulting, coaching, advising and otherwise helping people to achieve success, personally and professionally, for over half a ...
Process vs Content
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: If you want to maximize your business growth, you need to generalize and not specialize. There may be exceptions, but generally, the more...
The Bag Lady
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: I don’t want to give this away, suffice it to say it’s about panic vs. calm, and successful marriages vs. rocky ones.
Small Business, Small Minds?
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •Why do such a staggeringly large percentage fail? •They don't respond to inquiries when busy. •They tend to create prices based on ...
The Decline
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: It seems as if civilization, especially the arts, are in decline. Famed authors are "mailing it in" (or really writing to try to sell a ...
The WhaleSale™
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: Strategic WhaleSale™ Approach- Alan and Lisa discussed the concept of "WhaleSales," which involves targeting large, high-value clients ...
David McCullough
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: My tribute to one of the greatest historians in our history. This is the speech he made in 1995 when receiving the hugely prestigious Nat...
The High and the Mighty
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: There was a song from the movie of the same name called The High and the Mighty, by Dimitri Tiomkin, nominated for an Oscar. It was about...
Why You May Never Be Happy
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •The lessons of the newspaper woman. •The causes of toxic workplaces, more often than not. •The 90-minute wrench. •It's not your ...
Better Practices
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •Never talk to people who can say "no" but can't say "yes." •Treat the buyer as a peer, not a superior. • Have a conversation, don'...
Business Fads
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: If you're in favor of this stuff, listen carefully to the audio. You're driving on the wrong side of the road. •servant leadership •h...
Social Proof
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •This is an almost subliminal technique to create normative pressure psychologically. •It's pointing out what others are doing, or no...
Value Follows Fees
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •We think the higher the value, the more we can charge. •However, at a given point, people believe they get what they pay for and tho...
Verbosity
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •Do you know people who are loquacious, verbose, prolix? •Ask a "yes or no" question and they respond with opinions, history, and sel...
Profitable Problems
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: People want problems solved, even if you caused them! Learn how Katz's Deli and Mercedes Benz have turned problems into profits. Don't ...
Body Language
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: There are myriad claims on social media that are justified by the author observing (or being a self-proclaimed expert in) "body language....
Jumbotron
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •Let's stop the hypocrisy around this affair. •This goes on all over, government, business, education. •I've seen it, many people k...
Golf
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •Why is Scottie Sheffler likely to become the greatest golfer ever? •Why is mental attitude the key to winning? •How some sports pr...
Mercedes and Anastasia
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: We strongly suggest you view the video of this conversation using this link: https://alanweiss.com/mercedes-and-anastasia/ Mercedes and...
Unicorns
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: One of the most corrupted words in the language recently is "unicorn," which is a mythical creature. "Mythical" means "not real." Yet al...
Generations
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •We should avoid generations stereotyping. •We're really better off than we're led to believe. •Try living in Denmark or Iceland. •...
RIP Frank McGuire
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: Here's just a part of the obituary of my friend and former subordinate, Francis X. McGuire from 2010: "...a unique man whose professiona...
Fall Down Quaking
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: Fight, Flight, Fright, or Fall Down Quaking We feel powerless in an age of volatility and disruption, of lack of trust in our institutio...
Beat Bot
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: ° State of the art robots for pools. ° Found two years ago in a high-end magazine. ° Took a chance. ° Outstanding results. ° Second s...
Unmasked
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: Covid was a surprise, but not completely unexpected. Financial people were prepared for some "big event." The scientific, medical, and po...
Affiliations
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: Why are politicians asking for support without revealing the party they represent? Because they're embarrassed or duplicitous, or both? W...
Claims
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: There are jobs that many of us would prefer not to have and businesses we'd prefer not to own, but they provide valuable services. Someone...
Transgressions
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: When I was teaching a graduate course as a "side hustle" for MBA and PhD candidates at the University of Rhode Island, I inherited a stude...
An American Pope
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: The odds were better for the biggest longshot in the Kentucky Derby. An American has become Pope. It was said that no American could beco...
Life in These United States
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: •There was once a Readers Digest staple by this name, still available in summaries. •Here's mine. Keep in mind, when you critique som...
Once A Cheat
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes: I knew kids in high school and college who cheated. They stole exams or looked at other people's answers or had someone else take tests fo...
The Great Social Media Quality Dilution
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes: •Quality diminishes as numbers increase. •As everyone joins in, fewer and fewer real authorities. •A guy doesn't publish directly...
Panic
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES: The threshold of rational behavior and values overcome by opposing normative pressures. The rioter's justification. The battlefield. The ...
How to Make Sure You Lose Business
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You can't deal with Hardly Relevant or Losing and Dying. You must be paid at least a deposit in advance. You must have "non-cancellable" under terms a...
What's Wrong with Nonprofits
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While it's true that nonprofits often fail for lack of funding, there are reasons that they don't achieve funding or that they use it incorrectly and/...
The Perils of Uncertainty
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Uncertainty leads to poor choices. People seek certainty at the cost of their well-being. We have been "certain" about such horrors as eugenics and su...
Wealth Misplaced?
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I'm a capitalist. Socialism and the rest simply favor the few at the top, from Lenin to Hitler to Castro. Yet we do have too high a level of poverty. ...
Who Is the Buyer, Anyway?
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
SHOW NOTES Let's stop using inaccurate terms, such as VITO (Very Important Top Officer) or "C-suite," which doesn't actually exist. Let's focus on re...
AMscams
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Usually found on AM radio, sometimes TV infomercials, sometimes online ads. They involve an "authority" you've never heard of and an interlocutor you'...
Radon
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Radon is a radioactive gas that has no smell, colour or taste. Radon is produced from the natural radioactive decay of uranium, which is found in all ...
Mad As Hell
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore" This is a line from the 1976 movie Network. The line is spoken by Howard Beale, a charac...
Being Polite
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes: Consider two axes, one or importance (of a job, career, project, relationship) and the other of courtesy. Thus, we run from unimportant t...
Lisa Miller on the Future of Healthcare
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Miller is an expert and thought leader in efficiencies and effectiveness in health care, including how to sell in changing environments to health...
Battleground States and Term Limits
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A "battleground state" in a US election is a state where either candidate might win depending on the appeal to voters and for whom the majority votes....
War's End
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
War’s End? We’ve honored the character and acts of Jimmy Carter upon his death, as we should. But most of the honor was due to his works after h...
Gratitude
11 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We made four significant charitable contributions to the arts at year end. Two of the the group’s management called to thank us. Whenever I see a p...
Predictions
05 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes: Predictions • Both wars will run out of steam and end, officially or unofficially. • There will be insurrections in Iran. • Neither...
Replacing Resolutions
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Forget resolutions that are broken in 90 minutes. Try to focus on the good things that you do and that happen to you. Try a personal journal. You don...
December 25, 2024
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
These are times of astounding incivility, harassment, and dismissiveness. These acts are based on a posturing of moral superiority, as if mere disag...
All the Wrong Places
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you looking where it's easy or where you're more likely to succeed? We content ourselves with people who can say no and can't say yes. We seek af...
What You’re NOT Entitled To
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We seem to have a sense of entitlement. We believe we’re being “ghosted” (a ridiculous term) when people don’t return our calls because we did...
Consistently Winning
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You steer into a skid; you don't try to get out of it because then you lose control. We have to exploit opportunities and deal with setbacks resilient...
Relativism
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Relativism holds that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, and/or historical context and are not absolute. I’...
Letters and Columns
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The post-mortems from those who did not back the winner in this presidential election seem to be two-fold. On one hand, we have a group of insightful...
Friends
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We all need friends, but not the same ones! Friends need to evolve as we grow, mature, and change. Marshall Goldsmith and I wrote Lifestorming togeth...
The Election
03 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This election reflects a totally flawed Democratic strategy: • Painting your opponent as toxic but not having positive policies. • A candidate who...
Little Round Top
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The turning point in the American Civil War—and probably world history—occurred in Gettysburg on a rise called Little Round Top. At that place, at...
Here Comes The Judge
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We all get the kind of government we deserve. If you voted for the winner of the election, that’s good until such time as you feel promises aren’t...
Pressure
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Russell, in Second Wind, defines pressure and performance. For example: - Brady coming back from 25 points down in the second half of the Super...
Peregrinations
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Many people in Rhode Island have never been to Boston, let alone New York. I’ve coached a very successful entrepreneur who has never been to New Yor...
Esteem
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Esteem means respect and admiration. Hence, self-esteem would mean respect and admiration for yourself. Self-worth and self-esteem are the same thing ...
Small Business, Small Minds
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The rate of failures of small businesses is astounding: 20% fail during the first two years, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first...
Credibility with a Buyer
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some suggestions to build credibility with a buyer during the initial meeting. (This assumes you’re meeting with a true economic buyer who controls ...
Civics Lesson
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There are 330 million people in the US that we know of. There are 12,500 school districts, 18,000 police departments, 17,000 libraries, 400 different ...
Sermons
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a marketing lesson for the Catholic Church. I’m a lector and a Eucharistic Minister in the Church and converted 18 years ago. As some of you...
The Wealth We Ignore
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The agenda of inequality and wealth focused only on the richest might not reconcile with reality. There have been increases in home ownership (even t...
Just Tell Me What I Want to Know
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Just tell me what I want to know. People instead tell you everything that they know. College professors are reading their dissertation notes. Electr...
For Crying Out Loud
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Even in truly tough times and horrible market segments, there are winners and strong companies. You have to play the hand you’re dealt, and you have...
Winning And Losing
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you win a race by .001 seconds, have you really “won.”? And certainly, you’re not the “best in the world.” On that day, in that place, at...
Cowbells
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Olympics sparked several replays of an Australian swimmer, Cate Campbell, being interviewed on what I think was an Australian TV news show. In a p...
Wowsers
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve known wowsers. They’re always trying to be the “second smartest person in the room,” and they correct you even though you’re correct ...
A Conversation with Seth Kahan
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
People may think of a "Grand Challenge" as an exceptionally worthy and difficult problem to solve, and they'd be right. But it's also representative o...
Honestly
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
My wife wasn't feeling well, so I went out to eat at 5:30 and brought her something back. When I do that, I bring my iPad and read a book at the bar. ...
Two Guys
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I recorded and wrote this prior to the presidential debate. When I couldn’t publish it before the debates, I was going to abandon it. But in view of...
Innovation
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The only way to “coast” is when you’re going downhill. Even on a plateau, you have to pedal to keep moving. However, there is a way to “coast ...
They Shoot Horses, Dont They?
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? No, they don’t. The advent of the automobile around 1895 did not engender a huge equine genocide. We use horses to...
The Reunion
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our 60th High School Reunion On the way to the reunion We’re on Amtrak on our way to our 60th high school reunion: Emerson High School, Union City...
The Bartenders
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes Mario Abbondanza and Noah Chantharangsy have been bartenders for quite a while, Mario for about a quarter century. I see them so often fro...
The Breath of Others
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We claim we don’t like elites, but we eagerly follow every ridiculous and pompous movement of the British Royals. (They’re now upset about a Niger...
A Conversation with Doug Durand
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I met Doug at Merck where he worked as a sales executive and I was an external consultant. Some years later, he called me from his current pharma comp...
Family Business
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The old apothegm is that the first generation starts it, the second expands it, and the third ruins it. Probably not so true any more. It’s not abo...
Generosity
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The best leaders and most successful people I’ve met also exemplify generosity. This is not an accident. “Generosity” means “giving or sharin...
A Great Education
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I was required to engage in a “liberal arts” education at Rutgers. That meant that I had to have credits in languages over two or three years, sci...
A Conversation with Al McCree
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Al McCree is a former fighter pilot who has flown 196 missions! He is an executive in the music business and has managed all kinds of talent. He’s a...
How I'd Change Education
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Primary and secondary 1 End the “warehousing” of children • Chronology is silly and hundreds of years old • Socialization is important, but n...
Conspiracies
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Not just about the government or the banks or big Pharma, but even sports when YOUR team loses! “The refs were crooked, it was rigged.” 9/11 was ...
Pressure
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The more pressure you feel, the more your talent is “masked” and the worse you perform. You control pressure. You can’t allow yourself to feel ...
Skechers
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you need shoes that you can put on without touching them, without bending down, without even sitting down? Barring those whose illnesses or conditi...
Control
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some things we can control, some we can influence, and some we can neither control nor influence. It’s important to understand the differences, and ...
Electric
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re going to need tens of millions of electric charging stations to satisfy goals for electric cars in six years set by the government. It looks l...
Quantity Over Quality
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I send out • Daily video • Monthly video • Weekly podcast • Monthly newsletter • Weekly newsletter • Blog 7 days publicly • Blog ...
The Post-Pandemic Blues
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic is a milestone event. Even if the medical effects have been ameliorated (which is debatable), the social impact is huge and continuing. S...
A Conversation with Jeffrey Magee
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff is the publisher of Performance Magazine which has featured interviews of and articles from people as diverse as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Shaq...
Rudy Giuliani
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve met Rudy Giuliani. We belonged to the same cigar club in New York (which has since lost its lease). Those were the days when he was still in th...
A Conversation with Noah Kagan II
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you create a million dollar idea and begin earning on it in one weekend? Noah Kagan is one of my buddies and a guy I greatly admire. He’s f...
Irritations
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Isn’t Starbucks just a tad affected when the have “baristas” and sizes like grande and venti and trenta and Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Is it possib...
Discipline
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the major issues with a lack of success is that people don’t hold themselves accountable. They fail to meet deadlines, fail to fulfill obliga...
Suits
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to see writing exhaustion, this is the series. After two pretty decent seasons, the show devolved through the ensuing six as if the writer...
Healthcare
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
• We’re seeing huge changes in healthcare. • About 25% of patients used telehealth last year, far exceeding the 5% who accessed care this way ...