Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®
Episodes
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 ...
How to Improve Your Profits
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
• Cut your expenses: virtual assistants, subscription software, subcontracting (even in the Philippines). • Move work to the client. • Focus on ...
Overdone
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you have a great talent on stage, do we really need dancers, other singers, flashing lights, and magic tricks? What does Starbucks gain giving us...
Lowering Higher Education
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
•The American Council on Education reports that 33% of universities and colleges have female presidents. • In the Ivy League it’s six of eight....
Profanity
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I find the use of profanity is the last resort for the inarticulate. It’s supposed to be “daring” and “shocking” but it’s actually just la...
Cultural Curiosities
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered about how other people might see this society? The proliferation of “tip jars” when virtually no service is performed; the ...
Devolution
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The opposite of evolution is devolution. Merely moving forward in time chronologically doesn’t guarantee higher standards, better performance, or im...
True to Yourself
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why do people immediately leaving a church service proceed to cut you off in the parking lot or, immediately before it, park in “no parking” fire ...
Higher Education
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
According to Google, the average college/university tuition in the US is $26,000 a year, but they range up to nearly $90,000 per year. We know this, t...
Screed Part Three
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are the major concerns of leadership in the near future? • Managing the transient worker • Metrics for true performance and not “presence”...
Immediate Gratification
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
• Gratification is pleasure • Immediate means done at once • Why do we seek this: ° To avoid delay in important matters personally/professional...
Overhead Overboard
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Here’s how I saved the entire $450,000 tuition bill for my kids by not having an office. I’ve never needed nor desired employees for my strong, ...
Bonanza
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bonanza: A situation or event that creates a sudden increase in wealth, good fortune, or profits. It was also a TV show in the heyday of westerns,...
The Second Smartest Guy in the Room
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Second Smartest Guy in the Room by Alan Weiss
A Conversation with Barry Banther
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are in the midst of the largest transgenerational shift in wealth in the history of the country. Part of this are the maturing retirement funds cre...
Virtue Signaling
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is an economically disadvantaged kid better off because of an insistence on how many black film editors, or baseball executives, or executive chefs re...
A Conversation with Jeff Herman
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff has been representing me for over 30 years, and was responsible for acquiring publishers (McGraw-Hill, Wiley, Macmillan, AMACOM, et. al.) for my ...
Proportionality
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I received a letter from someone who had subscribed to one of my newsletters for $250 annually. He was late, but I accepted him, and he demanded—not...
Censorship
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Elin Hilderbrand has a new book called Five Star Weekend. In my view, it’s awful, not at all up to her earlier work, predictable, with paper-thin ...
I'm Old Fashioned
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An “old fashioned” is a fabulous cocktail. The official origin of the drink is still heavily debated. While the Waldorf-Astoria in New York by way...
The Bridge
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1973, D. Keith Mano wrote his only science fiction book, The Bridge. It takes place in 2035, over 60 years since its original publication, but onl...
Breathing Space
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we see an empty ballroom, or stadium, or theater, we can see unlimited possibilities if we have any creative juices at all. We can stage performa...
Unsolicited Feedback
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let me harshly deal here with people who provide you with feedback you didn’t ask for, don’t require, and can’t use. That applies to feedback wh...
A Conversation with Seth Magaziner
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seth Magaziner and I met when he ran for, and served as, Rhode Island State Treasurer for eight years. I asked that we make this conversation non-part...
Meaning
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What do you mean? What do we mean? What is “meaning”? We seem to be engaged existentially in some search for meaning. The Beatles were famous for...
A Conversation with Tony Estrella
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I could share theater stories with Tony all day long. As both an actor and director of great stature, his knowledge of the theater and its strengths a...
No Benefit, No Doubt
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Remember “the benefit of the doubt”? That was meant to convey the belief that, when something was in doubt, give the other person a break. Don’t...
A Conversation with Randy Gage
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Randy told me once that you don’t end poverty by creating more of it. He’s an independent thinker on prosperity and success. He doesn’t connect ...
A Conversation with Guido Quelle
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Guido and I have known each other for a quarter century. He introduced my concept of value-based fees in Germany in building his multi-million euro bo...
Graduation Day
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How much have times changed in the past 50 years? What is the difference in view point, expectation, and options for college graduates today versus th...
Generations
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
50s: Constancy, GI Bill, Levittown, Sputnik, Korean War, Univac, DNA discovered, Joe McCarthy, Hungarian uprising, Montgomery bus boycott 60s: Kenned...
A Conversation with Chris Kolenda
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chris gave up his commission as a full Colonel in Afghanistan to assist three, four-star generals and two Secretaries of State to try to negotiate wit...
LinkedOut
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Learn how I’ve been banned from Linkedin, though not why, because none of us knows why. Consider what might happen to you—with your business, a sp...
Microaggressions
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Macroaggressions should be pretty obvious, but even they are often ignored because they are too common. I’ve been involved in shining a light on the...
A Conversation with Lee Duckworth & Larry Dooley
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s seldom that you can receive uncomplicated answers about the economy and the impact of these turbulent times. Ask five “experts” and you’l...
Internecine Strife
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are largely in conflict with ourselves. This is assured to be destructive to everyone. One person complains that their sixth grader saw the great ...
A Conversation with Suzanne Bates
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve known Suzanne for about 20 years. She is the relatively rare example of the founder of a boutique firm who successfully built up its valuation,...
First Impressions
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why is it that I trust the doctor when he simply says, “You look healthy, don’t worry, you’re not sick”? The first 90 seconds of your speech ...
A Conversation with Steven Gaffney
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven and I have known each other for over a decade. He’s an expert on a widely-studied field—teams—and a field not studied enough—honesty. ...
Observations
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In dealing with a global community of thousands—and hundreds of thousands who have read my books—I’m able to keep my finger on the pulse of the ...
A Conversation with Connie Dieken
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Connie is a former anchor on two major networks. She has moved from broadcasting to coaching, consulting, and speaking with remarkable ease. She’s c...
ChatGPT (or not)
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Well, is this a further step in the dehumanization of civilization, or a Jonestown Kool Aid romp, or another Y2K flop? When you put a variety of docu...
A Conversation with Rebecca Hubbard
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve been staying at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York City since it was solely “The Palace” and run by the legendary Leona Helmsley. It’s id...
Homelessness
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I recall walking out of a church in the twilight in San Diego and thinking it was horrible that store owners and residents had left their garbage on t...
A Conversation with Jonah Berger
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I became aware of Jonah Berger after reading his books Invisible Influence and Contagious (and later, The Catalyst). Somewhat ironically, he was and i...
Are You Coachable?
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. That includes those who just want to be validated without making changes. That includes those...
A Conversation with Lou Heckler
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lou has been speaking professionally for over 40 years, during which he also logged time as a newscaster and talk show host. He and I met in the late ...
Sustainability
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We often think of sustainability as having to do with the environment: food, clean air, power generation, and so forth. But a different kind of sustai...
A Conversation with Gene Valicenti
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gene and I lived in adjoining towns in New Jersey but met here in Rhode Island decades ago. (He calls our origins “the old country.”) He’s won ...
Southwest Air
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What Herb Kelleher had brilliantly created has come apart at the seams. The aerodynamics of the company don’t work anymore. But, what do you expect ...
In Conversation with Willie Jolley
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I met Willie Jolly about 30 years ago at a meeting of the National Speakers Association. We were both new to the organization and he was a great “fo...
The Unwoke
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ironically, in these very liberal times we’re experiencing the greatest restrictions on free speech I can remember: in the media, on social media, i...
In Conversation with Noah Kagan
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I first “met” Noah a couple of years ago when he asked to interview me on one of his podcasts. I wasn’t familiar with him but he was very person...
Fixing The Schools
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Here are my suggestions for fixing our public schools so that every student is respected, educated, and supported. 1. Stop electing amateurs to schoo...
In Conversation with Clark Hoyt
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are the community newspapers doomed to extinction? Are the major newspapers truly objective or biased in their reporting? Are we really talking about ...
The Ignorance of Bliss
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do you treat others as you would like to be treated? That’s not merely a Biblical injunction, it’s an ethical position. Yet we tend to treat othe...
In Conversation with Patricia Fripp
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fripp and I met 20 years or so ago at the National Speakers Association (the “NSA” she refers to in her comments). She was in their Hall of Fame a...
War of the Worlds
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Science fiction movies proliferated in the 1950s, all with dire threats for earth, and probably accidental or deliberate metaphors for the nuclear age...
In Conversation with Dan Pink
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I met Dan Pink several years ago when we were both writing books in Nantucket. He is a diligent, “stone mason” (by his definition) kind of writer....
Triple Speak
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“I didn’t walk in here and I’m not leaving.” That’s an example of paradoxical and misleading language. That was uttered by a drunk colleague...
The Official Lowdown on Sports Officiating with Alan Goldberger
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Somewhere along my journey I met Alan Goldberger who, aside from having an excellent first name, has an extremely interesting career. First, he’s a...
How to Close Business Quickly
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I have traditionally closed over 80% of my proposals using my format of 2.5 pages based on conceptual agreement with the buyer. Many people in my comm...
In Conversation with Joe Zammit-Lucia
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I met Joe over a decade ago when he began a pharma consulting firm with offices in New York, Cambridge (UK), and Tokyo. We worked together immediately...
The Two Deuces or Why Winning Isn’t Everything
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a competitive world, a Darwinian, capitalist world, but I contend that winning can be dysfunctional when pursued merely for the sake of the...
Nancy MacKay’s Global Calling for Inspirational Leaders
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy emerged from academia with the intent of finding “game-changers” in her life so that she could become one herself for others. She has built...
An Era's End
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are we in merely another pothole of history or are we actually turning a corner into the unknown? Does western liberalism stand a chance of continuin...
In Conversation with Ali brown
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How many people do you know who coach entrepreneurs making seven- and eight-figures? Ali coaches scores of them and assists with the turbulent times t...
Errors And Omissions
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mistakes are unavoidable, whether from habit, being ill-advised, or changes in our understanding. They are inevitable and can’t be completely avoide...
Chip Bell and the Customer Journey of the Future
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Learn about the customer journey. Appreciate the “language of the customer” What do luxury brands really try to create? Join the “optimistic ...
Debt
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We explore the need to help those who need help, as opposed to those who simply make irresponsible decisions.
Nido Qubein: Innovative Growth in Academia and Leadership by Example
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nido has raised over $400 million this year for Highpoint University with no formal development effort. In 2022, in US News and World Report, Highpoi...
Greed: Wherein We Examine Why There Is So Much of It
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Alan Weiss reveals The Uncomfortable Truth behind Greed. What is it and why do we have so much of it? Greed is a longing to have thi...
Episode 254 - The Extra Yard
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I don't mind waiting, I do mind being irritated.
Episode 253 - Do-Gooding
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"An examination of when pretending to help others hurts them and only helps yourself."
Episode 252 - Too Much Good Business
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Turning down good business is like, well, it's not like anything at all intelligent.
Episode 251 - The Grammar Police
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pull over, your fortay is showing and you were speeding through February
Episode 250- Utter Hypocrisy
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’re not being told the truth and the people not telling us don’t care.
Episode 249 - True Jobs
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
That’s a terribly cynical stance.
Episode 248 - The Good Old Days
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If today is so bright, why are people so dull?’’
Episode 247 - Physician Or Politician Heal Thyself
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How to run for governor with no one mentioning your past crimes.
Episode 246 — HP-Heartily Pathetic
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
HP: Heartily Pathetic: Whereby Hewlett-Packard loses its luster and its customer.
Episode 245 - Radicalism
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On why the center will hold and the blessings thereof.
Episode 244 - Ponzi Schemes
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Level marketing is merely a Ponzi scheme that cheats everyone after the organizers.
Episode 243 - Dishonest Politicians
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do you still want to defund the police now, or maybe expand the ranks?
Episode 242 - Dumb Ass Stupid Management
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How we are surrounded by people stupid enough to think that we're that stupid?
Episode 241 - The Power Of Smaller Numbers
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What "reach" really means and why a whole lot of people are often irrelevant.