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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

Alan Weiss

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
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Top 10 Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - The Second Smartest Guy in the Room

The Second Smartest Guy in the Room

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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10/12/23 • 6 min

The Second Smartest Guy in the Room by Alan Weiss
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Breathing Space

Breathing Space

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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08/17/23 • 10 min

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 performances, meetings, athletic events, entertainment, networking opportunities, and so forth. But then we think of our fictitious “business life” and “personal life” duality, and we bifurcate that huge space with a wall right down the middle, a line of demarcation with separate pursuits on each side. And then we create meetings, obligations, failure work, responsibilities, “bucket lists,” one-way streets, detours, “do not enter” zones, a great deal of noise, and misdirection. We become mice in a maze of our own creation, and that once huge, empty, high-potential space has become a tiny, oppressive place. The fact is, we have one “life,” period. Personally, I have no problem whatsoever taking a few phone calls at the beach on vacation, just as I have no problem taking a weekday afternoon and spending it at my pool. I can engage in one of my hobbies on a Thursday morning and write part of my next book or create a proposal on Saturday morning. I never feel “cheated” of time, nor that I’m “intruding” on some other portion of my life! If you have to go to Staples to pick up some office supplies, wouldn’t you also stop at the grocery to pick up some food for dinner? Or are those two separate trips, one for each “life”?! We can’t keep closing in on our “breathing space,” enclosing ourselves and reducing our huge space and opportunity to small warrens and corners. If we do, we’re going to run out of oxygen.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Episode 176: Interview with Nancy MacKay

Episode 176: Interview with Nancy MacKay

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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02/24/21 • 14 min

This episode features a discussion with special guest Nancy MacKay.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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02/15/24 • 11 min

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 the afterglow of “America’s Mayor” from the way he led after 9/11. And those were the days when crime in New York was way down. He and the police commissioner, Bill Bratton, instituted tough approaches to “minor” violations, believing they would lead to arrests and halting of major violations. So there were penalties for blocking intersections (today in Manhattan, city buses block intersections with impunity), for jumping turnstiles in subways, for the guys who tried to wash car windshields at red lights. And crime greatly diminished. Today, we have district attorneys and other highly progressive politicians who have either made “minor” crimes acceptable or have refused to prosecute them. Here’s the simple math for those of you who never majored in math (I certainly didn’t): When shoplifters steal from stores without any worry about being prosecuted, fined, or jailed, the store ownership decides to close those stores in such areas because they can’t afford to conduct business at a loss. So the pharmacies, local retail shops, clothiers, and so forth close up or relocate. Instead of walking for a few minutes to pick up drug prescriptions it then requires a 20-minute drive or public transportation for 40 minutes to a store that’s in a safer neighborhood. Activists demand that laws be passed preventing the chains from closing local stores, rather than laws preventing the “free” looting of local stores. Now ain’t that poor math? And who’s most hurt by those pharmacies that close? The elderly, the disabled, the people without personal transportation, single parents, and so forth. If you don’t want stores to close, stop the cause: crime. And to stop crime, stop ALL crime. Once you forgive the “small stuff” people move on to the larger stuff. Have I mentioned that auto theft in the US and Canada is on a severe upward trend?
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Suits

Suits

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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01/18/24 • 10 min

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 writers had become deprived of oxygen. Every time someone knocks on a door, the response is, “What are you doing here?” It’s not, “Good to see you,” or “How can I help you?”, or “Are you lost?” People discussing matters in a private office are interrupted with a solution or dramatic new information by a colleague simply traipsing in from the halls. There are continuing confrontations and apologies, prefacing further confrontations and apologies, between and among the same people, often multiple times per show. People hard to reach are ambushed in the streets—outside their offices, at hot dog carts, in public garages—as if they were on a schedule and could easily be found. Similarly, people barge into private offices in other buildings without bothering to go through security or secretaries or assistants. And the person being accosted says, of course, “What are you doing here?” All the women, from the stars and supporting cast to the extras wear stilettos all day long. I’m assuming the producers have a fetish about this. (And the clothing is out of Vogue and hugely out of place as office attire.) I’m told they’re trying to conjure up a ninth season. If this appears on any of my streaming platforms I’m going to ask, “What are you doing here?”
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Meaning

Meaning

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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07/27/23 • 5 min

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 spiritual odyssey with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. We seek such spiritual guidance in many (often strange) forms: sweat tents, therapy, 12-step programs, trodding on hot coals. The meaning in our lives needn’t be religious or spiritual, but one would think it’s above and beyond the trite and every day, sort of a North Star providing guidance. Yet it’s often normative, derived from others. We compulsively seem to emulate others’ styles, behaviors, and beliefs. The definition of meaning is “an important and worthwhile quality or purpose.” We often consider it a magical breakthrough. We picture the guru on the mountaintop (somehow living without running water or electricity, but strangely content) to be consulted and answering in runic complexity. Is this a practical pursuit? Does it matter? Does it make a difference in our daily lives, suiting us when it’s convenient but ignored when “meaning” gets in our way? I think that meaning is like a rudder that provides the direction when we’re not consciously steering. It can provide and enhance resilience and decision making, and can reduce stress and conflict. It can guide our daily actions. Which begs the question: Is meaning an ever-moving goal or is it on our shoulder, sometimes unrecognized and unheard, but available for daily guidance and direction? I’ll reveal what I think it truly is at the end of this podcast.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Higher Education

Higher Education

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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11/16/23 • 10 min

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, these are statistics. Philosophy majors in the US make an average of $62,000 per year. The same for history majors. English majors average $56,000. All teachers in public schools average $65,000 (private schools $50,000). We know this, these are statistics. Apart from a very wealthy family supporting you, how much debt can you incur and pay off (while paying for housing, insurance, raising a family, etc.) in what amount of time given your loans and your intended occupation? If you can’t make those numbers work without defaulting on loans or begging the government for help that others didn’t receive, maybe you need to rethink college. Or, at least, private schools. And, of course, maybe the government needs to rethink a ridiculous system in the public sector, at least, before it implodes.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - A Conversation with Randy Gage

A Conversation with Randy Gage

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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07/06/23 • 26 min

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 prosperity solely to financial well-being, but rather to an intelligent combination of factors, happiness being one of them. He very pessimistic about our news sources and you’ll be fascinated by his personal, daily routine. He actually times himself on Twitter and eschews the other social media platforms. He’s overall an optimistic guy, but admits his pessimism has slightly increased of late. (Here’s his blog post on social media killing prosperity: https://randygage.com/social-media-is-killing-your-prosperity/) We both agree that young people have it harder today with extreme normative pressures, poor educations, and more limited opportunities. Once upon a time you were graduated from college with an assortment of useful business and life skills. Today, not so much. Consequently, we discuss the “fall of conventional universities” and their increasing irrelevance. The future will be about competencies and not initials after one’s name. We’re “taught” to be self-effacing and “humble,” two conditions which neither boost our self-worth nor improve our standing in others’ eyes. Too many people feel powerless today, and believe they have little or no control over their lives and destinies.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - No Benefit, No Doubt

No Benefit, No Doubt

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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07/13/23 • 6 min

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 assume guilt, or fault, or ulterior motive. Maybe it was just a mistake, or an accident, or your misunderstanding. So we tended to ask, “Is that what you meant to say?” or “Why exactly did you do that?” or “Perhaps I’m not understanding this correctly.” We also forgave people when it was their fault, they did make an error. Marriages generally have not ended because of a forgotten anniversary or the divorce rate would be even higher than it is. Today, we almost always assume fault and flaw, and often we assume malice. We don't just believe someone inadvertently causes us pain, we default to the belief that they intentionally wanted to harm us. We don’t see accidents, we see conspiracies. And we don’t forgive or forget. We get even. We’ve moved light years away from “Do unto others....” to “undo others.” The other person isn’t wrong or even mistaken, they are ignorant and unethical. We see this clearly from a higher moral plain. If you’re not here to help me then you must be here to hurt me. There is no middle ground. You’re with me or against me. And if you’re against me, well you’re an inferior and subject to whatever I can dole out to demonstrate that. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that most of you will agree that we ought to give each other a break.
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Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® - Two Guys

Two Guys

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®

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07/03/24 • 8 min

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 what occurred, I’m publishing the recording and show notes now. In the upcoming debates, no notes will be allowed, and the moderators can mute the microphones. Moderators have had undue influence on past debates, becoming the inappropriate centers of attention. Think Meghan Kelly. It will be even easier now. One of the candidates is 78, and the other is 81. One has no vice presidential nominee as yet, and the other appears to be continuing with Kamala Harris, who was chosen originally solely because of her identity and her ability to gather votes to beat Trump. She has failed at every major initiative given to her since then. Trump often digresses into blather. Biden often falls victim to confabulation, where things he’s invented to fill memory losses become real to him. He was not at the top of his law school class, despite his claims that he was, but was 74th of 85 students and failed one course, having been found guilty of plagiarism. Trump degenerates into crazed diversions, at one point talking about being electrocuted when his teleprompter failed. This is an age of threat from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Are these two guys (and Kamala Harris) able to handle the simultaneous anti-US maneuvers of these leaders of this evil axis? Neither of these two guys would be acceptable as the CEO of a major organization, not to the search firms, not to the governing committees, not to the boards. Is this the best we can do in this great country? These two guys? Of course not.
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FAQ

How many episodes does Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® have?

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® currently has 379 episodes available.

What topics does Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®?

The episode title 'Episode 231 - What Is Leadership' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®?

The average episode length on Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is 10 minutes.

How often are episodes of Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® released?

Episodes of Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth®?

The first episode of Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® was released on Feb 21, 2017.

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