Show Notes

I've been consulting, coaching, advising and otherwise helping people to achieve success, personally and professionally, for over half a century. Those clients include CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, top governmental elected officials, executive directors on nonprofits, solo entrepreneurs, entertainers, athletes, and lawyers, accountants, designers, architects, and a myriad of employees.
Until the 21st Century kicked in, this was standard work on skills, behaviors, attitudes, and self-confidence. Then things became a bit weird, which was exciting for me, being a resource for people, but scary for them (and, I admit, a bit baffling to me). However, prior to the covid epidemic, it became clear there was a subliminal crisis of confidence brewing which, during and post-covid, burst into the open and became its own pandemic.
Many might say the causes were obvious: conflicting medical opinions, tainted political agendas, paranoid conspiracy theories, and all of this inflamed by social media random misinformation and speculation. Yet as I watched the confusion, uncertainty, and vacillation, I realized the actual causes were an unprecedented feeling of powerlessness, an unsatisfied need to receive some kind of “permission” to act, and a profound loss of self-esteem and self-worth.
“Self-esteem,” for simplicity's sake for the moment, is a confidence in one's abilities to achieve desired results, and an ongoing self-respect irrespective of whether the individual is successful. It's not about ongoing “victories” or “wins,” but it is about a permanent sense of “worth.”
For many people, that has been lost. Like athletes in a “slump” in terms of performance, especially under pressure, people are becoming more afraid, more uncertain, as the turmoil and disruptive nature of our times continue and will not abate.

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.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken