by Alan Weiss, Ph.D., from Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo©
Reprinted with permission. Featured Image from Bentley Quarterly Magazine used with permission.

I coach people globally almost every day, as well as run virtual workshops via Zoom (though I do look forward to hitting the road again sometime soon). Here’s what I’ve found  are the traits and habits of professional services providers and entrepreneurs who have been most successful over the past six pandemic-restricted months.

• Perspective and optimism. They do not see the sky falling. They are more like Paul Revere than Chicken Little. Disney, Revlon, Netflix, Apple, and a host of powerful companies and ideas were launched during very tough times.

• New services offered and innovative approaches to existing ones. They are assertive in providing value, as Machiavelli said, “which suits the manner of the times.”  (Next week I’ll be delivering the first ever virtual Million Dollar Consulting® College.)

• They offer help, not projects. They ask simply, “How can I be of help?” As George Merck admonished, “Do good and good will follow.”

• Fearlessness in calling and contacting buyers and recommenders. This is a pellucid differentiator. When I ask, “Did you call 15  people since last week?” the best say, “I called 25” and the worst say, “I didn’t get around to it.”

• They had resources. There was personal and/or business money set aside or there were readily liquid investments if needed.

• Finally, they had a formal or (more likely) informal community. People were accustomed to talking, to meeting, to gaining value and insights. There was no need to try to construct one when people were already distracted. In fact, the community was a “go-to” source for help and support. Nothing magical here, just talent, discipline, and working smart, pandemic, or no pandemic.

Growing through Times of Change

Want to receive this type of guidance in your inbox weekly? Check out Alan’s resources here.

Why has NatureCoaster has Reprinted this Article?

I have been subscribing to and reading Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo© for more years than I can remember on my entrepreneurial journey. His writing style, humor, and no-nonsense approach to life on life’s terms as an entrepreneur have helped me to know that I bring value to most every equation.

I highly recommend that you add Alan’s tools to your kit to help you start thriving in life. You can learn more about him below.

When you are ready, get his books and read them, invest in his paid workshops and watch your dreams come true. — Diane

About Alan Weiss, Ph.D.

His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on the boards of directors of the Trinity Repertory Company, a Tony-Award-winning New England regional theater, Festival Ballet, and chaired the Newport International Film Festival.

His speaking typically includes 20 keynotes a year at major conferences, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, Boston College, Tufts, St. John’s, the University of Illinois, the Institute of Management Studies, and the University of Georgia Graduate School of Business. He has held an appointment as adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rhode Island where he taught courses on advanced management and consulting skills to MBA and PhD candidates. He once held the record for selling out the highest priced workshop (on entrepreneurialism) in the then-21-year history of New York City’s Learning Annex. His Ph.D. is in psychology. He has served on the Board of Governors of Harvard University’s Center for Mental Health and the Media.

He is an inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame® and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1% of professional speakers in the world. He has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of only two people in history holding both those designations.

His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 25th year and fifth edition. His newest is Threescore and More: Applying the Assets of Maturity, Wisdom, and Experience for Personal and Professional Success (Routledge, 2018). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.

He is interviewed and quoted frequently in the media. His career has taken him to 60 countries and 49 states. (He is afraid to go to North Dakota.) Success Magazine cited him in an editorial devoted to his work as “a worldwide expert in executive education.“ The New York Post called him “one of the most highly regarded independent consultants in America.“ He is the winner of the prestigious Axiem Award for Excellence in Audio Presentation.

He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, the first-ever for a non-journalist, and one of only seven awarded in the 65-year history of the association. He holds an annual Thought Leadership Conference which draws world famous experts as speakers. In 2014 his featured speaker was political pundit, best-selling author, and media favorite James Carville, in 2015 Master of Influence Robert Cialdini, and in 2016 Dan Gilbert of Harvard who has over 15 million views of his TED talk on happiness.

He has coached former candidates for Miss Rhode Island/Miss America in interviewing skills. He once appeared on the popular American TV game show Jeopardy, where he lost badly in the first round to a dancing waiter from Iowa.

Alan is married to the lovely Maria for 47 years, and they have two children and twin granddaughters. They reside in East Greenwich, RI with their dogs, Buddy Beagle and Bentley, a white German Shepherd.