Weiss Advice Issue: 223, February, 2022
All right, it’s February, you’ve not made progress on your resolutions, COVID restrictions are in place to varying degrees in various locales, political stalemate prevails, and life ain’t what it used to be.
Nor should it be.
Many organizations and individuals have done better than ever over the past two years, which probably includes some of you reading this. Disruption and trauma exacerbate both strengths and weaknesses. The good get better, the poor get worse.
Survival of the fittest. You may be inclined to argue about God but it’s folly to argue about Darwin. Just look around.
I’ve tried to establish previously that there is no “new normal” nor should we want one. Who wants to by “typical” and “average”? However, there are new realities which we should exploit and not fear.
Here are my predictions about new realities. Why listen to me? Well….
Probabilities
- COVID is now endemic, meaning it’s like the flu or common cold. We are living with it, being prophylactic in getting vaccinated, cautious in using masks, and contingent is using pills to mitigate effects should we contract it anyway. This will become an accepted part of society, except among those who refuse to be vaccinated.
- The combination of fear and loathing (fear of illness, loathing of one’s non-stimulating and often abusive work environment) has created situational staffing shortages. You need to escalate to more luxury offerings (hotels, airlines, retail stores, autos, etc.) if you have expectations for consistently high service.
- Which leads me to the fact that a hell of a lot more people are becoming “independent consultants” who don’t know their gluteus maximus from their antecubital fossa. Thus, like the escalation above, you need to raise your fees to demonstrate you’re the top of the heap and to exploit this dynamic.
- So long as you can safely return to home base, it’s a great time to travel in 2022. It will be unique for you to visit clients overseas or conduct real workshops. And it’s a great time to sightsee.
- You must work extra hard to remain visible. Clients and prospects face “overwhelm.” They’re not going to have you on their radar unless you appear as an incoming missile, which will get their attention. Be provocative, innovative, challenging, and contrarian.
There you have it. My resolution, by the way, was to tell you the truth, no matter how much it might hurt. (You, not me.)
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Hey, by the way, join my Power Community beginning in March (https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/power-community-experience/) for 60 high-intensity days which include weekly Zoom calls, monthly livestream, free attendance at one of my workshops, and a lot more. My SAC discount is $500. Times will accommodate global participants.