I’ve just completed the sixth Million Dollar Club, this one in Hong Kong, with elite consultants from three countries. I accept only ten firms. I’be been immersed in sophisticated and productive and energetic thinking (and dining).
So to welcome me back to the rest of the world, I received two emails this morning. One is from someone who has read my free newsletter, Balancing Act, for the very first time, and felt constrained to immediately point out a typo. “Perhaps good enough isn’t enough,” she pompously proclaimed, using the title from one of my books to try to make her “gotcha” point. I told her that if that’s the only thing that moved her to write from a newsletter with four columns dripping with content, then perhaps I’m not for her.
The second was a person I don’t know who presumptuously informed me that my views of Beijing are incorrect, despite having been there last week, because, while he has never been there, he has two friends who are academics who were there two years ago, and they disagree with my observations and experiences. He felt constrained to write me six paragraphs on that. I told him that he ought to go himself, but since I’ve been to 60 countries and people consider me able to eat solid food without dropping it on my lap, that perhaps I may be accurate and his friends either distant or with an academic’s agenda.
Of course I’m venting here. But when people are moved solely to “correct,” to point out errors (and not even in fact but often in taste), and to try to undermine, despite their insistence on “just helping,” they are wasting the time that the universe has bestowed. Finding fault is easy, non-productive, and trivial.
Finding meaning and improvement and contribution are the stuff of the people I had the pleasure to be with during the week here. Which path are you on?
© Alan Weiss 2013
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Yesterday (Thursday) was the second of our three-day Million Dollar Club meeting. The afternoon included a guided tour of Victoria Peak, Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, and the Stanley Market. We dined in the evening at Aqua, probably Hong Kong’s most incredible restaurant, all glass and 29 stories above the harbor, in a private room. It’s always rewarding when sophisticated, well-traveled people walk in and say, “Wow!!”
In the photos below you’ll see a man who carved my signature in English and Chinese on a stamp. He’s been doing it for 30 years and is missing three fingers on one hand. It was a fantastic process to watch and when he was done the shop owner handed me a card and said, “If you ever need more, here’s out web site”!
Our sampan captain
The famous floating restaurant, Jumbo
A fisherman cleaning his catch
I don't know if it was his boat or a loaner
The beach at Repulse Bay
Carving my signature stamp
© Alan Weiss 2013
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After the grey, grimness of Beijing, Hong Kong is fresh air (literally and figuratively). The city is vibrant, exciting, and full of options. The difference between today and my last visit is the nonstop building into every available space.
After our meeting, my wife and I had lunch at the top of the Mandarin Oriental, then I had a cigar in the tiny cigar bar in the lobby. We took the group to the China Club last night, where the noodle chef does his thing in front of diners (see my Facebook page for the video). Today we’ll tour Victoria Peak, Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, and the Stanley Market. Dinner at Aqua.
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I’ve always found that if I tell someone I’m going to be in New York (less than three hours by train) they say, “That’s nice, but I’m busy that day.” If I tell someone I’m going to be in Chicago, a two-hour plane ride, they say, “Let me see if I can reschedule in order to meet with you.” If I’m heading for San Francisco, almost five hours by plane, they’ll say, “What day and time are best for you?” And if I’m traveling to Hong Kong, a half-world away, where I’m currently holding meetings, I’m told, “Let me host you. We’ll go to dinner and I’ll provide introductions.”
The farther you travel, the more people are willing to go out of their way to accommodate you. (Remember the old rubric, a consultant is someone with a briefcase more than a few hours from home?)
Invest in the air fare. Drive for six hours and stay overnight. If you’re meeting with a buyer it’s worth it every time. I’m weary of people who don’t want to invest in their own success.
A guy actually asked on Facebook (where else?): “What’s the cheapest way to get involved with you so that I can build my business?” He didn’t ask the most effective way, he asked for the cheapest way. I wonder if he’d ask for the cheapest heart surgeon?
Invest in your success, there are no finer potential dividends anywhere. Part of that investment is the time to go see legitimate buyers for an hour or so. If you want to stay home and sit by the phone, that’s fine, but be aware that at some point you’ll no longer be able to pay the phone bill.
© Alan Weiss 2013
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They take very good care of us at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong, and every desire is attended to. The place is very upscale, and it’s interesting how that influences perspective.
When we visited the Great Wall outside of Beijing, the guide took us to a typical restaurant in a small city where we sampled fabulous dishes at lunch. So I asked the concierge here to find us a typical Chinese restaurant for dinner after church on Sunday. She sent us to Fook Lam Moon.
The cab let us off in front of densely packed buildings and the restaurant was on the second floor, a good sign. However, once inside the street level door, we were greeted by a hostess and two seaters, all with earpieces, who had our reservation and greeted us by name. One of the seaters escorted us on to the elevator.
“We’re here,” I said, “because the hotel concierge told us you were the perfect restaurant for good food and typical atmosphere.”
She turned on me in almost outrage and said, “Sir, we are a one-star Michelin establishment!” and, with that, the doors opened on a lovely room full of very upscale local people.
Apparently, the concierge’s view of us is that “typical” is just a single Michelin star!
(The food was great, and the wine list staggering, some bottles going for several thousand dollar US!)
© Alan Weiss 2013
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November 18, 2013—Issue #217
This week’s focus point: The sun is rising in Hong Kong and I’m looking at the spectacular harbor through floor-to-ceiling windows. After the grim, grayness of Beijing the past week, this vibrant city is a shot of adrenaline. People ask why I’d travel halfway around the world to sightsee and hold meetings. The answer is simple: The greatest problem with death is in things left undone. Life is too short to begin with, and I don’t intend to leave what’s important to me undone. I’ve walked a small part of the Great Wall. I also want to travel a small way to Great Contribution. We are here to help each other and, ironically or perhaps logically, the more we do so the more we help ourselves. We put our own oxygen masks on first only to enable us to help others with theirs. Then we can all breathe deeply and find our way.
Monday Morning Perspective: Look for problems through a telescope, not a microscope. — Antony Jay, “Management and Machiavelli”
International Experiences: Personal Power and The Pivot Point, London and Bali: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/PersonalPower.php and http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/PivotPoint.php
Improv for Marketing, LA and NYC: Learn how to stay in the moment in the buyer’s office. http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/ImprobablyImprov.php
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© Alan Weiss 2013. All rights reserved
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If you decide on your development by “What’s cheapest?” instead of “What’s best?” then you’ve confirmed that what you’ve been doing in the past is woefully insufficient and you need to change your criterion. The best investment you can ever make is in yourself. Do you ask, “Who’s the cheapest heart surgeon?” or “Who’s the best?”
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