Allison MaslanCEO & Business Scaling Expert | WSJ Bestselling Author

Your business is lying to you (Here’s why)

4 Sept 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:44

In this brief business‑advice video, Speaker A urges leaders to leave their offices, talk directly to clients, competitors and even opposing viewpoints, citing Eisenhower’s habit of weekly dinners with political opponents as a model for gaining insight. Allison Maslan expands on this, warning that as companies scale they often become trapped in internal “bubbles” of meetings, metrics and spreadsheets, making decisions based on assumptions rather than reality. She argues that the best strategies come from real conversations—listening to a client’s unmet need, a prospect’s purchase hesitation, or a competitor’s unexpected move—because these interactions reveal the truth that drives growth. Maslan challenges founders to have at least one genuine conversation each week with a current or former client and a market peer they would normally avoid, emphasizing that curiosity sustains business longevity. She concludes by highlighting her credentials (builder of ten companies and leader of a women‑owned scaling advisory for 7‑ and 8‑figure CEOs) and invites viewers to follow her for further scaling guidance.

Chapters

Get out, get out, get out, get out. Talk to people, talk to clients. I talk to everybody. I think our government should, you know, Eisenhower had lunch or dinner every week with the opposing side leadership. Absolutely. You learn a lot. You learn to respect a lot. You learn to respect opposing views. You learn about complaints. You learn about competitors. Don't put your head in the sand. Observe, observe, observe, and have all your people do it. And it's a never-ending process because we have competitors from around the world.
As you scale, it is so easy to get pulled into the machine, the meetings, the metrics, the inbox, and you end up running your company from inside a bubble, making million-dollar decisions based on what you think is happening out there instead of what actually is. So your best strategy is never going to come from a spreadsheet. It comes from a conversation, a client telling you what they wish existed, a prospect telling you why they almost didn't buy from you, or a competitor showing you a move you never even considered. You cannot get that from behind the desk. And the Eisenhower piece, that's the part I really want you to hear. He had dinner with the opposing side every week, not to win, but to understand. So imagine running your business that way, sitting with a customer who churned, the employee who sees things differently. You don't lose anything by listening and you gain the thing that moves a company forward, which is truth. So this week, get out, have one real conversation with a client, a former client, and someone in your market you would normally avoid. The founders who stay curious are the ones who stay in business. So get out. I'm Allison Maslan. I've built 10 of my own companies over the last few decades. And for the last 17 years, my team and I have been running the world's leading women-owned scaling advisory for 7 and 8-figure CEOs. So hit that follow button for direction on scaling your business and your life.