Peter Atwater is an expert on the impact of confidence on decision-making. Through years of research and real-world experience, he knows that if you understand how people feel, you can better anticipate what they want and what they are likely to do next. He has worked with global business leaders, professional investors, marketing organizations, industry groups, and sports teams to see the powerful linkages between confidence and the bottom line. As a recent client put it, “Peter is able to pull it all together and present it back so that we all can begin to say, ‘Aha!’ That’s the trend. Those are the road signs. That’s the direction of the what’s going on in the world around us.” Atwater is a keen real-time observer of the behavioral parallels that cut across financial, economic, political, and social trends and helps his clients not only to understand them, but to use them to their competitive advantage. He connects what is happening across Main Street, Wall Street and Constitution Avenue. When business leaders, policymakers, and members of the media want to know what to expect next, they turn to Peter Atwater. Atwater, though, doesn’t just connect things that others don’t see, he makes them easy for his clients and audiences to use, too. Atwater’s highly intuitive framework enables individuals at all levels to understand how and why our feelings drive what we do. Moreover, they can readily apply these concepts to their personal and professional lives. As a former business leader, Atwater knows the importance of turning ideas into actions. The result is that when he is not teaching in the university classroom, Atwater can be found consulting to some of the world’s largest companies, helping them to better navigate our rapidly changing world. Atwater is also a regular speaker at major conferences, helping individuals to better understand the impact of changing confidence on their lives and the lives of those around them. Atwater works with a rich behavioral template with broad application. In an era of uncertainty, Atwater is in high demand.
no
832351
00:00
start listening
Episode 447
Peter Atwater
What Happens When Social Trust Collapses? | Peter Atwater
Peter Atwater is an expert on the impact of confidence on decision-making. Through years of research and real-world experience, he knows that if you understand how people feel, you can better anticipate what they want and what they are likely to do next. He has worked with global business leaders, professional investors, marketing organizations, industry groups, and sports teams to see the powerful linkages between confidence and the bottom line. As a recent client put it, “Peter is able to pull it all together and present it back so that we all can begin to say, ‘Aha!’ That’s the trend. Those are the road signs. That’s the direction of the what’s going on in the world around us.” Atwater is a keen real-time observer of the behavioral parallels that cut across financial, economic, political, and social trends and helps his clients not only to understand them, but to use them to their competitive advantage. He connects what is happening across Main Street, Wall Street and Constitution Avenue. When business leaders, policymakers, and members of the media want to know what to expect next, they turn to Peter Atwater. Atwater, though, doesn’t just connect things that others don’t see, he makes them easy for his clients and audiences to use, too. Atwater’s highly intuitive framework enables individuals at all levels to understand how and why our feelings drive what we do. Moreover, they can readily apply these concepts to their personal and professional lives. As a former business leader, Atwater knows the importance of turning ideas into actions. The result is that when he is not teaching in the university classroom, Atwater can be found consulting to some of the world’s largest companies, helping them to better navigate our rapidly changing world. Atwater is also a regular speaker at major conferences, helping individuals to better understand the impact of changing confidence on their lives and the lives of those around them. Atwater works with a rich behavioral template with broad application. In an era of uncertainty, Atwater is in high demand.
Episode 447 is the tenth installment in the Hundred Year Pivot podcast series. In it, Demetri Kofinas and Grant Williams speak with Peter Atwater, a recognized expert on the impact of confidence and mood on individual and group decision-making. Peter’s work has been instrumental not only in helping his clients, students, and readers understand how people make decisions under conditions of chaos and uncertainty, but also in showing how to use those insights to gain a competitive advantage.
The three begin their conversation by mapping out Peter’s Confidence Quadrant and using it to explain how individuals and crowds move between feelings of high and low certainty and control. They explore the immense contemporary pressure people feel to conform—particularly on social media and in an educational system that rewards conformity. They discuss financial nihilism, the search for community in unusual places, and why real, in-person networks, relationships, and conversations matter now more than ever.
The second half of the episode turns to the political economy of confidence: the rise of leader-centric movements, the fragility of “passenger-seat” societies, the lasting impact of COVID, and the “velvet-rope” economy that has transformed everything from airline cabins to financing. They discuss wealth stratification, powerlessness, the risks of a genuine socialist revolution, the search for leadership, and practical ways individuals can regain agency—through epistemic hygiene, disciplined storytelling, and by being in service to others.
Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you’d like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you enjoyed today’s episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by:
Peter Atwater is an expert on the impact of confidence on decision-making. Through years of research and real-world experience, he knows that if you understand how people feel, you can better anticipate what they want and what they are likely to do next. He has worked with global business leaders, professional investors, marketing organizations, industry groups, and sports teams to see the powerful linkages between confidence and the bottom line.
As a recent client put it, “Peter is able to pull it all together and present it back so that we all can begin to say, ‘Aha!’ That’s the trend. Those are the road signs. That’s the direction of the what’s going on in the world around us.” Atwater is a keen real-time observer of the behavioral parallels that cut across financial, economic, political, and social trends and helps his clients not only to understand them, but to use them to their competitive advantage. He connects what is happening across Main Street, Wall Street and Constitution Avenue. When business leaders, policymakers, and members of the media want to know what to expect next, they turn to Peter Atwater.
Atwater, though, doesn’t just connect things that others don’t see, he makes them easy for his clients and audiences to use, too. Atwater’s highly intuitive framework enables individuals at all levels to understand how and why our feelings drive what we do. Moreover, they can readily apply these concepts to their personal and professional lives. As a former business leader, Atwater knows the importance of turning ideas into actions.
The result is that when he is not teaching in the university classroom, Atwater can be found consulting to some of the world’s largest companies, helping them to better navigate our rapidly changing world. Atwater is also a regular speaker at major conferences, helping individuals to better understand the impact of changing confidence on their lives and the lives of those around them. Atwater works with a rich behavioral template with broad application.
In an era of uncertainty, Atwater is in high demand.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
