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Marilyn O’Hearne
People Power: Leading With Intuition
(Thursday, March 03, 2005)
Listening to your gut can guide you in your business decisions.
Why use intuition? In our hectic world of information bombardment, the ability to make
quick decisions that give desired results is crucial. Using intuition provides a
competitive edge.
Business coaches are trained to utilize their intuition as they listen and respond to what
business leaders say, as well as what they don’t say. Intuition guides us in which
information to pay attention to. It answers questions like “What is going on? Which
way to go?” It can help “cut to the chase,” and prevent “missing the
boat.” Leaders use their intuition to discover the right answers for clients, staff
and business decisions.
What Is Intuition?
Intuition is knowing or believing something instinctively, without actual evidence for it.
The ability to size up a situation and recognize the best course of action used in rapid
decision-making is another way of looking at intuition. Intuition involves noticing cues
(physiological, such as “listening to our gut,” emotional, spiritual and
cognitive) or patterns based on experience that ultimately show you what to do.
Using Intuition in Decision-Making
Business leaders evaluate decisions by rapidly running a mental simulation. They imagine
how a course of action may unfold and how it might ultimately play out. Experienced
firefighters do this in a matter of seconds, according to research by Klein Associates.
Helen Thompson, principal/managing partner of Resonate, describes this as
“seeing” herself in a "day in the life" for each option.
“I'm going to go to sleep and wake up and know exactly what I need to do,” she
told herself in the 80s. Her answer was starting her own marketing company, which was so
successful that within three months she had outgrown her home office. She said that even
if the business hadn’t shown initial success, it wouldn’t necessarily have been
a bad decision, it may have just been ahead of the trend. Intuition can help with timing.
Starting a business still involves a leap of faith.
The more you use intuition, the better it works¾similar to a muscle. The more positive
results you achieve, the greater your confidence in it.
Business leaders say that intuition works best in decision-making when combined with fact,
research, trends, ethics, integrity, hope and faith.
Don’t Go There
When meeting someone for the first time, intuition lets you know if they’re
trustworthy, whether to “hire” them as client or staff, whether or not to do
business with them, even where to safely meet. Intuition can be experienced particularly
strong as a warning, “No! Don’t go there.”
Despite their intuitive warning, business leaders in start-ups may be afraid not to take
on a client, fearing the loss of income. Taking on a client that your intuition tells you
not to hurts, because clients who are not a good match will not enhance your reputation,
will take more time and will drain energy.
Men may not have the same cultural permission to recognize and pay attention to their
intuition. The firefighters in the Klein research, for example, did not identify their
mental rehearsal process as intuition.
Ken Cobb, a partner with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP, said that when people don't
trust their intuition or God’s guidance, the reason usually is their desire for
control. People tend to distrust what they can't quantify, so instead of acting on
intuition, they sometimes delay decisions in an attempt to accumulate perfect information
first. Not acting on intuition can result in missed opportunities.
Using Intuition for Business Planning
One of the characteristics of a great leader is having a clear vision. Intuition helps
access that vision. Klein uses “Premortems” for uncovering potential problems in
business planning. Before they undertake a new project, the team meets and looks six
months in the future, and imagine the project has failed. The team members take three
minutes to mentally run through those six months, and then write down the reasons for the
derailment. Potential problems are unveiled in advance, preventing overconfidence and
increasing preparation.
Marilyn O’Hearne uses intuition and other skills to provide breakthrough leadership,
life and transition coaching, resulting in increased PEP
Performance/Effectiveness/Profitability (and/or Peace/Energy/Prosperity). She can be
reached at www.marilynoh.com.
Kansas City Small
Business Monthly
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Marilyn O'Hearne, MSW
Master Certified Coach, International Coach Federation
COACH, Trainer/Speaker, Writer
Breakthrough Executive/Life/Transition Coaching
Want MOre PEP?
(Performance, Effectiveness,
Profitability and/or Peace, Energy,
and Prosperity?)
Renewing Your Spirit Workbook Author
marilyn@marilynoh.com
7111 W. 151st Street
Suite 171
Shawnee Mission, Kansas USA 66223
913-327-0611
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Master
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