I didn’t notice it all that much until I was a parent of two daughters with deadly mental health needs; it was only then that I started to feel it both at home and at work. Different from the annoying chatter of negative self-talk, this was a feeling deep within me that signaled when something was off, not quite right. I learned to trust and to follow it with my family and professional colleagues.
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”
– Rumi
While many business leaders may insist on data and analytics for decision-making, when it comes to people, intuition (although not infallible) is invaluable. Humans are emotional beings, when we listen to what is happening around us and draw from experience, we can feel our way through being, doing, and impacting at a much higher level. The Journal of Psychological Science conducted research and found that people can apply their intuition to making faster, more confident decisions.
Personally
My intuition has alerted me to checking in and interrupting attempts to restrict nutritional intake or suicide ideation with both of my daughters.
As a Coach
I’ve learned that intuition can spark a powerful question or ignite a new observation which can help clients build even stronger self awareness.
Professionally
I’ve become more attuned to both what is and isn’t said among colleagues at work to pick-up on challenges or feelings that may be getting in their way. There are two particular hiring decisions I’ve made over my career whereby I did not follow my intuition because I discredited it. Both decisions ended in a much regretted termination several months later and a restart to the hiring process. In any case, there has always been more to gain than there was to lose by trusting my intuition.
Intuition is an additional channel of information that we all have access to, one which can improve decision-making. A rational mind backed by data and analytics and an intuitive feeling backed by experience and trust provide information from different sources. Neither approach is right or wrong. From my perspective, I value both, and I can say that trusting my intuition has helped me choose a course of action that has literally impacted my life and the life of others.
– Melissa Law
