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Intuition Is Your Best Weapon in Business
 
When was the last time you had a gut feeling about a particular business issue but didn't listen to your intuition and then soon regretted your decision? Do you frequently doubt your intuition and rely solely on empirical evidence as the basis for your decisions? If so, you may be underutilizing one of your most powerful business weapons: your intuitive intelligence.

Those of us who work in the areas of organizational development and social psychology tend to place a substantial amount of credence on IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) when, in fact, intuitive intelligence (sometimes referred to as intrapersonal intelligence) is a critical success factor for any business person.

"Intuition" is derived from the Latin word "intueri", defined as "looking within." Our friends at Funk and Wagnall define intuition as "the power or facility of attaining direct knowledge without evident rational thought." That is a powerful concept, particularly when applied to business and your personal success strategy. Having an intuitive experience is like having a conversation with truth and sourcing one's own higher power.¹

Many people believe that, if they are not creative, they do not possess a propensity for intuitive thinking. They assume that intuition, like creativity, is a right-brained function. However, whereas various intelligences and skills are typically relegated to the "left brain" or "right brain", intuition is a "whole brain" function.

The part of the brain called the corpus collusum is the dense network of nerves that connect your left and right brain (the cerebral cortex); it is within the corpus collusum that higher thinking - and intuition - occurs.

According to Dr. Jill Ammon Wexler, the moment we enter a strange room or situation, our brains immediately being to assess and integrate the input from all higher thinking, the input from all five senses, and our entire lifetime of experience.

"Within milliseconds", she says, "Your brain analyzes the situation, compares it to your lifetime of experience, and gives you a spontaneous 'gut level' feeling about your environment. Either you're judged 'safe' and you feel relaxed and comfortable, or you're judged 'threatened' and you feel nervous, or on edge. All of this occurs on a non-rational level as an instant 'ah ha' feeling."

Whereas employers have consistently rated communication skills as the most desirable business asset, this appears to be changing: Recent studies by the Shell Oil Company and Harvard researchers have shown that top executives frequently attribute up to 80% of their success to intuition, and that high levels of intuitive intelligence are often found in the top tiers of organizations.

Traits often found in those with high intuitive intelligence include: an awareness of one's personal value system, a healthy awareness of one's own feelings, an ability for self-direction and self-management, a powerful level of self trust, a desire for innovation, a refined knowledge of one's strengths and weaknesses, and a high degree of self regard.

Developing your intuitive intelligence requires work - and patience. First, be aware of the intuitive abilities you already in your repertoire? Do you experience any of the following?

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    • Hunches

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    • "Gut" feelings

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    • An inner voice

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    • Dreams

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    • Déjà vu

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    • Precognition

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    • A sense of "butterflies", discomfort, or other sensation when in certain situations or      around certain people

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    • A sense of insightfulness

    Intuitive exercises can be helpful, but my best suggestion is to put your innate sense of intuition to work for you as often as possible. For example, when faced with a significant business decision, make two lists: one outlining the facts and objective data, and the other listing your feelings and "gut" reactions to the decision. Get comfortable making the decision based on your gut instinct and see what happens - I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

    As you become more comfortable with the results of your intuitive decision making, you will also learn to trust and develop your intuitive intelligence. Couple this intelligence with your intellect and EQ and you now possess the ability to quickly soar to the pinnacle of your success.

    Our present American benchmark of conducting business on logical, task-oriented, technological, and knowledge-based principles is archaic. Organizations across the board must begin to take a humanistic and holistic approach to the complexities of their business issues in order to maintain a competitive advantage and grow to new levels of success. Intuitive intelligence at its highest form of development enables the savvy business person or entrepreneur to utilize his or her arsenal of intellect, empirical evidence, skills, competencies and experience to intuit the correct application of these tools for the optimal outcome.

    ²How Intuition Can Transform Business. http://intuita.com/articles11.htm

    Debra Davenport, PhD, is a Master Professional Mentor and the president of DavenportFolio, a licensed firm with offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix that mentors entrepreneurs and professionals. She is the creator of the Certified Professional Mentor® designation and certification program and the author of The Ten Commitments of Highly Successful People. debra@davenportfolio.com or (866) 232-6492.
     

     
     

     

     

         
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