I recently had to make an important business decision where my gut instinct was different from what my intel was telling me to do. I really struggled because my own experience and common sense was sending me a very clear message. I had to make a tough decision where I felt totally conflicted between my gut and what advisers and data suggested I do.
Here’s the thing that’s interesting about gut instinct. We use the phrase “gut instinct” or even intuition but what is that really? Sure it seems like some mysterious feeling but really, instinct is an accumulation of learning. Your brain is basically this amazing super computer and you cannot directly access most of what’s in there. But it’s still in there. Gut instinct and intuition are just a form of unconscious reasoning rooted in the way our brain’s collect and store information. And research bears out that our gut is right more often than it’s wrong.
As a leader, your gut instinct is like a close adviser that knows things you may not, at least not on the surface. Certainly, like any other adviser your gut isn’t always going to be right, but if it’s telling you something, you’d be wise to listen. Gut instinct is really learned expertise in disguise so particularly when you are considering something you have a good deal of familiarity with, your intuition is real knowledge and not just a feeling.
That doesn’t mean that your gut is going to steer you right every single time. For example, your super computer brain is only as good as the information in it and it might be that a critical piece of the puzzle is missing in certain instances. Maybe there is a variable you have not experienced before and it can throw off your instinct.
Still, at the end of the day business is about risk and successful entrepreneurs are willing to take chances in order to grow their company. If advisers and data had all of the answers then we wouldn’t need leaders. I am not sure yet if I made the right or wrong decision in trusting my own gut instinct in this particular situation, but at least I will never sit around and wonder about a lost opportunity.
There are no clear maps to success in business and there is always the risk that you will be wrong. Great leaders typically have a well-honed gut instinct paired with a willingness to take chances and sometimes even make the mistakes needed to get to the bigger wins. And even those mistakes encountered along the way fill up your super computer brain with more intel to hone that instinct even more.
“Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.” -Donald Trump
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