Your Intuition Game Is Strong

Hi! My name is Parissa. This is "Modern Badass: A Field Guide", a place for Modern Badasses to feel seen, heard, understood and respected. And, it's also a place for others to crack the code on the Modern Badasses in their lives (and maybe learn some badassery themselves). Want to receive this 2x/month? Hit the "subscribe" button above.

"Cold hard facts are all you need," said no Modern Badass Leader ever.

I've yet to come across a Modern Badass Leader (in my field of Modern Badass Leader anthropology) that didn't have access to their "sixth sense" or their "knowing" as a leader.

It has to be so... If we look to the 14 traits I've identified in all things Modern Badassery, it's a key element in what makes you as powerful as you are. If you didn't have it, you wouldn't be able to see audacious goals in your mind's eye, let alone see the path to get there.

Your "Spidey Sense" is magical.

High performers like you succeed by using intuition as a secret weapon, especially when working with data. You're genius at sensing patterns and understanding how to apply those patterns to maximize your chances, your team's chances and your client's chances for success.

Intuition is also why you're so good at embracing and leveraging your creativity. You lean into innovation and disruption when you allow intuition into your strategic arsenal. Intuition helps you take risks and make investments in yourself and your team because you believe in the transformation that happens on the other side of that risk.

Let's be clear. I'm not taking away from the diplomas gathering dust nor your impressive IQ. But if we're honest, we know magic happens when intuition is front and center. We also know what happens when you don't put it front and center. You may have regretted ignoring a "gut feeling." I'm still kicking myself over ignoring a few of those "gut feelings" I've had.

A cautionary tale.

I was put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) barely 7 weeks into a new job. I was fired as soon as the PIP was over.

It would be an understatement to say this was devastating, humiliating and embarrassing (all of the bad -ing words can go here). It was a major professional failure.

The PIP really was just a formality. It didn't matter one bit if I went from horrible employee to best employee ever. They had made their decision to fire me when they put me on the PIP. It would be easy to believe that the PIP was the warning shot across the bow to me. The truth is that it wasn't.

My first day on the job was the warning shot. On that day, my intuition was screaming that I was not a fit for them and they were not a fit for me. I remember saying, "OMG. What have I just done?" I remember ignoring that gut feeling because I was stubborn and chose to tough it out. I thought I could prove my intuition wrong. I suffered immensely for ignoring it.

And therein lies the lesson.

Every time I have a conversation with a C-Suite or a powerful leader, intuition comes up in conversation. Interestingly, inasmuch as they are well trained, have a lot of expertise and experience, intuition has an equal and sometimes more important role in identifying opportunities, decision-making, guiding teams, etc.

Intuition helps:

• guide you when you're standing in front of the proverbial whiteboard and asking "What's our opportunity here?"
• you hire that "right" person who just "fits" regardless of team, goal, etc.
• fuel you when you are in FITFO mode.

Leverage that magic.

Your intuition is a wonderful gift and an excellent advisor if you choose to seek its counsel. It helps you embrace risk and channel your awesome on the path to that audacious goal.

I love to coach leaders who tap into their intuition. Seeing them have a balance between the tangible and intangible to capture those audacious goals is always fun and inspiring.

What has happened for you when you listened to your intuition? Or, what cautionary tale like mine do you have to share?

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