Startups and Entrepreneurship

Athletes call it instinct. Hipsters know it as vibes. Scientists claim it’s intuition. You and I probably refer to it as a gut feeling. And, the more spiritual among us might think of it as a sixth sense.

In business, a lot of times we are taught that every decision we make must be data-driven but it turns out some of the world’s top minds rely just as much on feelings as they do on hard facts…

When your intuition can make the world a better place

Adam Werbach was the Sierra Club’s golden boy.

He grew up in Los Angeles where, as a 7-year-old, he would check Smog reports before his morning T-ball practices. A morning habit fueled by an enormous love for the environment and a vision for a greener future.

At the age of twenty-three, Werbach became the youngest president in Sierra Club history — one of the leading environmental organizations in the United States that promotes climate solutions and conservation.

He hit the ground running and immediately began harnessing his youthful energy, smarts and perhaps a bit of intuition to drastically change the way the club operated.

The young activist was loved far and wide and had accumulated a large following… that is until he made a business decision that nobody saw coming.

Adam Werbach decided to take a consulting gig at nonother than… Walmart… the organization that many conservationists believe embodies everything the Sierra Club stands against.

Suddenly, Werbach went from touring the country and giving 200 speeches a year in front of raving supporters to not being able to speak in public without private security.

In an interview with Fast Company, Werbach shared:

“I attended this event and someone came up to me and said ‘I wouldn’t feel safe if I were you. People have gotten hurt.’

However, the death threats were only a portion of the blows Werbach faced in his decision to go from green to blue.

His friends and colleagues pleaded that he change his mind and to this day, some of them refuse to talk to him.

Two activists even went on to write an open letter about the former Sierra Club president, The Death of Integrity: In Working With Wal-Mart, Activist Adam Werbach Is Abandoning His Principles.

Something that, if you are Werbach, probably wasn’t the most joyous thing to read with your morning cup of coffee.

However, fast-forward through over a decade’s worth of backlash, Werbach is beginning to see that his controversial decision to join Walmart was the right one.

Since taking the consulting gig at Walmart, Werbach has helped 40% of the company’s employees embrace sustainable practices.

He has been instrumental in not just lessening Walmart’s impact on the environment but improving the quality of life of its workers — one of Werbach’s movements has helped 12,000 Walmart employees quit smoking.

Besides spear-heading many of Walmart’s sustainability initiatives, Werbach is now working with large brands like Proctor & Gamble, General Mills & Sony BMG to do the same.

He argues that his decision to leave the Sierra Club and join Walmart has given him a much larger platform to spread awareness about sustainability and environmental conservation.

Could you pass the intuition?

Sonia Choquette is a globally celebrated author and coach that works with executives on harnessing their intuition to make better business decisions.

She argues that by using intellect only and avoiding your innate wisdom, you are keeping yourself from the most valuable insights.

However, even Choquette warns that intuition shouldn’t be followed blindly and is much more effective if an individual has deep insight and experience in the particular industry they’re making a decision in.

In the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, a study was published by researches at Boston College, Rice University and George Mason University that found:

Intuition is effective when making a decision in an area where the decision maker has in-depth knowledge.

“Intuition is like nitroglycerine — it is best used only in certain circumstances.”

read the unedited, original and complete (and beautifully written ) article at https://medium.com/swlh/entrepreneurial-sixth-sense-how-intuition-drives-stronger-decision-making-fc906624641c

In order to be successful, you may have to change a few things –

The way you think,

The people you associate with,

The way you do business.

These tips can move you in the right direction.

As you grow and mature, your priorities change and you gain valuable resources to help you achieve your goals. The world around you also keeps changing, so you need to adapt and explore.

If you don’t stay current, you run the risk of falling behind your competitors and missing opportunities. Or maybe you just have a desire to expand into something new.

Whether you reinvent yourself to stay current or to add a new “flavor” to your business, you have to keep on learning.

Expand your limits

Do you have the drive to reinvent yourself? Can you start fresh or add something to your repertoire?

There’s no real magic to reinventing yourself. I

The way to reinvent yourself is to stay on top of what’s trending in the world, what’s popular and what people are excited about.

You don’t have to keep on doing what you’ve always been doing if you’re falling behind or simply want to expand your repertoire -- the world keeps changing, and you can reinvent yourself to change with it.

The problem is that many people have a good, or even fantastic, idea, but it stops right there. They don’t actually do anything about it. They don’t have the drive to keep on going in a new direction.

You need to have a passion and a sense of adventure, to start exploring to see if it’s a feasible idea. If it makes sense and you have a new destination, then you need to start planning how you will get there.

Whatever you do, don’t get complacent. Many people find that once they reach some level of success with their business, they often become too comfortable.  Dont!

Remember, you won’t end up being rich if you don’t try, so you’ll simply have to keep on trying.

Damn, entrepreneuring is hard. And fun. And personally rewarding if you can handle the responsibility of being a leader.

For me, the most rewarding aspects of being an entrepreneur are the serious challenges that it presents and the no-safety-rope, feet-to-the-fire doing that's required. Leadership is one of those executive skills that are absolutely critical for success, but it isn't really taught in the schoolroom - most of us have to learn it through a variety of costly trials and errors, and very patient mentors. Despite little training, poor leadership is often the reason for failed businesses and stalled careers, the kind of thing we all try to avoid.

Leadership is difficult for everyone. That's why the world has so few good leaders. When you get right down to it, the difficulty with leadership is the people part of it. "People" are that magic and the complex society whose inner-workings will either make or break your machine. So that's a real place to focus on, right? Without a conscious effort and the ability to learn from your mistakes - and I've made mistakes! - it's difficult to develop the ability to effectively lead any group of people, much less a diverse group.

1. Take the First Step.

What is leadership without action? When hiking, the First Step might be literally the first step down the path. In a boardroom, the First Step might be taking responsibility when others pass, or making a difficult decision and letting others know how it affects them. Strive for action when others stall. Don't be afraid to make those difficult decisions and move forward. Use your inertia to show your team how and when to take action.

2. Come From a Positive Place.

People know... They can smell it. Bad intentions are poisonous, so be double extra sure to come from a place of good intentions, no mater what the circumstance. Pause, think and make sure that what you are saying and doing comes from that positive place, and make it obvious before you take any actions that affect people.

This doesn't mean avoiding difficult situations (welcome those) or being disagreeable (that's necessary sometimes). It means that the actions that you do take should obviously support your goals and your team's goals. Success comes easier this way.

Who wants to follow a bad apple?

3. Be Consistent.

Consistency develops organizational trust. When actions are, or even seem inconsistent, those around can become confused, losing sight of what to do or how to provide support. Confusion is not a good team building emotion, it damages workflow, and creates an uncertain atmosphere. Take note of your own personal patterns because those around you already do.

4. What Are You Being?

I resolved myself to become the kind of leader that attracts other leaders. This requires me to take actions that build trust, respect, and kinship. It also requires me to specifically think about each and every interaction that I have with recruits, my team, clients, vendors, and, well, everyone. "What are you being?" is the question that I ask myself to test whether I'm behaving in the way that supports my leadership goals. It's one of those questions that can stop you in your tracks, if you're honest about the answer.

5. Take a Step to the Side. (And Listen)

Great leaders are also great followers. How else could you know what leadership is? Be a great follower, continuously strive for improvement, and by your actions, teach everyone what that means.