Intuitive Leaps
My mom worked in Personnel (now called Human Resources) for most of her career. When I was in college, she gave me a chance to participate in one of her workshops using a personality test. I have no idea which one. It’s not any of the familiar ones that we now know, but it worked on the same principles. And that’s when I learned that the test, and my mom, placed me in the category of “Analytic”. I didn’t know much about how it all worked, but I thought it meant math and statistics and such, so I didn’t think that was me. Of course, eventually, I learned Mom was right. In True Colors(TM) terms, I’m clearly a Green and very much an analytical type. In Strengths Quest terms my top five strengths are: Learner, Intellection, Input, Strategic, and Responsible – clearly analytical.
But it’s also true that I am can be intuitive though like the Analytical label, I would have said that’s not me for quite some time. However, one of the advantages of having a long career and being on this planet for a while, is that you can look back and see things you didn’t notice while you were living through them. Or perhaps it’s that you need the perspective of time to understand how things turn out.
In college, I said yes to an invitation to be part of the student staff that developed and ran the Oklahoma Model United Nations, a mock UN for about 500 college students. And against all my normal patterns at that point in my life, I applied for and was appointed to the position of Secretary-General in my senior year. I had no interest in political science or international affairs, but now with the benefit of hindsight I can see why I enjoyed it – I was a budding administrator. I liked being part of a team, of managing the complexities of running a multi-day conference. Deciding to take on a role that scared me, that seemed to have nothing to do with anything I was studying or planning for, was not an analytical decision. I wouldn’t have called it intuitive at the time, but perhaps it was.
I’ve been a mover in my career. I call it having “itchy feet”, that sense that I’ve done what is there for me to do at one campus and it’s time to look for the next position. Early in my career, it felt like it was time to make one of those changes. I had been in Abilene at McMurry College (now University) as Associate Dean of Student Life for three years and had changed to the position of Director of Alumni Services/Assistant Director of Development. I wasn’t sure about making the change, but I could and I wouldn’t have the hassle of moving. A few months into the job, I knew it wasn’t a good fit and started looking. I was offered a job as a Residence Hall Director at SMU and I was ready to take it when they offered it to me. But I stopped myself and asked for a day to consider it. I called at the end of the day and declined the offer. It was embarrassing to have to do, but I knew it wasn’t the job for me.
That’s when I learned about the idea of moving toward something instead of away from it. I was so ready to leave that I took the Alumni job even though I wondered if I was making a mistake stepping away from Student Affairs. The good news was that I learned working with students was very important to me and I missed it in that job. The other good news was that a few months later, I listened to that little voice that told me the residence hall job wasn’t right for me at that point. Eight months later I moved to Austin to take my first job at UT Austin which turned out to be a very good move that really started me on my career path.
The lessons I learned that year have continued to help me make better decisions about my career and all sorts of other decisions along the way. Trusting one’s instincts, one’s intuition is a skill like so many other intangible skills and can be developed through practice and by paying attention as you make decisions. But it’s also a good idea to look back after some time passes to see what you can learn from the results of those decisions.
And you can start now. Find some time to look back across your career decisions and any other decisions you have made over time. What do they tell you? Where did you follow your intuition? Were there places you didn’t? Is there a difference in how things turned out? What can you learn form this analysis of your intuition? How might it help you make your next decision? I hope you’ll learn that those intuitive leaps may be scary, but they can also be very exciting. Best of luck.
Take care,
Gage
For those who are curious – a book update.
The manuscript has gone through two rounds of edits with me then reviewing the changes they suggested and making the ones I agreed with. Now, it’s going through what Atmosphere Press calls the Cold Read – proofreading, looking for continuity problems, etc. by someone who has never seen the book before.
At the same time, I’ve been working with the design team as we try to come up with the cover design as well as the text for the back of the book. The target date to have everything ready to go to a printer is February 25, 2027. If we stay on track, and we are so far, the book will be ready sometime this spring.
More to come, but progress!!
Quote of the Week
“I believe in intuitions and inspirations…I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am.”
Albert Einstein
“Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum theory. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from special relativity, has been called “the world’s most famous equation”. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for “his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”.”