Research Paper: Trust Your Intuition!

The power of trust: intuition in action

Trust yourself, trust the client, trust the process.

It’s all about trust… But what is trust?

The Oxford Dictionary defines trust as “a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something”. Other meanings are: acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation, the state of being responsible for someone or something, a person or duty for which one has responsibility.

Everything starts with trust, with no trust there is no action.

Therefore, what is needed to be trustful?

In the book “The speed of trust”, Stephen M. R. Covey describes what is needed to build Self Trust[7], the “Four Cores of Credibility”: integrity, intent, capabilities and results. As the roots of a tree, integrity is not visible to the external world. It is in our self.

Integrity includes honesty, congruence, humility, and the courage to do what is right, even when it may be difficult, regardless of the possible consequences.

Integrity is essential to preserve the trust in yourself, so say the truth, walk the talk, make and keep commitments to yourself, stand for something, be open.

Once you fully trust yourself, you can use your intuition to define your intent and choose among all possible actions what really motivates you. This actions will be included in your agenda.

Then you can use your intuition to identify which capabilities (talents, abilities skills, knowledge) will serve you the best to achieve your aim and perform with excellence . Follow your strengths and your passions knowing that capabilities can always be increased at necessity with new learning[8].

Finally, trust your intuition and assume you will be successful. Create a powerful vision for your aim. Focus only on results, not on activities, because results are about finishing and will bring you credibility and increase your trust. Exceed your expectations and never give up: that’s the secret of a life fulfilled with action and joy!

The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When his task is accomplished and things have been completed, all the people say, ‘We ourselves have achieved it. [Lao-Tzu]

The coach as a role model for corporate managers: how extended trust can create collective intuition

In Scarlet’s story we have seen how trust can be contagious: by trusting himself and his own intuition, the boss became a role model for Scarlet.

Stephen M.R. Covey affirms that societal trust is based on the principal of contribution[9]. He observes that in the corporate world

Many competent managers never become leaders because they never learn to extend trust. Many of them pay lip service to the concept of extending trust, however they continue to micromanage. They don’t give others the stewardships (responsibility with a trust) that engage genuine ownership and accountability, bring out people’s greatest resourcefulness, and create the environment that generates high-trust dividends.

Giving “responsibility with a trust” is one of the fundamentals of the coaching relationship. Furthermore, coaching is

a partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential [10].

So how a coach can serve as a role model for corporate managers?

The case study of Scarlet, taken as an example here, clearly illustrates how coaching tools and techniques can be used in business conversations, such as one-to-ones, appraisals, brainstorming and team meetings.

A coach is a servant leader, so must be a manager to be a great leader[11].

The number one responsibility of a coach is to create a safe and trustful environment, the number one responsibility of all leaders is to inspire trust.

As coaches do, successful executives use their intuition. A recent study shows that 62% of CEOs rate “Gut feelings” as being highly influential in making profitable business decisions[12].

Just imagine if they would use coaching techniques in their teams to create awareness and facilitate new learning[13]: they would certainly enhance the ability of the members to see threats and opportunities sooner and more accurately by using their intuition.

Extended trust builds collective intuition, where extended trust is a “smart trust”[14] and the intuition of the team is greater than the sum of all individual intuitions, but where each one of the individuals has given his own contribution.

Extended trust and collective intuition rely on the core values of the team.

As for the individual, THE AIM process can be used with teams to transform the intuition in action and achieve the desired collective aim.

[1] See « Coaching Presence » in ICF Core Competencies.