Wow! This has sure been a fun series of articles to write. I am pretty fired up about being a baby boom entrepreneur and the possibilities of my second career. Thanks again go to Amy Grossman for starting my mind out of this direction of thinking!
Today we are going to look at the fifth trait in our list of seven. Baby boom entrepreneurs have the trait of intuitive behavior. To be intuitive, according to Merriam-Webster, is the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference. In other words, it means to “understand” the right or wrong of a situation without spending lots of time spent investigating.
Being intuitive means to “just know” the right thing.
What makes the boomer more intuitive? In a word, experience. We have been around the block a couple times, this is not our first rodeo, we have all been there, done that, and worn out the t-shirt. Having been around for a good amount of time now, helps us to see things through the window of experience and gives us the ability to make decisions intuitively.
This intuition allows us to make decisions more quickly in business and to become more innovate (see part 4 of this series) than our competition. It also allows us to build our team with greater success, while providing our clients and customers with service that is “beyond expectation.”
While intuitive behavior seems to come without much thought, it is a success trait that can be cultivated. All you have to do is to take some time to think and record your experience in the various situations you might find yourself having to make decisions. When were you in similar situations in your “first career?” When did you make the right decisions? What were the circumstances of those right decisions? What was the success level achieved?
As you replay these circumstances in your mind you build a sense of what the right choice would be in today’s marketplace. This “sense of understanding” is what will become a more intuitive way of doing business in your second career. The more you call on your past successes (as well as failures) the more you will be able to use the success trait of intuitive behavior.
Talk again soon ….
