I’m sure at one time or another you’ve been in the self-questioning thought of “I should have my head examined doing this type of work as a profession”. But then you realize you have a ‘knack” for this sort of challenge. You actually…dare I say it here, “enjoy” it to some extent. That very self-question highlights the topic I wish to discuss, as “that” is, the “It” factor in our work. More importantly, the “It” factor in the candidates we ultimately want to hire.

But how do we capture that information in the search/review process? How do we know we actually possess this attribute in order to do our part in our profession, and recognize the It factor in the candidates within the search/review process? Here we sit at the center of the problem…do we need to have the It factor ourselves before we can identify it in anyone else? The answer is Yes. So let’s move farther into this interesting and challenging truth within the core of the hiring process.

I have years of experience in spotting a trend as to the “how” of this very element of the search formula, and the trend is intangible in its very nature. “It” is a refined, innate, intuitive, intellectual level of the “gut feeling”. Gut feeling response rather than reaction. By human nature, gut feeling reaction is part of the fight/flight instinct that triggers survival actions for protection. But to only rely on this lower level of gut feeling as a reaction, people never move beyond the primal/baseline react/thinking level. We see an example of this playing out in the workplace as people restricting choices so as to stay in a “safe zone”. Basically not standing out one way or the other.

This unfortunately does not make for great career satisfaction, nor does it help anyone during performance reviews. People can learn to stay in this zone of self-limiting apprehension in an attempt to reduce stress in the workplace. Yet, inevitably, doing so creates stress, because people seek self-validation that comes directly from career satisfaction and performance reviews that recognize one’s efforts and abilities. Lower level gut feeling reaction can’t ultimately help us feel accomplished, because self-limiting apprehension has not been conquered.

Gut feeling reaction/response is also tied to our level of competency. It indicates to us our connection to our common sense (or lack of common sense), and also our ability to confidently take charge of situations we know we can handle, but we get stuck in apprehension so can not make the choice, and raise the value of our position within the process of our career. By raising our level of gut feeling from reaction to one of response and innate intellectual connection, we raise our level of common sense-ability, and conquer self-limiting apprehension. We also raise our level of response-ability, because we are working from a higher level of responsive information rather than reactive information.

Here is the magic of empowerment. This refined, heightened level of innate gut feeling response is the “It” factor. This “It” factor is not related to any vocation, but is an innate ability that is acquired and applied to any vocation. In general, this is perceived as a greater level of common sense, or strategic ability. Yet the ability is not because of any academic education, or training. Which is why it is an innate ability that is learned, not taught. This goes to the core of our ability to succeed or fail, or remain apprehensive.

With these varying levels of ability to communicate with/understand our gut feeling reaction/response on any subject, we begin to understand our ability to listen/gather insight/respond to the information shared from our gut feeling. We then have the opportunity to raise to a higher level of innate/intuitive response/action, in a practical application within our chosen vocation. This is the power behind any and every business leader that has gone the extra mile and taken steps to greater success with no reservations—for that heightened level of gut feeling has been so refined, it has ingrained itself into a way of thinking that surpasses linear evaluation processes.

This is where the ability to gain access to wavelength thinking begins, which is where true leaders in any given vocation tap into (knowingly or unknowingly). We can begin to understand where the “it” factor originates. For without raising to the gut feeling of “response”, we would not have a connection to our innate intellectual sense. We would not have a greater degree of ability to respond. In raising the gut feeling we can take that instinctive sense and give it a practical connection and a practical application. Which then shifts gut feeling to become a more intuitive form of thinking which is between instinctive and intellectual in our very mind-set of creative thinkers. That practical connection of intuiting is to begin to apply it to our everyday work environment.

In doing this one simple shift in how we perceive our projects, and our own awareness to how we actually perceive information, we can begin to learn how to use the value of the raised gut feeling in regards to our innate intellectual level of thinking. We begin to experience a greater sense of confirmation in our process of choice—which is to say, our final selection of not just the “right” candidate for the position, but the “best” candidate for the position. The raised gut feeling brings information to us that is more subliminal than tangible forms of evaluation, yet this subliminal information can be applied within the tangible process.

This raised gut feeling tells us more than the categorization of skill sets. It tells us the unmeasureable attributes of the candidate. It also tells us about our own unmeasureable attributes each time we go into this heightened level of communication. It’s how we get a “feeling” about something and just ‘know” it’s not just right (vs. wrong), but actually correct. We could say even perfect. Which then empowers us to make more valuable choices. Knowing we are making the final best choice—knowing “it” when we see “it”. Increasing our value of choice.

Take your time and ponder on this article. This insight goes deeper than ‘how to’. Let this information seep into your own thought process regarding your own position in your career, and your own formula for candidate search/review/hire. This approach is a better way to raise into the knowing level of wavelength thinking, and the practical application of one’s own “it” factor. Trust your process—you’ll know you’ve got it when you see it. You will sense your own increased value of choice.

Steve Diedrick
Search Entrepreneur
“It’s what I do – It’s in my DNA”

© 2008 SearchInsight, All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.