Risk & Business Magazine Knight Archer Insurance Fall 2015 | Page 25

Instincts at Work Why Would You Put a Square Peg in a Round Hole? BY: WARREN BARRY, OWNER/FOUNDER, INSTINCTIVE SOLUTIONS INC [email protected] E mployees will always perform better and succeed when working in an environment with an approach that increases and utilizes their mental energy. We all have 100% of mental energy to use every day, it’s how we use that energy which sets us up for success or failure in our day. How we naturally get things done is an individual approach, and we all have our unique strengths and talents to contribute to the team. When we as leaders misalign our employee’s instincts with their job, we are asking them to operate outside of their natural way of doing things. It is unnatural, it’s frustrating, and painful. This can result in stress, poor performance, absenteeism, disengagement and eventually illness. Wouldn’t it give you a great advantage to know the natural strengths of your employees and to be able to align them with the best fit possible in their job? The instinctive, or conative aspect of your mind is the innate “doing” portion of your mind. It is a different and distinguishable pathway from the cognitive (thinking) or affective (feeling) part of the mind. It has nothing to do with your intelligence or your personality. The conative aspect of your mind is where your natural strengths, mental energy, innate drive, and talents reside. This is how you take action and problem solve. This is ho