356: Your Intuition Is Your Career Superpower

In this solo episode of Workday Playdate, Erin explores why your intuition might be the most underutilized leadership skill you have. In a world obsessed with data and overthinking, Erin makes the case for trusting the wisdom you've already earned through experience. If you've ever ignored a gut feeling only to say, "I knew it," two weeks later, this episode is for you.

Using cognitive science to practical exercises for better decision-making, Erin shares how to stop outsourcing your knowing and start using your intuition as a career superpower.

Inside This Episode:

• Your Gut Is Smarter Than You Think: Erin unpacks the science behind intuition and explains why gut feelings aren't "woo-woo"—they're actually your brain processing years of experience, pattern recognition, and emotional intelligence at lightning speed.
• Why We Stop Trusting Ourselves: Somewhere between spreadsheets, stakeholder meetings, and requests for "more data," many of us learn to ignore our instincts. Erin explores how workplace culture often trains us out of self-trust—and why it's time to relearn it.
• Introducing the G.U.T.S. Framework: When you're stuck, uncertain, or under pressure, Erin shares her four-step framework for making better decisions by combining intuition with action:
• Get Quiet: Create enough space to hear what your intuition is trying to tell you.
• Uncover the Signal: Learn how to distinguish intuition from fear, anxiety, or overthinking.
• Trust the Move: Stop waiting for perfect certainty and commit to the next right step.
• Speak It Out: Turn internal knowing into visible leadership by confidently sharing your instincts with others.
• Intuition Is Thinking Quickly on Your Feet: Great improvisers don't succeed because they overthink. They succeed because they trust their first instinct, commit, and build from there. Erin explains why the same principle applies to leadership, communication, and decision-making at work.

What to Do Now:

1. Do a Gut Check: Identify three decisions or situations where you feel stuck. Ask yourself, "What does my gut already know?" and write down the first answer that appears.
2. Practice the G.U.T.S. Framework: The next time you're facing uncertainty, walk through Get Quiet, Uncover the Signal, Trust the Move, and Speak It Out.
3. Take One Intuitive Action: Choose one decision this week where your intuition serves as the primary input. Commit to the choice and notice what happens.

Your Freebie

You’re calm, capable, and composed… until things take an unexpected turn (as they tend to do)! This is exactly why we created The Clarity Under Pressure Toolkit: What to Do in the First 5 Minutes of Any Uncertain Situation.

It’s your go-to guide for staying grounded when it matters most. Download it here.

Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!

• Leadership Playground online membership community
• Erin’s website
• Erin’s Instagram
• Erin’s TikTok
• Erin’s LinkedIn
• improve it!’s website
• improve it!’s Instagram

Connect with Erin Diehl

🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://passionstruckspeakers.com/speakers/erin-diehl/
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.

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