“At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.”
—Alan Alda, Actor, Writer and Producer
VIM Executive Coaching has long championed the idea that executive leaders respond to the stressors in the work place, not react to them. In terms of career counseling, we teach the idea that “reaching the gut,” or if you would prefer, your core or center or instincts is an extremely valuable tool in executive leadership development.
Getting Out of The Head
Our modern work environments erroneously favor “being in the head,” not in the heart. The root causes for this shift are numerous and clearly the digital world, one that often encourages group-think, self-correction and conformity, doesn’t help matters. The “influencer” assertions often tell or encourage executive leaders to follow a certain way or the right way, but it is not necessarily correct way. What the executive leader feels, rather than what they are told to feel, can be a valid and valuable set of emotions.
A Psychology Today article (May 4, 2025) entitled “Why Instincts Matter” states (italics are ours):
“Learning to trust your instincts is not about being reckless. It's about recognizing that you possess a deep-seated intelligence shaped by countless generations. It's about respecting that, in many cases, your instincts pick up patterns and dangers faster than your conscious mind can process. Ignoring instincts can lead to hesitation, poor judgment, and missed opportunities.”
Obviously, there are guardrails that every executive leader must develop over the course of a career to ensure the instincts are properly examined and weighed.
A 2021 study documented in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology entitled “Mindfulness Meditation: Impact on Attentional Control and Emotion Dysregulation” tracked the value of mindfulness in moderating what could be called gut instinct.
The conclusions of the research do not negate anyone following their instincts, but suggest the creation of a framework for examining the situations in the light of honest reflection and response. While the psychologists felt more research needs to be done, their unmistakable conclusion was:
“Mindfulness meditation training, and its various adaptations, hold great promise for improving cognitive and affective health.”
A Powerful Combination
Combining mindfulness training with learning to respond, rather than react to stressors, is a powerful set of tools.
The enhancing of the gut instinct, in the context of career counseling, celebrates individuals and encourages executive leaders to celebrate themselves. In the celebration of self, entire work teams are improved. This leads to the nurturing of respect. “Respect” has become an important aspect of employee happiness, as it should be.
The employment website, Indeed.com, devoted a recent article to the topic of respect (June 15, 2026):
“Collaboration and productivity together create a positive workplace with satisfied employees. Employees can be happy with the work they do and leave at the end of the day feeling proud of what they have accomplished. This sense of satisfaction has the power to benefit employers in the long run.”
Mindfulness work and training executive leaders to look inward with empathy and appreciation for others generates that element and culture of respect. In terms of career counseling, executive leaders who truly listen, appreciate one another, encourage and support accomplishments are, without fail, valued.
In short, organizations don’t need more social media influencers or leadership gurus, thank you, but those who respond with compassion and strive to develop those around them.