Latest / The Talent Brief / Trust Your Gut
Transcript
- Jeff Ganter: Welcome back to the Talent Brief. A quick diversion, I owe you an apology for my absence over the past few weeks and thank you for asking whether I have upcoming podcasts. I was called for my first ever jury duty, which lasted two weeks. It was fascinating, humbling, and definitely a future podcast topic. But today's conversation isn't about jury duty, leaders or hiring managers. It's for anyone who's tired of second guessing themselves. I'm Jeff Ganter, and this is the Talent Brief, where we go beyond job titles to discuss the human experience behind the work we do both personally and professionally. Today's topic is something most of us ignore. Your gut. That quiet signal you feel, and instantly talk yourself out of it. You send some things off in a meeting. A role doesn't feel right. A manager's words don't match their actions. And instead of listening, you tell yourself, maybe I'm overthinking. Maybe I should be grateful. Maybe this is just how work feels. It isn't. Your gut isn't just noise. It's pattern recognition. Your nervous system detects tone, safety. Energy and inconsistency faster than your brain can interpret it. Your body reacts before your mind gets a chance to create a story. And in a world where burnout becomes normalized, ignoring that warning has serious consequences. You stay in jobs that seem impressive on paper, but feel heavy every Sunday night. You have conversations that sound right, but leave you drained. You say yes when your body says no, then spend days cleaning up the emotional fallout. That isn't weakness. That's information. So why do we ignore it? Because we're conditioned to doubt ourselves. Because work favors compliance over clarity. Because trusting yourself can seem risky. when approval seems safer. However, here's the drawback. You overextend, you stay too long, you label misalignment as loyalty, and eventually you start believing something is wrong with you instead of the environment. Your gut isn't trying to sabotage your career. It's trying to protect your energy, values, and sense of self. So how do we rebuild trust with it? Pause before you respond. Notice what your body feels, not just when your mind argues. Stop explaining away discomfort that keeps happening. Give this a try. Before making your next decision, pause for 10 seconds and ask yourself, what feels true here? Not what sounds impressive, not what keeps others comfortable. What feels true? Write it down, track it for a week, Patterns don't lie. Your intuition has been guiding you long before anyone taught you to ignore it. Listening to it isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of self-respect. Imagine if everyone could practice and participate in active listening without feeling the need to be right. I'll leave you with this. My therapist once asked me, would you rather be right or would you rather be loved? I know mine. If this landed for you, trust that. I'm Jeff Ganter and this is the Talon Brief. Until next time, trust yourself, especially when it feels uncomfortable. That's usually where the truth lives. See you soon. Bye.