I sat on a park bench as I write this, gazing at the ice-covered surface of Lotus Lake, one of the 10,000+ lakes in Minnesota. My mind was a blank slate, unsure what to write about. Then, an idea struck: aha! The perfect topic came to mind. I knew that I was going to write about insights, those moments of clarity that make a difference and propel careers (and lives) forward.

Insights are the unsung heroes of our lives. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I began to take them seriously and became curious about their nature. The human mind’s ability to discern “signal” from “noise” and generate clarity from confusion is not well understood.

Yet, it’s possible to intuitively perceive and recognize this ability, which offers remarkable benefits. We only need to reflect on our lives and our day-to-day experiences, and in the business world too, to see that insights – moments of clarity that are sometimes profound but often simple glimmers in the mind – are what drive progress and transform challenging situations into opportunities.

This week, I want to discuss this process of inner clarity, share a couple of examples to illustrate them and encourage you to consider their role in your life. It’s true that once you start looking for something, you begin to see it more clearly. I can’t think of anything more valuable than becoming intimately familiar with the internal process that generates the clarity you need, right on time.

Howard’s Game-Changing Insight

I spent much of my early career in Seattle, occasionally visiting the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market. For a few years, I lived right down the street from it. Howard Schultz’s realization – his “a-ha moment” – was a turning point for the company. Schultz didn’t create Starbucks; he joined it years after its inception.

The book, The Click Moment by Frans Johansson, tells the story of Schultz, who back in the spring of 1983, as the Director of Retail Operations for Starbucks, traveled to Milan, Italy for a tradeshow. Starbucks didn’t sell coffee by the cup back then, instead just offering the beans and high-end brewing equipment to commercial kitchens. 

On his way to the tradeshow, he was struck by the number of cafes dotting the streets…they were on every corner. When the conference ended, he continued wandering around Milan, noticing just how numerous (and how busy) these cafes were. These were nice thoughts to have, but his insight came later when he took a sip of a drink that will forever change his life (and many of our lives!). 

Howard tried a latte for the first time during that trip to Milan…it was:

A perfect drink….it was like an epiphany, it was so immediate and physical that I was shaking!

No doubt the shaking might have also been due to all that caffeine! 

What Schultz did with his insight, that an entirely new experience could be shared with his customers back home – dramatically altered Starbucks’ direction and the global coffee culture and industry. Schultz’s return home set off a cascade of events, leading to a strategic pivot for Starbucks and eventually to Schultz taking over the company. The rest is history.

What if Schultz had ignored this insight or dismissed it as meaningless? 

Greg’s Career Transformation

Closer to home, insights also have the power to propel us forward in life and help us pivot into new horizons professionally. They can change self-perception, your sense of capability and be so powerful as to break long-term bad habits as I shared in an earlier blog.

A while back, I coached Greg, the Chief Operating Officer of a consumer products company. Despite his rapid career progress, Greg was unfulfilled. He was burning out, finding little joy or meaning in his work. His coping strategy involved a “no pain, no gain” mindset, working excessively hard during the week and recovering on weekends, only to repeat the cycle.

Our coaching began with understanding how the mind works and the value of being grounded and in a peaceful state of mind. This helped Greg distinguish between daily noise and the quiet space inside conducive to clear thinking and insight.

Over several weeks, it became clear that time away from his daily routine was necessary for Greg to fully reconnect with his inner wisdom and show up to work as effectively as he could. He took a sabbatical without a strict agenda. Though unsure of his exact next steps, he felt certain about returning to his current role after a month-long break, with a fresher perspective and his battery recharged.

During his time off, Greg casually reconnected with friends and former colleagues, even going on a few mini vacations. He took better care of his health. Towards the end of his time away he heard from an old friend starting a new venture who reached out to him for some advice. Although it wasn’t the type of venture Greg would normally consider getting involved with, his clear and relaxed state of mind led him to explore it. If anything, he figured that he could help his friend in a consultative way.

Weeks later, the casual conversation had snowballed into something else entirely. The need for a new leader emerged and Greg seemed to be the perfect candidate. He resigned from his job to take an executive position at the startup.

Greg credits several big insights that helped him see the potential for learning, growth, and camaraderie in a role that just a few months prior he would not have remotely considered as a good fit. With a clear mind, in his words, “Saying yes to it was obvious!” A year later, he’s still there, helping grow the company and grateful for following his inner compass.

How have insights positively impacted your career and life?

We all have the profound ability to have insights into things that improve our lives, moments when things “click” in our minds. These can be significant or minor, but they all make a huge difference and propel us positively through life.

As you think about your goals, ambitions, and decisions, consider the presence of that capability within you that brings clarity. Reflect on how it’s worked for you in the past. Appreciate the hidden power of your mind to make sense of your life and career, guiding you in a positive direction. 

As you do, I’d love to hear about what you notice and discover about your insightful capability. Feel free to leave a comment below or reply to this email to let me know!