Written by: Marie-Jeanne Juilland

 

I remember this scenario all too vividly: After a year of intense effort and anticipation, our company painfully pulled the plug on its IPO bid in 2001. The “bubble” had burst.  We had missed the window.

As a member of the executive team, I sat in an offsite turning things upside down, mapping out our stay-alive strategy. All the data had pointed to an IPO win. Was it just a case of bad market timing? Or was there something we could have done differently – some information we had missed along the way?

Along with most leaders who’ve experienced anything on the magnitude of an IPO “miss,” I’d have to say the answer was a bit of both. However, in the years since that IPO experience – as a leader and then as an executive coach – I’ve discovered an additional factor that I feel was sorely missing in our team’s decision making.  I call it “body intelligence,” aka “BQ.”

Common belief says focus on the facts and data.  That’s leveraging “IQ.”  Common belief also says “trust your gut,” or “it’s gut check time.”  That’s BQ. Continue reading→