The Inner Compass We Ignore
Let your Genius reshape how you work
Hello, Change-Maker~
Almost to the week, they returned.
Two Canadian geese landed in the pond out back a few days ago. They have been doing this for years now. Something in the environment signals something in them, and they change direction with remarkable precision. Storms, shifting magnetic fields, and human disruption can all throw them off course. Still, more often than not, they recalibrate and find their way back. Their inner compass is that well-honed.
Many of us assume we lack such an inner compass or instinct, or we associate that quality with something vague like intuition.
But my hypothesis is we do have such an inner compass that’s more nuanced than intuition that we can call upon when making important decisions.
So what signals do we listen to when making those decisions? Ephemeral intuition? A pro-con analysis? Cultural cues that direct us toward personal fulfillment—follow your passion, do what makes you happy, avoid discomfort?
Maybe there’s something else in our makeup that leads us toward work that is neither the paved path we’re told we should take nor the more seductive path of personal gratification.
If you’re in the midst of a decision or a transition, or if you’re restless with your impactful work, you may already sense what I’m pointing to here. You don’t need to force clarity too quickly. You do need to take seriously what continues to surface.
This Dispatch is about that “something else” and how it shows up in your work more than you might think.
In this Wonder Dispatch:
The Main Musing: The Inner Compass We Ignore
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This topic comes up for a couple of reasons. One, I’m taking stock of where my talents can come forward at this point for the greatest possible impact. It’s not an easy, rational space to navigate.
And I’m listening to other people take stock, too. On one hand, I’m hearing and working with hard-working people who feel the ache to change paths or bring forward their talents in their brands, book, and assets with courage for others’ benefit.
On the other hand, I am hearing from people who have followed cultural cues toward massive success and find themselves dissatisfied or disoriented.
What allows someone to recognize those signals, trust them, and act on them?
It turns out there is a way to heed our inner compass. It’s called character. More specifically, it is a force of character with which we are each born. It sits outside of nature and nurture, outside of privilege or circumstance, outside of bliss or trauma.
It’s a deeper organizing force of character that, when activated, leads toward meaningful work and contribution.
This force of character is your genius.
And the way it shows up early in our lives - regardless of circumstances - is our Young Genius. Young Genius refers to the distinct way your mind and character engage the world before they are shaped by expectation and “optimization.”
It reveals itself in how you notice, how you question, what draws your attention, and how you uniquely contribute over time.
Your Genius can give you wisdom when being creative or making decisions - and in this Age of AI, your creativity needs wisdom.
And I offer this: If its signals are consistently heeded, recognized, and activated during times of important decision-making, that character guides us toward our best work in the world - whatever the container.
Curiosity Out of Apartheid Oppression
Consider neuroscientist, musician, and writer Srini Pillay, M.D.
He’s Indian and grew up during apartheid in South Africa. On the Tracking Wonder Podcast, Srini recalls his mother telling him he could not enter a swimming pool because it was reserved for white people. Just as she said this, a drop of water landed on his skin. The touch of the forbidden sparked something immediate. He describes feeling excitement, separateness, disappointment, and curiosity all at once.
Here’s the key: “I grew up with a sense of love and interest, and a sense of curiosity rather than what a lot of people expect me to say…that growing up under these conditions was some kind of burden.
Because even though the burden was there, I think that my curiosity lightened my load.”
Curiosity remained active in him. The conditions around him were restrictive and often painful, yet his curiosity altered how he experienced them.
>>> He has kept that curiosity and his deep sensitivity activated in the work he does through neuroscience, music, writing, and poetry.
That orientation speaks to a continuity of character. It reflects a way of engaging the world that remains available even when the environment does not encourage it.
I see a version of this in subtler ways in the people I work with.
Reclaiming Genius at Work
It’s powerful to bring your Young Genius to work. It is part of the wonder of job crafting.
One client has been exploring how to bring his Young Genius more fully into the organization where he works. His role and title have remained the same. His participation has shifted. He is recognizing where his way of deeply listening, seeing patterns, and sensing undercurrents in conversations can contribute. He is speaking into moments that previously passed without his voice. At the same time, he is developing creative work outside of his organization that draws on that same way of thinking.
From the outside, these changes appear modest. From the inside, they represent a meaningful shift in his relationship to his work and in how he is heeding his inner compass toward what may become his next chapter.
And if you’re a grounded wonder-centered leader, sometimes your role is to recognize the genius in others.
Big Change or Incremental Call of Character
When something feels misaligned in your work, it’s natural to look for a decisive external change. A new role, a clearer plan, or a different environment can seem like the necessary next step.
You may need that at some point. But before you make a move outward, it’s worth asking how you are currently participating in your work. Where are you holding back a way of thinking, seeing, or contributing that comes naturally to you? Where are you defaulting to what is expected rather than bringing forward how you actually work best?
A shift here can begin to change your experience of the work more quickly than you might expect. It can also clarify whether a larger change is truly needed.
The geese don’t hang out and wait for ideal conditions. They respond to what they sense, adjust their course, and continue moving. Conditions influence their path, yet they do not determine it entirely.
The same capacity exists for us.
Young Genius is a way to keep seeing the truth, beauty and possibility of your nature more clearly. It’s a way to look in the mirror of our soul and smile back.
That self-recognition plus attuning to our physical murmurs helps us become aware of our own magnetic pulls. Those physical signals we sense are signaled often by our environment’s and our society’s needs. What out there summons us? Or as novelist Frederick Buehler wrote, “’At what points do my talents and deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?’”
Your Window of Possibility
Take one decision or area of your work that has been asking for your attention. Instead of asking what would be most strategic or optimal, start here: Where does my natural way of thinking want to come forward?
Consider how your Young Genius tends to show up:
how you see patterns others miss
how you ask questions that open things up
how you move ideas forward or bring clarity
how you listen in ways others do not
how open to possibility you are
how you can contend with uncertainty in ways others cannot
how you can appreciate others in distinct ways
Now ask: Where am I not using that here? Choose one way to bring that strength into your work this week.
Keep it specific and observable. Then notice what changes in your level of engagement, clarity, and momentum. That is useful information.
Your Turn to Wonder
»> Where in your life or work are you sensing a direction you haven’t yet trusted enough to act on?
What’s speaking to you in today’s Wonder Dispatch?
Reply and let me know or respond here in The Wonder HUB. I read every response.
Wonder@Work Monthly Call:
Advance the Work That Matters
MARCH THEME: Reclaiming Your Genius
In this month’s Wonder@Work Monthly Call, we’ll explore what it means to reclaim and apply your Young Genius either within the realities of your current work and/or when discerning among competing endeavors.
You’ll come away with tool and a practice you can begin using immediately. Every W@W Call includes my addressing a topic, your applying it with a prompt, laser coaching, and questions.
You’re welcome to join us.
Click here to register for the March Wonder@Work Call.
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Community Howl-Outs & Celebrations
Writing Practice & Perfect Your Process Summit:
Tracking Wonder Inner Circle member Karen Kasaba is offering today a session on getting your writing practice in place as part of Daniel David Wallace’s Writing Summit. Register here.
Burnout Recovery Book Launch Party
TW Inner Circle member Alicia King Anderson’s new book Burnout Recovery: A Neurodivergent-Friendly Guide to Healing Burnout Through Nature’s Wisdom comes out this Tuesday, March 24. You can learn more and join her book launch party, hosted by USA Today bestseller Kim Richardson, here.
Are You Being Emotionally Savvy in Your Divorce?
TW Inner Circle member Katherine Miller appeared recently on the Divorced Girl Smiling podcast to discuss her new book The Emotionally Savvy Divorce. Keep spreading the emotionally savvy message. Congrats, Katherine.
I appreciate your showing up for the impactful work that matters and for the beautiful life outside of work.
Despite the narrative of the headlines, so much is possible.
Be well, and thanks for running with me,