Are gut feelings important?

Though everyone has gut feelings, you will agree that some of us are more intuitive than others. In my opinion the difference lies in the awareness about your own feelings. The people who use their sixth sense are imaginative, fore-sighted and think more deeply on issues as opposed to the practical and realistic approach followed by less intuitive people. Thus, less intuitive people might not give enough importance to their somewhat subconscious feelings and use their logic to arrive at decisions.
However, in daily life your feelings do play an important role.
In my opinion, the leaders combine gut feeling to arrive at the most desirable option.  On the other hand, some people may not give enough importance  to gut feel, as they base their decision on logical analysis using facts and figures. Though it seems quite rational, however there might be circumstances where too much unfocussed analysis might lead to analysis paralysis, which hampers decision-making. In addition, people who fear uncertainty and wait till all relevant info becomes available are often left behind.

That is why in today's competitive  environment, emotional intelligence which takes into account one's gut feelings, aids a person to take apt decisions and have a proactive approach. (Offcourse with required technical skills).

However, the balance of head and gut is required and gut feelings cannot and should not be totally ignored. In order to derive maximum advantage out of them, you need to be thoughtful and aware of your own perception and with practice you can slowly acquire a skillful perception. Once you become aware then expression is very important.
What is your gut feel?