Use Your Intuitive Instincts

Your Intuition Can Be A Leadership Advantage 

Numerous surveys have revealed that one of the key factors in helping successful organizational leaders make tough decisions is their ability to trust their intuitive instincts.

This is not surprising, for intuitive people tend to be efficient at gathering sufficient information to put them at ease when making decisions. It appears that they are also able to quickly assess and analyze such information and integrate it with their personal accumulation of experience, knowledge, understanding, and insights to produce worthy decisions.

Although intuitive skills appear more natural and stronger in some leaders, it is also a skill that can be learned and honed over time. But only for those who can let go of a total reliance on logic, evidentiary data and number crunching. 

As acclaimed journalist and author Roy Rowan notes, "This feeling, this little whisper from deep inside your brain may contain far more information, both facts and impressions, than you are likely to obtain from hours of analysis."

The feeling that Rowan describes is often referred to as one's gut instincts or heartfelt (non-rational) feelings. 

Outside observers might interpret intuitive decisions as rash impulses, but in reality they are a blend of powerful intuition, insights and understanding developed from prior experiences, and clear-headed logic. The stronger the feelings, and the better the person's track record from previous intuitive decisions, the greater are the odds that the intuitive decision is the best one.

A word of caution though. While leaning on your intuition can be a leadership advantage, it can also be a leadership weakness if relied upon to the exclusion of hard-core data and the recommendations and intuition of your leadership colleagues. 

This article is partially excerpted from our top-ranked personal development book Project You: Living A Determined Life, which is available in Kindle and paperback formats at Amazon.