Individuals are not just born with leadership skills; they harness and hone them. Most often, leaders use a combination of skills based on experience, knowledge, and education. However, some leaders rely heavily on their intuition or ‘gut feeling’ to make decisions.
Intuition is defined as a sixth sense or something you just know based on the information you receive instinctively. It compels some leaders to make decisions regardless of the empirical evidence in front of them. As a result, relying on intuition for important decisions can be risky as it could be good or bad.
For this reason, the question arises, is intuition a positive trait to have in leaders or a negative one?
Intuition in Leadership
When information like facts, figures, and data is unavailable, leaders must rely on their intuition to make a suitable decision. However, doing so can be dangerous because of an error in judgment based on bias and the simple fact that we simply don’t know the right answer.
Intuition comes from the mind; it can be based on experience, instinct, and personality. Many individuals trust this gut feeling when they have to make decisions because research shows that it speeds up response time. Instead of spending days researching and reading up on information, intuitive leaders make quick decisions based on their instincts. The same study also showed that it typically also leads to making better and more accurate decisions.
It’s hard to explain how intuition can help us, but the best way to tell a person is that with intuition, you just know. If you feel that something is off, it likely is. Not just that, but no amount of rational information can help you make more human decisions based on emotions.
However, due to the simple nature of intuition, it can be extremely dangerous, especially when it comes to making important decisions. Intuition can give leaders a false sense of confidence. When you feel something is off, it does not necessarily mean it is off and isn’t the right decision to make.
Not to mention, it would be completely foolish of an individual to ignore hard evidence and rely on intuition to make decisions. In such cases, the decision is possibly the riskiest one you would make.
So What Should Leaders Do?
The best way forward for all leaders is to use a combination of intuition and rational information. Only when the two complement each other will an informed, accurate, and effective decision be made.
Intuition comes when an individual is self-aware and has confidence in themselves. If you feel like you lack these two leadership skills, you should consider enrolling in the Mental Minutes Success Coaching designed and introduced by Kimberly Dalius. This program aims to hone an individual’s personal development to succeed professionally and personally.
Kimberly has helped countless individuals become effective leaders through this program. Hence, individuals lacking leadership and intuition can get in touch with her and seek guidance from her program.
The Bottom Line
Intuition is a powerful skill that can function as the foundation of your leadership. Yet, at the same time, it could be highly dangerous, especially if you solely rely on it. This is why intuition in leadership should be used in combination with empirical evidence, data, and factual information. Through this, the best and most informed decisions can be made.
