When I wrote Unlock Your Intuition, Part 1, somebody in one of the platforms I belong to argued that he didn’t see intuition as an essential leadership principle, and intuition is actually not one, and that intuition is metaphysical, that it says a meeting point of spiritual, rationalization and logical. Those vehement arguments he put up made me hold on from publishing Part 2, hence my making this post Part 1b. I took time to give him and the platform member explanations though convinced not deep explanation because of time and space.
You may reread Part 1 here…
He was ‘minorly’ right and majorly wrong in his argument.
Minorly right because he said intuition is not a leadership principle like logic and rationalization for leaders. Yes, everybody is supposed to develop his/her intuition, but leaders deal with intuition more than none leaders. The question is who is not a leader? The person arguing is a distinguished leader – a husband, a father, an elder statesman, an officer in many organizations. So, he is unmistakably a leader.
Majorly right because he said intuition is not a leadership principle…and I’m contrasting the definition/understanding of principles of Leadership to laws of Leadership in the study/school of Leadership. So intuition is a player in the team of leadership. No leadership authority can list the laws of leadership without listing INTUITON. All, including me. Author & Speaker Dr John C Maxwell in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership discussed intuition as one of the laws of Leadership. Remove the Law of Intuition, it is no longer 21, it becomes 20.
I may not be exact but it is true; over 35% of decisions of leaders are not based on committee, senate/assembly resolutions, appointees recommendations, SAs and PAs advice, etc., but based on the intuition [or gut instinct] of the leader. Not only them but including all of us. Most judges arrive at a decision by watching the demeanor of the accused and the defendant when in the witness box during court sessions of questioning and cross-examinations. They make use of their intuition and instinct to know who is lying before they write and pronounce judgment.
You don’t know how incapacitated you are if you have not developed your intuition. When intuition is well developed, which is the goal of this INTUITION series, you will be a sharp razor blade in decision-taking: no more being stranded. I use intuition a lot.
When I posted Self-Discipline, somebody asked me the difference or correlation between Fruit of The Spirits as recorded in Galatian 5:22, and Discipline. I summarized to him that fruits of the Spirit are for those who have the Spirit of God, and those fruits don’t find expressions in those without the Spirit of God, BUT Self-discipline is for everybody with and without – every Dick & Tom need be reminded of self-discipline, not just leaders.
Similarly, intuition is for every leader, with or without, BUT Holy Spirit leading is for those in complete yield to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all cases.
Question?
Do you want to follow your heart, listen to your gut, and stay aligned with your higher mission? Then intuition is your secret weapon – a weapon for achieving that.
Have I lost you already?
If you’re a political, intellectual, or business leader, you need intuition. Entrepreneurs and business leaders are renowned for being tough as toenails, highly rational, and skeptical of airy-fairy concepts. On the surface, intuition might sound like the latter.
Let me talk to Managers and Business Leaders a little…
But what if I told you that intuitive business requires less effort, and delivers better results? Your ears would probably perk up. Hope you are following.
Alongside creativity, risk-taking, and resilience, intuition is the key TRAIT yet can be developed, garnished, and polished that all business leaders should lean into. Intuition is generally accepted to be the information we receive INSTINCTIVELY, without the need for conscious reasoning or fact.
It is also known as the “6th sense”, “gut feeling” and “inner knowing”. Intuition denotes our ability to subconsciously receive information. Please it’s important not to confuse you but to make you note that intuition isn’t pure instinct, and it’s not metaphysics, it’s not digested knowledge, it’s not chaos either. It does not defy logic or rationalization but uses logic and rationalization to fine-tune decisions made out of intuition. I use logic a lot. I use rationalization seldom. I also use elimination and substitution techniques in making and arriving at decision-making,
Can I ask you a question?
What techniques and tools do you deploy in arriving at decisions? I use not just one technique but combinations of 2, 3, 4, or more depending on the complexity of the decision.
Intuition is the subtle voice that resides inside of us all and shows us the right path to take. If you’re not already convinced that you need a little more intuition in your life, I teach 8 reasons that intuition is one of the most underrated leadership, business, and life skills. Let me give you only 4 for FREE, the rest 4 are for LIVE workshops.
- You become a better leader
When you go with your intuition, the decision-making process becomes a lot clearer. You will be able to stop second-guessing your choices and give better direction to your team.
With more clarity in your own mind, you will be able to stay true to your vision. Less confusion and more clarity make for a better leader.
Take it; intuition coupled with data is the perfect combination.
- You can speed up response time
In a world where everyone is a poor time manager, speeding up decisions can be a superpower gain. Studies have shown that Leading With Intuition speeds up your response time as a result of quick decision-making. This alone isn’t that impressive, so it is good news that the same study established that “non–conscious emotional information [referring to intuition] can boost accuracy and confidence.” You heard that right. Leading With Intuition makes you quicker and more accurate.
As an entrepreneur or a leader, this can be an invaluable skill. But it’s important to highlight that data, processes, and facts also have their place – I have never denied them. The best results tend to come when intuition complements the hard evidence.
- Intuition keeps you properly aligned
Deep down, we all know when something is “off”, or “not right.” But it’s easy to ignore that gut feeling when our mind tells us that something is the “better” choice. Rationality or rational thinking can tell us that a transaction, deal, opportunity, or relationship is good for us. When deep down, we know it’s not. The deep-down voice is intuition.
When we follow our intuition, we avoid the heartache of taking a path that’s not aligned with our higher mission. If your intuition tells you something is off, it’s off. Run, bro or sis. Forget logic! Forget rationality. Intuition had saved my life a lot of times.
- Intuition takes you closer to your ideal relationship – employee, customer, spouse, etc.
Data, history, counselors/consultants’ advisories, and analysis can tell us a lot about our ideal employee, customer, business, spouse, etc., but no matter how much research we do, we can never know our ideal relationship’s mind. Unless, of course, we connect on a deeper level – INTUITION.
Intuition brings us closer to natural or native intelligence and the flow of the universe around us. In doing so, we can gain access to information that seems to appear from nowhere. Intuition is just a deep sense of knowing something is right or wrong…something is fishing.
Again, intuition is not digested knowledge. I hear people use that term wrongly. I drive. When I enter the car I don’t think before I switch on the ignition, put my leg on break, and throttle with R or D [i.e. automatic]. When I want to move out of my house, I don’t think where the door is, before I know it, I’m outside. This is what is called digested knowledge, it’s not intuition. Digested knowledge is the knowledge you thought and learned and assimilated long ago [digested] that you do now without any thinking. When I walk I don’t think of moving my legs, but the first time I walked, I was taught how to, and I was thinking of how to move legs – digested thinking!
Your intuition knows more than your thinking. I call it The Creator’s Deputy in you. Listen to your intuition when it tells you what people are up to or want. It knows more than you think.
Conclusion
I use intuition a lot in my accepting invitations to speak. I do Crisis Management, Conciliation, Peacebuilding, Mediation, Negotiating and Arbitration. What of Advisory? It is mostly Intuition than theory. How do you know when someone is lying in some cases?
When I get a feeling that something will resonate, or that words written/spoken will work or fly [as one man usually put it], I run with it. Man, when you practice that skill over and over, the intuitive muscle gets stronger. You become a better leader because your decision-making capabilities will be top-notch.
Don’t just take it from me or just patronize me: studies have found that while “the skill of intuitive pattern recognition isn’t automatically available to everyone … neither is it a special power – miraculous or magical, but it comes with experience, practice, learning and constructive feedback.”
Intuition is a powerful tool that’s available to us all. Why not step out of your comfort zone and use it to become a better leader?
Dr Mike Ihezuo do Crisis Management, Conciliation, Peacebuilding, Mediation, Negotiating, and Arbitration, including Consulting and Advisory. Need help? He can teach your organization the Power Of Intuition and how to use Intuition in Board Room & Governing Council Chamber to Negotiate your way. He can be reached on leadermikeo@gmail.com, Ad Inquiry,
