LEADERSHIP LAWS - #8/21 : The Law of Intution

Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias
The Law of Intuition is based on facts coupled with instincts plus other intangible factors, such as employee morale, organizational momentum, and relationship dynamics.
The Law of Intuition often separates the great leaders from the merely good ones.
Leadership intuition is the ability of a leader to read what’s going on. For that reason, I say that leaders are readers:
 
1) Leaders Are Readers of Their Situation – leaders pick up on details that might elude others. They sense people’s attitudes. They are able to detect the chemistry of a team. They know the situation before they have all the facts.
2) Leaders Are Readers of Trends – leaders discern where the organization is headed, often times they sense it first and find data later to explain it. Their intuition tells them that something is happening, that conditions are changing. Leaders must always be a few steps ahead of their people, or they’re not really leading.
3) Leaders Are Readers of Their Resources – leaders think in terms or resources and how to maximize them for the benefit of their organization. They are continually aware of what they have at their disposal.
4) Leaders Are Readers of People – Intuition helps leaders sense what’s happening among people and know their hopes, fears and concerns. Reading people is perhaps the most important intuitive skill leaders can possess.
5) Leaders are Readers of Themselves – leaders must know not only their own strengths and weaknesses, but also their current state of mind. Why? Because leaders can hinder progress just as easily as they can help create it.

Without intuition, leaders get blindsided, and that’s one of the worst things that can happen to a leader. If you want to lead well, and stay ahead of others, you’ve got to obey the Law of Intuition.


Here’s an example of how intuition can serve you well.

Instinct Says:
Quit your job and start a business.  You feel strongly this is the path for you.  Great!

Fact Check:
Do you have the passion and skills to do a certain type of work?  Do you have the tools?  Are you in a place financially to where you have the funds available to start the business and carry you through the start-up stage?  Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to actually make it happen?

Conditions:  
Is this the right time for you to quit your job?  Looking at the broader picture, is there a demand for your product or service?  Who is your target market, and can they afford to pay you?  What is the long-range prognosis for your business?

Intuition is a wonderful thing.  It gives us a complete picture of what we should and should not do.  Develop this leadership tool, and it will serve you well.