Posted on Mar 21, 2012

How to develop leadership intuition

A gifted artist can instantly tell the difference between an average painting and a great painting. Someone gifted in playing the piano can instantly hear when a wrong note is played.

In sports, the best players just seem to know where the ball/puck is about to be next. As hockey legend Wayne Gretsky stated: “I go to where the puck will be.”

What is that often separates someone from being good at something versus being really great?

Intuition.

As a differentiating value, Intuition means instinctively knowing; ability to acquire knowledge without inference (the need for conscious reasoning).

What’s important to note about this value is that we ALL possess intuition. We just tend to be intuitive in our areas of strength.

Personally, I am not intuitive in the area of dancing. I’ve had little practice. And I couldn’t tell a good dancer from a bad one, no matter how much I might watch “Dancing with the Stars”.

But I can learn to dance. Recently I met someone (Dawn Stuart) who specializes in teaching married couples how to dance (called Marriage Dance). So, if acquiring the skills to dance is important to me, I have found a way.

The same is true for leaders.

The Leadership Test

Leadership guru, John Maxwell, suggests that leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. Being intuitive in the area of leadership is often what separates great leaders from good ones.

Are you intuitive in the area of leadership?

Here’s the test: do you see leadership issues before others, or do others see leadership issues before you do?

If you are naturally gifted in leadership, then you likely already possess leadership intuition.

But if you find others see issues before you do, don’t beat yourself up. And don’t give up. Just recognize that for you, leadership is an acquired skill versus a natural skill.

Developing Leadership Intuition

If you are not naturally gifted with leadership talents (and many of us, including me, are not!), there are 3 ways to develop the skills of leadership intuition.

1) Surround yourself with naturally gifted leaders. Let them be your eyes and ears. Leverage their leadership intuition. And don’t be threatened by them. People don’t just follow ‘born’ leaders. People follow others for many different reasons, including: shared passion, shared values, and shared goals.

2) Learn to read people. Pick up a couple of books on building relationships. Become a people watcher. And practice by engaging with more people, more often.

3)    Train yourself to ask specific leadership questions. Maxwell offers the following:
a.     Who is the best person to take this on?
b.    What resources do we possess that can help us?
c.     What will this take financially?
d.     How can I encourage my team to achieve success?

If you are in a leadership role, or aspire to be a leader, then develop the value of leadership intuition.

Be the leader, and lead yourself.