Discerning Your Intuition

Great leaders follow their internal awareness. Some may call it their gut instinct and others may call it their intuition. What is your gut telling you? What is your “leaning” on something you’re questioning, or a decision you’re trying to make? You might not be able to put it into words, but you probably have a feeling as to what’s the right next move.

If you are trying to tell the difference between fleeting feelings like anxiety or fear to actually discern your intuition, sit with the decision for a while. I often say I need to “sit with it” when trying to find a direction. If my thoughts keep coming back, I then know that it is my intuition talking to me. If it passes or another direction comes, I follow that route.

For example, I have recently been using my intuition on our corporate events and all-hands calls. In a recent all-hands call, I knew I wanted to use the break-out room functionality in Zoom, yet I did not know how I was going to lead into or run the meeting. All of my ideas felt forced; it was like I was trying too hard to come up with a solution. I took time to “sit” with how to conduct the meeting until I finally landed on one that felt right about two days beforehand. I knew the meeting should start with a few corporate wins like new clients and new hires and then share fun pictures of older in-person events and newer virtual meeting screenshots. For example, one of our team members has not shaved his beard in over a year due to the pandemic - he used to be extremely clean cut. Another memory was of our founding partner dancing at one of our events. Everyone was in good spirits leading into our break-out rooms to connect individually. Sitting with the right path paid off and I received many messages after saying it was the best all-hands call ever.

Using your intuition as a guide is very common. In fact, Bill Gates attributed much of his success with Microsoft to intuition. He said that to win big, “often you have to rely on intuition.” Albert Einstein even came up with his Theory of Relativity via an intuitive dream, noting, “The only real valuable thing is intuition.” If you are finding that you are unsure of yourself or your decisions, take time to listen to what your heart is telling you. Tap into your self-awareness to uncover the right direction. It may take some practice and patience, but relying on your gut and taking your time to look inward is a compass.