Put Your Intuition on Loudspeaker

We’ve all sat in meetings where the boss hedges their perspective. “This is just my opinion, but I think we should...” Or when sharing an idea, they undermine their view as “one perspective, who knows if it’s right?” There’s humility there, sure. But also a tendency we often see in leaders to discount their own hard-won intuition. To treat their insight as anything less than the visionary judgment we desperately need from them.

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Make no mistake. A leader’s opinion is more than just one perspective. It is their cumulative pattern recognition—expertise built over years of navigating challenges and opportunities. Rather than vaguely tossing out “just my two cents,” leaders must give decisive voice to their intuitions, put them on loudspeaker for all to hear.

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The Invaluable Intuition Shaped By Experience

Leaders gain intuition much as a seasoned doctor develops their diagnostic sense or a chess master knows the high-percentage plays. Prof. Gary Klein’s research on experts across domains shows senior fire chiefs, for example, size up complex situations and instinctively identify likely solutions based on thousands of past fires.* Their “expert intuition” develops because seasoned leaders absorb key patterns from wins, losses and tough calls over the course of their career.

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For an artistic director, it’s swiftly recognizing which shows resonate with audiences each season based on past reactions. For a Principal, it’s sensing from subtle cues which teachers will thrive in challenging school environments. Expert intuitions leap ahead of cold analysis. And while leaders still need to test assumptions, their instincts provide a running start on workable solutions.

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In short, leaders’ opinions run far deeper than half-baked guesses. They draw upon hard-earned judgment and discernment to envision paths others may not see clearly yet. Wise leaders put conviction behind their ideas while inviting candid debate rather than framing suggestions as “take it or leave it” notions.

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Doubt Mutes Ideas That Need Amplifying

If leaders’ life-tested insights potentially hold the seeds of visionary decisions, why do many still couch perspectives in wishy-washy qualifiers? Partly humility, yes, but often it’s doubt creeping in—an inability to distinguish isolated stumbles from generally sound judgment accumulated over time. Every leader sometimes second guesses past calls but isolated mistakes don’t negate the solidity of their overall perspective.

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Self-limiting beliefs plague even longtime achievers. Researchers find high-performing leaders often suffer imposter syndrome. Despite a track record outperforming peers, they privately fear being “exposed” as less competent. Letting irrational doubt breed hedging language softens opinions—treating earned intuition like guesses rather than potential breakthrough vision.

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Of course, some leaders voice opinions exceeding their expertise, confusing certitude with conviction. There is an art to balancing assuredness with humility—conveying certainty while remaining radically open. But many fail by consistently understating informed perspectives, signaling lack of confidence in their own judgment. Under-leveraging your understanding cheats your teams of insights. Doubt often masquerades as humility. But you honor no one by functionally withholding expertise.

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Testing Intuition While Leading With Conviction

At this point, some may prefer entirely bottom-up cultures where authoritative opinions give way to collective, emergent wisdom. And yes, adaptive leadership centers gathering divergent data and viewpoints.

But even collaborative leaders must stand for something. Who otherwise sets direction when paths fork? Research on wise counsel shows those who voice clarity of thought while inviting pushback carry greatest influence.

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Rather than either/or propositions, leading with conviction while enabling feedback forms a creative tension out of which great things emerge.

Imagine chairing a difficult discussion by asking “I suppose we could always...thoughts?” Contrast that to: “Here’s why I feel Option A sets us up best, given what we know. What am I missing?” The latter voices opinion while leaving space to build on ideas.

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Putting half-formed intuition on speaker allows leaders to refine judgment through testing. “Given our need for more agility, I think we should embed data teams within each business unit rather than centralizing expertise. It puts insights where decisions get made. But I’m still playing with the idea.” The response you get helps determine next steps.

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Final Thoughts

In environments flooded with data but starved for discernment, leaders must leverage their own hard-won intuition. Have confidence that the cumulative insights you bring to the table can provide perspective no spreadsheet offers. Of course, doubt creeps up on all of us. Imposter syndrome, humility and cultural dynamics mute voices with something valuable to say. But today’s challenges demand your very best thinking. So put that intuition on loudspeaker.

*Gary Klein is an American psychologist who has conducted extensive research on decision making, intuition and expertise. Some key background: He is the founder of Klein Associates, a research/consulting firm focused on decision making. He's published multiple books including "Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights" and "Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions."

One of his well-known studies that I referenced is a 1989 firefighting study where he examined how experienced incident commanders made quick decisions under pressure. He found they relied heavily on intuition based on pattern matching from past firefighting experience.

Klein, G. A. (1989). Recognition-primed decisions. In W. B. Rouse (Ed.), Advances in man-machine systems research (Vol. 5, pp. 47-92). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. https://scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=2069148