Mastering the Art of Intuition to Become a Better Leader
What is intuition?
It is the feeling of exactly knowing how to act without knowing why we know it.
Intuition is not based on knowledge or conscious thinking, it is a gut feeling something that is finely attuned in your subconscious mind, a talent or an innate capability that you can’t verbalize.
According to psychologists, an intuition can be defined as, unconscious associative process.
The unconscious processes range from registering information in the sensory memory to mentally form associations within or between information patterns & activating associative memory networks.
These trigger an individual’s expectations, beliefs, and desires. And based on these triggers, intuition comes into effect which helps a person make abrupt decisions. Do you know that only a fraction of your brain is dedicated to making decisions and conscious behavior such as logical reasoning, conducting analysis and thinking thoughts, creating imaginations?
You will be amazed to learn that the rest of your brain is working outside the thinking box or your conscious awareness. When an idea comes into existence within our mind, our mental aptitude starts registering the idea in the form of patterns. The brain recognizes these patterns even though we can’t fully understand it with our conscious thinking, but at the back of our mind, things are at work.
When intuition triggers, it usually starts with a combination. The intuition usually couples the idea with a physical sensation such as goosebumps on the skin, or a heartbeat increase or a gut feeling.
So where is intuition the most effective?
It’s usually effective in three conditions.
1) When you are subjected to absorb a lot of information and you can’t decide what to consume and what not to.
2) When you have a clock ticking and there’s a task that you need to complete in that short period and you’re frantic.
3) Environment – if there’s a certain change in the environment and you feel the danger is in the air, your intuition kicks in.
It’s here when intuition becomes a powerful tool which helps you take those risks the one you never ever prepare yourself to take. Intuitions are worth following in daily lives, but if you want to use intuition there are a few things that you need to first address. Only then, your intuition is going to work.
Are you Experienced Enough?
The first thing for intuition to click in is to get experienced. Intuitions are only reliable when you are very well experienced in doing something. How do you think an experienced hair-dresser listens to your request just once and gives you a haircut exactly the way you want it to be? How does a DJ know what tunes you will like the most and how he or she will be able to uplift the mood of the party? Or how do you think a manager knows when is the best time to proceed with something & when it is not?
All thanks to experience.
An experienced individual has come a long way experiencing a lot of things in life. He has seen failure up close just as he has seen success. Many times, our memory becomes foggy but our subconscious mind does not. So when we are faced with a choice, our mind analyzes our past experience and based on our decisions back then, it takes the decision that is best and most appropriate for our condition.
It’s intuition that tells a doctor to perform a heart surgery or a formula 1 race driver take a sharp bend. It happens because they are very well experienced in their field and they know their capabilities.
Is Your Awareness at Optimum Level?
The second most important factor is your awareness level. When you are aware of your feelings and your surroundings, then it becomes a whole lot easier for you to pick up an intuitive feeling and act. Most intuitions are interlinked with physical attributes such as a heavy feeling in the stomach or the weakening of knees. For some it’s the tingling of skin or getting a goosebump. For others, it’s simply their mind not ready to accept the situation, now how will you address this when you aren’t aware?
Therefore, it is very important that your mental awareness works at optimum level.
One way of achieving that is through meditation and yoga. Such practices help you get in touch with your inner self and automatically you will observe that your awareness level has incredibly increased.
Our mind isn’t just a think tank sitting up in our head, it’s connected with our entire body through a complex nerve system. So when our mind senses danger, it automatically sends signals all across our body, making us aware that the danger is near and we must be ready to act upon it in order to be safe. To understand this physical & mental process, it is important one must achieve maximum awareness. Only then, their intuitions will be able to tell them what is the best course of action in a situation.
How About Practicing a Little?
Just like any skill, intuition can also be mastered by putting it into practice. However, you do not have to put yourself in harm’s way or in a tough situation beforehand. You can try and test intuition by experimenting through small practices. For example, you can invest your money in penny stocks to try and practice your intuitions. You can do the same by playing a game of poker with your friends or go out traveling. Experience the thrill of dangers by exploring the countryside or going out on a fishing trip.
These practices will polish up your intuition and will further help you make better judgments.
Trust Your Intuitions
In the end, I would just like to say that whatever you do, develop a trust in your intuitions based on the things that turn out correctly in your favor. By putting a strong faith in yourself, you will not only progress forward, but you will also be able to carve a safe path for others to follow in your footstep. After all, that’s what makes you a good leader, doesn’t it? If you’re an intuitive leader, it’s best you start working on your intuitions more so you can achieve more and become a much better leader in future.
