In this 21 part series, based on John Maxwell’s book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I’m taking you on a journey towards better leadership. I share with you my own leadership lessons and insights. As a John Maxwell Team Member I’ll be happy to deliver transformational leadership training for your team or organization. See the details below.
Part 8 of 21: The Law of Intuition
The Law of Intuition: Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. ~ John C. Maxwell
Leaders look at things differently than others do. They evaluate everything according to their leadership bias. They possess leadership intuition that informs everything they do. It is an inseparable part of who they are. Not all people are intuitive in the area of leadership, but every person possesses intuition. People are intuitive in their area of strength.
I’ll give you an example. My husband is an Initiative Implementor (for those of you who don’t know Kolbe, Initiative Implementor is someone whose strength is to build. He produces quality solutions, tangible results. Becoming a builder was natural for him. When building houses, he does many things using his intuition. He just ‘knows’ when something is right or can tell you that specific material or idea is doomed to fail. There were many times when he came to me asking me for feedback on the idea or change of idea, but I just ‘don’t get it’. My usual response is, if you think it’s right, it think you’re right 😉
I don’t have intuition in anything tangible. Don’t ask me to build, decorate or do crafts. It frustrates me, I just don’t get it.
But when it comes to people and teams, I am in my zone. I can’t explain it, I just know that specific person will be a good addition to a team. Or that specific person should be moved to another position. After spending couple minutes with a person, I can almost always tell you why the person struggles in specific role or position and what should be done to help them. Once again, I can’t explain it. It’s called intuition. My strengths are change, improvisation and systems. I’m the right person when you need a reform or improvement – in any project, team or organization. I will implement procedures, retrain people, develop leaders, give them direction and a sense of purpose. I am a natural leader because I help people start thinking like success.
People born with natural leadership ability are especially strong in the area of leadership intuition. Others have to work hard to develop it. Intuition comes from two things: the combination of natural ability (conative area), and learned skills (cognitive area). Learn more about 3 areas of mind here.
There are 3 levels of leadership intuition. The less talent (conative area) you have, the more you will need to make up for it by developing skills and gaining experience or developing thinking patterns (cognitive area).
1. Those who NATURALLY understand leadership
Some people are born with exceptional leadership gifts. They instinctively understand people and know how to move them forward. People with this gift can build up on it and become world-class leaders of the highest caliber.
2. Those who can be NURTURED to understand leadership
Most people fall into this category. They have adequate people skills, and if they are teachable, they can develop intuition. Yet, those who don’t try to improve their leadership and never work to develop their intuition are condemned to being blindsided in their leadership for the rest of their lives.
3. Those who will NEVER understand leadership
I believe that almost everyone is capable of developing leadership skills and intuition. But sometimes you meet people who don’t seem to have clue about leadership and aren’t interested in developing skills necessary to lead. This isn’t you because these people never read blogs on the topic of leadership 😉
I wish there was a formula to turn you into the world-class leader. But the truth is, even though the principles of leadership are constant, application changes with every leader and every situation. That’s why it requires intuition. Without it, leaders get blindsided. If you want to lead long, lead well and stay ahead of others, you’ve got to obey the Law of Intuition.
This article is part of a 21-part leadership series.
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To your success,
PS: To gain even more insights into leadership, get a complimentary access to my Leadership Breakthrough eCourse below.
