Why leaders should learn to value the boundary spanners
Entrepreneurial talent who work with other teams often run into trouble with their managers. Here are ways to get the most out of your âboundary spannersâ...
Brain Circuits
Gut feeling: 4 ways to enhance intuitive intelligence in the machine age
In a data-driven world, intuitive intelligence is a powerful skill that enables you to act decisively in uncertainty. Heather Cairns-Lee andâŻEugene Sadler-SmithâŻexplain the concept and how to cultivate it to enhance your decision-making.
What is intuitive intelligence?
Effective decision-making requires three types of intelligence:
- Rational intelligenceâŻâ analytical, data-driven thinking.
- Emotional intelligenceâŻâ the ability to understand and manage emotions in oneself and others.
- Intuitive intelligence â the capacity to recognize, interpret, and apply intuition effectively in decision-making.
Intuition can be defined as: âknowing without knowing how or why you know.â Itâs not magic â itâs your brain processing vast amounts of information quickly, based on experience, pattern recognition, and learned expertise.
Four ways to enhance your intuitive intelligence
1. Deliberate practice
Like any skill or ability, intuition can be developed through deliberate practice. The more you practice, the more you will refine your ability to draw on and trust your intuition.
2. Think without thinking
Allow your unconscious mind to process complex problems in the background (âthinking without thinkingâ). Sometimes, stepping away from an issue enables intuition to surface a solution more effectively than conscious deliberation. This is where intuition can lead to insight (where you âseeâ the solution to a problem in a âlightbulbâ moment).
3. Increase awareness
The next step is to increase awareness of intuitive signals by paying closer attention to subtle cues that the subconscious mind provides. Tune into intuitive messages using metaphors and images and translate them into clear, actionable insights. Further refinement comes from challenging and debiasing hunches and validating them with data, feedback, and previous experiences.
4. Learn when to trust your gut
Once intuitive instincts become more recognizable, itâs essential to discern when they should be trusted. Not every gut feeling is reliable, and learning to separate authentic intuition from misleading impulses is a critical aspect of honing intuitive intelligence.
In a data-driven world, human intuitive intelligence sets great leaders apart by enabling them to act decisively, with uniquely human insight.
Key learning
As artificial intelligence increasingly handles analytical tasks, your intuition becomes even more critical. In a data-driven world, human intuitive intelligence sets great leaders apart by enabling them to act decisively, with uniquely human insight.
Authors
Related
How to prevent employee burnout through a growth mindshiftÂ
When we feel stressed, weâre more likely to operate from a place of fear and fall back on a mindset that is fixed, judgmental, and focused on polarities â behaviour that soon...
How can AI enable your business strategy?Â
Artificial intelligence is perhaps the most far-reaching technology ever created. Googleâs AI business strategist Gopi Kallayil recommends asking yourself three key questions regarding your business strategy and identifies three AI capabilities you...
Tell me more: how to boost your leadership skills by learning instead of directingÂ
Many leaders feel compelled to motivate their teams to perform by being highly solutions-focused â but learning rather than directing often leads to better results. Consult the following checklist to guage whether...
Learn Brain Circuits
Join us for daily exercises focusing on issues from team building to developing an actionable sustainability plan to personal development. Go on - they only take five minutes.
Â
Explore Leadership
What makes a great leader? Do you need charisma? How do you inspire your team? Our experts offer actionable insights through first-person narratives, behind-the-scenes interviews and The Help Desk.
Â
Join Membership
Log in here to join in the conversation with the I by IMD community. Your subscription grants you access to the quarterly magazine plus daily articles, videos, podcasts and learning exercises.
Â