Intuition

When I went to school I learned about great leaders and innovators of the past, such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, the Wright Brothers and so on.  It is hard to realize that your life is being changed everyday by a man in your lifetime that can be compared with these great men. 

I do not own one Apple product.  Yes, I am a PC girl.  I never realized how much Steve Jobs did in fact change my way of thinking.  He challenged my generation to Think Different, Never Fear Failure, and Not To Settle With Status Quo; he made us a generation who believe that Competition Makes Us Better. 

Steve jobs changed the way businesses do business.  Steve Jobs changed the way Police Officers serve and protect us.  Steve Jobs changed the way our Military protect the home of the free and brave.  Doctors and nurses now carry smart phones to aid in their jobs, giving patients faster and more precise care. I am actually trying to find an occupation where a computer or smart phone has not changed the industry.

American Icon: 

The Inventor Of the Future
Time Magazine stopped their presses yesterday
to change their cover to this picture by Norman Seef

If you did not know the story of Apple and it’s co-founder by now, they you are not reading or watching the news this week.  We know that Apple had a rocky time when Jobs was fired from Apple, by a man he personally recruited.    When he returned in the late nineties, he led the company and the world into the 21^st Century.  One of the first moves he made would make past business leaders roll over in their graves!  He partnered with is arch rival Bill Gates.  Microsoft and Apple began working more closely together.  He also changed the companies focus from not just computers but to music.  When an independent contractor was rejected by many other companies for an Mp3 player, Jobs embraced it.  He gave it 100% of his time.  Why? Because he understood that an iPod was consistent with his vision of a digital lifestyle. 

Jobs liked to quote hockey great Wayne Gretzky, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."  That my friend is following your gut! That is intuition! 

Steve Jobs reminds me that leadership is more of an art than mere science.  Yes, I said before leadership is leadership and it never changes. But the way leaders apply their basic leadership skills in every situation changes and that is why to be a leader it requires intuition. 

I went to Duquesne University for Organizational Leadership & Behavioral Science.  In school I learned how to read through stats, reports and examine balance sheets to know the situation of a company.  I also learned how important it is to “tune in” to leadership dynamics, to “smell” things in an organization.  I learned how to develop my intuition to sense people’s attitudes and truly detect the chemistry of a team. 

Leaders need to read trends.  They need to sense what is happening before they find the data to explain it.  Leaders use resources differently than everyone else.  They want to know how the resource will help them, even if the resource is a challenge.  Leaders read people.  Steve Jobs knew what the world wanted before we knew what we wanted.  Leaders can walk into a room and sense what is happening: anticipation, fear, curiosity or doubt.  They also read themselves.  When leaders become self-centered or pessimistic in their thinking they only hurt the organization.  They read themselves how others read them. 

I know you are saying to yourself, ‘I would like to be able to read the dynamics in my organization, but I just do not see things intuitively.’  Do not feel bad- the good news is You Can improve your intuition!

First you need to learn to trust your gut feeling.  Start paying attention to that feeling.  Make note of when you are “right” before you have evidence. Once you start to realize you are right you will trust your gut feeling.  

Second, can you tell what others are feeling?  Do you know when they are happy or sad?  Do you anticipate what others are thinking?  If this is not a strength for you: try to people watch, observe strangers and try to think about what they are feeling.  Strike up a conversation with a person in the grocery line.  Listen to them, observe how they are behaving. 

Third, train yourself to think of putting people in their best positions and using all your resources.  Now imagine accomplishing a project without doing any of the work except for recruiting, empowering and motivating others. Leaders look at every situation and ask questions: Why is it this way?  Why is it the popular choice?  Why does it or doesn’t it work?  What other ways could this situation be approached?  You might be a club president where all of the membership around you is telling you everything is fine, but you still have hesitations.  What is your leadership intuition telling you? 

I challenge you this weekend to people watch or strike up a conversation with a stranger. Write in the comments section below about your experience.