Intuitive Insight
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The third level of insight is intuitive. Intuition is the ability to detect
dynamics and information that lie just below the surface of a
Defining the Space for Coaching 23
situation.We use our intuition when we follow our hunches, detect
patterns, and make decisions without having all of the information
that we might like. As the complexity and speed of our world
increases, intuition becomes an increasingly important component
of our decision making.More and more, leaders are making choices
based on an integration of logical, linear information and their best
intuitive interpretation of a situation.
For example, on the surface, Linda’s leadership team seemed to
be moving forward with reorganizing the department. Few overt
disagreements took place in team meetings and progress was being
made, although it seemed to slow down as some of the bigger decisions
needed to be made. Linda had a feeling that something was
off, and she decided to talk with her coach about this in their next
coaching session.
Linda’s coach asked her to describe what she had noticed about
how the team was working. Linda recounted that John and Ellen had
become quiet, rarely participating fully in the team discussions, even
when Linda invited their comments. They were both fairly quiet
people, but this was more than just being quiet.Her coach asked her
what her intuition suggested about this dynamic. Linda had a hunch
that John and Ellen were withdrawing from the team because they
felt threatened by the changes being made. Linda decided to have
open conversations with all of her team members in their biweekly
one-on-one meetings to better understand how her direct reports
felt about the changes being made. Through these conversations,
Linda learned that Ellen and John felt that they were getting railroaded
by Linda and other team members into making changes that
they believed were not always in the best interest of their people.
As a result of these conversations, Linda was able to construct a
more inclusive change management process, and she continued to
monitor the team using tangible measures and intuitively observing
on several levels how the team was working together.
Linda had some evidence that her team was not operating at top
form, but her intuition, her sense that something was off, led her to
dig deeper to better understand what was happening with her team.
The more leaders trust their own intuitive knowing, the sooner they
are able to take action when situations are just beginning to derail,
rather than waiting for a full-blown catastrophe.
Inspirational Insight
Intuition leads naturally to inspiration. Inspirational insight occurs
when all the pieces come together and something is seen in an
entirely new light. The person who has the inspiration experiences
a kind of aha moment when a new possibility is realized. Intuition
tends to show up in pieces, such as knowing that an approach isn’t
likely to work or someone is capable of something, even if they have
never done it before. For some people inspirational insight shows
up like a seed of an idea of that grows over time, for others it arrives
more fully formed. However it happens, inspiration takes the leader
in a new direction, expanding the leader and the organization in
some material way.
Jeff was an executive with a large health care organization. Several
experiences had plunged Jeff somewhat unexpectedly into the world
of alternative medicine. His sister had been unable to find satisfactory
traditional medical care for a chronic condition and had been
successfully working with a homeopathic doctor to manage her
health. At first, Jeff was somewhat uncomfortable with his sister’s
choice; however, as her condition improved, he became convinced
of the benefit of this alternative form of care. At his coach’s suggestion,
Jeff began to practice yoga and meditation as a way of getting
back into shape and helping to manage his stress. He was surprised
at the benefits he received from these practices. Through conversations
with people he met in his yoga class, he became aware of other
healing methodologies with which he had no experience.
While taking a walk one day, Jeff was mulling these ideas over
in his mind and found himself wondering about the possibility of
adding an alternative care clinic to his health care organization. Jeff
brought his idea into his coaching sessions and worked with his
coach to create a path forward. He began to research different
possibilities and began talking with some of his peers about what he
was learning. It was a long row to hoe, but eventually Jeff built a
coalition of supporters in his organization and the community.With
guidance from his coach, Jeff used his experience to hone his
leadership and influencing skills and move the project forward.
If someone had told Jeff before all of this happened that he would
be championing an alternative health care clinic, he never would
have believed them. Inspiration is often the culmination of insights
gained from a wide variety of experiences. Inspirational insight
creates a real step change for the leaders with the courage to put their
ideas into action and the organizations in which they work.