I love how Simone Monroe, director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX talks about a leader’s intuition and how that really does direct what they envision and how they implement their vision using all they have to move women forward in their spiritual journey. See which of these ideas hits you where you are and ask God how you can sharpen your own intuition as a leader.
The most difficult of all the instincts a leader needs to develop is that of intuition. Why is this? Because intuition depends on so much more than just the facts. Intuition is facts plus instinct, insight, and other intangible factors – a sort of sixth sense, if you will. And the intuition a leader develops is often the factor that separates the greatest leaders from the merely good ones.
Some people are born with great ability to read situations and people. Others have to work hard to develop this ability. Either way, intuition is a combination of natural skill and learned skills.
The best way to describe how intuition works is an unusual ability to get a handle on intangible factors, understand them, and strategize to accomplish goals. Intuition makes leaders become readers of the numerous intangibles. Leaders with this ability are able to read five areas concerning their situation:
1. Leaders Read Themselves- strengths, skills, weaknesses, and current state of mind.
- Intuitive leaders must learn to be objective and step back from situations in order to recognize her personal motives, discard personal preferences and agendas, and make decisions based on what is best for the organization, with the future directions as well as present circumstances in mind.
2. Leaders Read Their People
- Intuitive leaders can sense what’s happening among their people and almost instantly know their hopes, fears, and concerns.
3. Leaders Read Their Situation
- Intuitive leaders capture details that elude others in all kinds of circumstances.
- Natural ability and learned skills of an intuitive leader create an informed intuition making issues jump out at the leader.
4. Leaders Read Trends
- Everything that happens around us does so in the context of a bigger picture.
- Intuitive leaders step back from what’s happening at the moment and see not only where they and their people have gone, but also where they are headed in the future. It’s as if they can smell change in the wind.
5. Leaders Read Their Resources
- A major difference between achievers and leaders is the way they see resources.
- Successful individuals think in terms of what they can do. Successful leaders, on the other hand, see every situation in terms of available resources: money, raw materials, technology and, most important, people.
- Leaders who want to succeed maximize every asset and resource they have for the benefit of their organization.
- Intuitive leaders NEVER forget that people are their greatest asset.
How you see the world around you is determined by who you are. Leaders with intuition have a leadership bias and see everything through the lens of leadership. So it is important to remember to think with a leadership bias. Great leaders have the ability to turn bad situations around as a result of their leadership intuition. The great ones can see things other’s can’t see, make changes, and move forward before others know what is happening. How is your leadership intuition?
Simone Monroe is the director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX, a Global Strategist for ProvenWay Ministries and Lifeway Ministry Multiplier. As a speaker, conference leader, and freelance writer, she is also a member of the Association of Women’s Ministry Professionals. Simone has earned a Masters degree in Christian Leadership and a Certificate in Women’s Leadership from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, TX. Simone’s passion is teaching and developing women to fulfill their God-given potential. She enjoys presenting God’s Word in a fresh and relevant way in order to encourage growth in the lives of her listeners. Her two sons, their wives, and her five grandchildren are the light of her life.
Resources:
Women Reaching Women
Transformed Lives
On Track Leadership, John Kramp
