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Sharpen Your Sixth Sense
Every leader can develop better intuition and discernment.
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A few years ago a low budget movie became a box office smash. The story line followed a boy who had a mysterious capacity to see what other people could not see—in this case seeing and interacting with people who weren't alive. The famous line in this movie, The Sixth Sense, was the boy's revelation, "I see dead people." It's eerie but quite memorable. A pastor said to me, "Big deal. I see that at every deacon's meeting." Leaders, too, have a special intuition—a sixth sense, if you will. We probably all know leaders whose internal compass consistently works better than anyone else's in the room. Everyone else is trying to find the right direction in a particular circumstance, and then this individual, who's been quietly listening, speaks up and suggests a certain course, and everybody says, "That's it. Of course, that's it." How did he or she do that? I know leaders who can perceive the future better than the average person. They can see the implications of current decisions on future realities. It's quite uncanny. Other leaders can spot the one glittering diamond of opportunity where others see only a coal mine full of problems. I know leaders who can discern leadership potential in an individual the rest of us would write off. How do you explain those mysterious capacities? Recently I've been thinking about a leader's decision-making process. What contributes to this intuition? Can it be developed? For 30 days I tried an experiment. I kept a pad of paper with me, and every time I made a leadership decision, large or small, I jotted the decision down. After 30 days I reflected on those decisions to see if I could discern what factors informed my decision making. I wanted to understand this sixth sense, this mystery of my own intuition. My conclusion? After considerable reflection, I believe that diligent, spiritually gifted, Romans 12:8 leaders will, over time, construct a value system and experience base that informs each subsequent decision. This process enables Spirit-led leaders to get wiser and better as the years go by. As I looked at my decisions, four distinct influences became apparent. These four sources inform most leaders' decisions, whether or not they're aware of them. What I really believeOne decision that landed on my desk during that time involved one of our Willow Creek Association international offices. A senior leader, who subsequently left our employ, had made multiple questionable financial commitments. There were no signed contracts or paperwork to reference, but people were asking us to pay them for work they had done. When asked what we should do, I answered instantaneously and intuitively: "Pay them. All of them. Pay whatever they ask." As a Dutchman, parting with any amount of money is emotionally wrenching for me. But this decision was easy. I didn't have to hire a consultant or consciously pray about it. It wasn't even really economic in nature. The decision virtually made itself because of three bedrock foundations of my life. |             |
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