I walk into the conference room and catch her eye as she looks my way. I know immediately: this is bad. Danger, even. This woman is going to undo the results we’ve built up over months together with the people in the organization. She’s the new HR director, a key position in the ongoing reorganization. I’m a line manager. It’s all been for nothing.

How I knew it, in that split second, I don’t know. And of course, I did everything I could to prove myself wrong—to show that my gut feeling was off. I pulled out my entire repertoire of interventions to foster healthy collaboration. But there were no benefits to my hard work. Within two months, I was out, and, worse still, the entire operation went haywire as they set out to reorganize the reorganization.

Glasses

Intuition is a kind of sixth sense. Hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling, smelling… all body language is communication, a source of information. As a human being, you’re constantly perceiving and consulting your senses before you make choices. What exactly you perceive—what you literally take as true—is determined by the “lens” through which you view the world: how you’ve been shaped. Different people see different things, even when they’re looking at the same thing.

What are you particularly alert to or sensitive about? If, like me, you were raised to believe you have to try your very hardest, it’s generally hard to accept when something doesn’t work out. “It can’t be my fault that we’re not succeeding.” Typical consultant; I was—or perhaps still am—an “uncertain overachiever.” Seeing something go wrong is harder for people like that than for others who, by nature, are focused on learning from mistakes, for example, or for those who are content with a C. What you perceive is determined by how attuned you are to your surroundings—and, above all, by who you are. Self-knowledge is therefore no luxury.

By observing with all your senses, you can discover the truth in the other person. This allows you to close gaps and bridge differences. This is important as a leader of change. Listening to what is said—or, conversely, to what is left unsaid. Hesitation, silence. Combined with observing tone of voice and nonverbal cues—the eyes, body language, seating arrangements at the table, the order of speakers, and so on. In addition to rational communication, this includes emotional and intentional communication—information that concerns connections and relationships.

Self-Knowledge

Intuition is of great value in this regard. But trusting it isn’t something you do just like that. It requires an intimate relationship with yourself—self-knowledge gained by realizing how much your past shapes your present. The life you’ve lived gives you insight into the “lens” through which you view the world. Examine that suffering in order to lead well. View it as a source for making choices. I urge us all to take intuition a bit more seriously in this regard.

That would have saved me two months of fruitless hard work back then. The HR manager in question worked in that position for a number of years and was eventually forced out in disgrace. If the damage to the organization hadn’t been so great, that would have been a satisfying form of retribution.