Is intuition THE missing skill?
I’ve been reflecting on working with complex problems in an ever increasingly fragmented world – the sort of problems where there are no wrong or right answers just lots of data, multiple often conflicting opinions, agendas, stakeholders….
As you may know, I left large organisational life to embark on the adventure that Wise Sherpa is! Up until my departure from large organisational life, I had been leading on various complex global change projects and programmes, Usually, I was brought in when things were not going well – focusing on the human element is my area of expertise and which is typically where change comes unstuck. As a result, I consider myself or at least so I thought fairly experienced in the space of understanding and leading change especially complex change. And yet…. I am reminded daily just how difficult complex change can be. When working with my clients much of the work we do together is navigating complex change in their lives and their organisations where there are no obvious answers just lots of questions to be explored. – Intuition
As part of my evolving approach, I started experimenting with the concept of intuition (or the heart/gut response as some may refer to it). This is because of a series of very powerful conversations with two of my mentors which gave me the permission that perhaps I felt I needed to stand in the power of my intuition when working with my clients on navigating complex change.
Tuning in to what’s going on inside and around me beyond the rational thoughts that I am prone to favour and to really listen to what is coming through all of my senses – not prioritising automatically one over the other – has been enlightening! For example, 10 minutes into a discussion with a relatively new client, something came through my intuition tuning fork loud and clearly. I listened to what it was telling me – that I was reacting to the client’s voice and how it changed quite dramatically when talking about different issues. I asked her if she was open to exploring this further and we had a powerful discussion, which has opened up some powerful insight for her and avenues for us for further exploration. Had I not been open to this way of listening to myself and what was going on through my intuition, we might still have got to the same place, but I wonder how much longer or how powerful the insights would have been?
As a result I am asking myself, what if intuition were to be recognised as an important under recognised and under-valued skill in navigating complex change? Instead of it being seen as something rather mysterious and untrustworthy that generally old “crones” possess, what if it could hold equal value with the more rational data points etc that form the basis of decision making in navigating the swamp of complex change?
A bit more about the author –
Rebecca Hill, founder at Wise Sherpa, is an experienced respected, trusted, sought after and award winning coach, consultant, facilitator and mentor.
Her passion is working with purpose led and impact focused leaders, professionals and organisations (including start ups and scale ups) in London and internationally in a thoughtful, collaborative and considered way guiding them to successfully realise their aspirations and achieve their goals. Rebecca’s approach is highly personalised and tailored to the needs of each client which is why clients report strong outcomes and she is considered one of the best leadership coaches and consultants.
Rebecca is also an author and speaker. She speaks on a range of issues including mid-life to later life transitions into fulfilling encores, navigating major life stages from a career perspective and women’s economic empowerment to name a few.
She holds an MSc in Coaching and Consulting from HEC Paris (in association with Said Business School, University of Oxford), as well as being a Chartered Marketer and qualified coach. She has lived and worked in several countries including France, US and Switzerland and speaks several languages. In her spare time, she also sits on a number of boards and committees.
