“Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.” Oprah

To be a good leader you have to be a good follower. The ability to “follow” your instincts is an innate skill that takes practice to know, hear, understand and “follow”.

Can it be taught…no. It must be discovered through life experience …if you did not retain it from your childhood. We are all born with fabulous instincts and part of our socialization process muffles the voice of intuition and instinct.

“He did not arrive at this conclusion by the decent process of quiet, logical deduction, nor yet by the blinding flash of glorious intuition, but by the shoddy, untidy process halfway between the two by which one usually gets to know things.” Margery Allingham

Once you begin to look for your intuition and instincts….you will find it.

“Instinct is the nose of the mind.” Madame De Girardin

Here are some ways to find your intuition:

1. Track the moments where you said “I should have listened to my instincts.” or “I should have trusted my gut.”

2. If you get a sense you should do something “follow it” without expectation and stay curious

3. Begin to use the words “I sense” “I sense this might be a good place to eat” or “I sense this may be a good direction to take” or “I sense we should discuss these two points before we make a final decision.”

4. Track how the moments where you “listen to your instincts, intuition, or gut” and note what happens.

Practicing these few steps will excavate your intuition and expand your choices and experiences in all aspects of your life.

To lead well there points where you are required to make decisions based on intuition and to do this well you must hone this skill by figuring out how to “follow” it.

“The only real valuable thing is intuition.” Albert Einstein

If you want to trust your instincts/intuition all the time you have to learn to “follow” them all the time.

Follow your inner voice,

Bobbie