Leaders have the over-all responsibility and authority in making decisions and planning strategies for improvement. But what will it take to reap the benefits of following your gut feeling as a leader?
Well, for starters, there’s a thing called ethics and moral values that needed to be met within an organization to maintain the peace and harmony. But during times of struggle and challenges, it is crucial for the leader to make wise and swift decisions.
The benefits from following a gut feeling in terms of making decisions and strategizing for the improvement of the organization may sound risky. It is risky especially if the decision is urgently needed. But sometimes, a surge of emotion that tells you to plunge into the risky side of things may prove worthy.
Risk plus years of experience could back up the gut feeling decision of a prominent leader. If a leader has already earned the trust of his people, it is an easier task to convince them of the risky decisions and the plans at hand.
Building trust through communication and openness will produce rewarding results in an organization that is faced with difficult challenges. These challenges channel people towards a positive goal and mindset that will eventually help the entire organization in the decision making process.
But what if a leader doesn’t have enough back up and trust from his people? Of course, the results will be catastrophic. Even though sometimes some leaders who are being despised by his own people can make gut feeling decision, chances are, the results won’t be as rewarding and worthwhile.
It is a great deal for people to know what their leaders are up to all the time. Being updated on every detail will bring a sense of ownership and accountability to everyone. It is the job of the leader to inform his people of the current issues that their organization is facing. A good leader who is open to suggestions will always consider the thoughts and contributions of his people, thus, enabling a strong sense of trust and accountability from his team.
Having a gut feeling means following your instincts at the onset of a crisis. A gut feeling is either good or bad, depending on the level of risk and impact it has on the problems being solved. A leader with a strong positive gut feeling and supportive teammates will surely pass any crisis unscathed.
Following your gut feelings as a leader may not work every time, but collaboration and cooperation with your people can make a huge difference over time.