I recently took a quiz for one of my courses. These quizzes ultimately count for a very low percentage of the final grade, but they serve the purpose of proving that a student has read the material and understands the concepts. When I take these tests, I expect to do well, because I am one to do my homework and I seldom (actually never) allow myself to be doing things at the last minute. One of my rules of life is “always be prepared.” When I took this recent quiz, I was prepared as usual, then something dreadful happened! I missed a question. Yes, I know, calm down, it was only one question and it only affects my final grade in the big picture by an extremely small amount, but still, I missed a question! Arg!
What makes it hard to swallow isn’t losing .3% out of 100%, but rather that I knew the answer to the question, then talked myself out of it and went with what I thought the quiz really meant. I overthought the question and got it wrong. Had I gone with what I immediately knew to be the answer, I would’ve scored my typical 100% on these quizzes. Instead, I missed one. Again, ARG!
The lesson in this example is that often, leaders have an innate understanding of how things should be. This is developed through experience, failure, and a lifetime of learning, in addition to God-given discernment and gut instinct. When dealing with decisions, sometimes we just know what we need to do. In my case, I knew the answer and I should’ve trusted what I knew to be the right answer to the question. Of course, there are times when we must take time to carefully examine all the possibilities of a difficult decision. With these, quick decisions are dangerous because of the ramification of making a snap judgment, as there are times when we need systematic processes for making the best decision between equally impacting circumstances. Still, somewhere in the process, we must rely on our gut and go with what we know is the right thing to do.
Going with the gut doesn’t have to be quick, though. Sometimes one needs to give a decision enough time to confirm what our gut is telling us. One technique is often described as “sleeping on it.” I use this technique virtually every time I cast a presentation. I go with the people I think are best for roles, then I sleep on it. Every once in a while I wake up and know that I need to change one of my decisions. I don’t always know why, but I just know it’s the right thing to do. The scholarly version of “sleeping on it” is called “sleep-test ethics” and, according to Badaracco (1997), “Sleep-test ethics rest on a single, fundamental belief: that we should rely on our personal insights, feelings, and instincts when we face a difficult ethical problem.”
The bottom line is that if we’re listening, there is a voice within us that will help us to make the best decisions in how we lead. Whether you call it intuition, discernment, the Holy Spirit, the conscience, or just a gut feeling, it is in there and we all need to listen to it. In the case of my quiz, the consequences of not listening to my gut were low (though you can tell it bugged me!), but often we are faced with high-stake decisions. If we go against what we really know deep within ourselves is the right decision, the consequences can be disastrous. Listen to your inner voice. God put it there for a reason. It will help you be a better leader and ace the quizzes in life.
Lead well.