The 5 Senses of Leadership

We are all familiar with the 5 senses that most of us are lucky enough to possess in full measure - sight, sound, smell, taste & touch.

We use these senses every day & we very often take them for granted. That's probably because they are instinctive - and we use them automatically without having to think. We then process the information they supply to us automatically as well, maybe even sparking a reflex reaction which is equally automatic.

This made me think about leadership. Many great leaders are described as "naturals" - intuitive, instinctive leaders. Maybe they are, or maybe they worked hard to achieve their status. Either way, perhaps the reason why their leadership appears to be "automatic" is because their leadership "senses" are programmed to generate the best "reflex reaction" to the situations they face each & every day. Even when they are under pressure.

We can all usually sense when something doesn't look right or sound right - but how do we react? What do we do about it?

We know the importance of not 'leaving a bad taste in the mouth' or others - but do we consistently achieve that? Even if we are delivering a tough message?

What about the environment we create? Does it 'smell' right & 'feel' right all of the time?

We can train & develop ourselves to use our leadership "senses" to acquire this information, process it, & react positively with the right actions.

How can we do this in practice? Very often by using our senses - literal, or metaphoric. We can talk to & listen to people - staff, customers, stakeholders. We can look around the business, the marketplace, the competition. We can get a 'feel' for the mood of the team, maybe 'smell' the opportunities for expansion, growth & development. We can develop a 'taste' for success & helping to develop others to contribute to the success of our business.

So - how well balanced are our 5 Leadership Senses? And, can we trust them to help us make instinctively accurate leadership decisions all of the time?