7. Foresight and Intuition
| Closely related to conceptualization, the ability to foresee the likely outcome of a situation is hard to define, but easier to identify. One knows foresight when one experiences it. Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future. It is also deeply rooted within the intuitive mind. |
| Larry Spears |
Foresight and intuition are perhaps some of the most distinctive qualities of a true servant leader. At the same time, they are probably harder to grasp and to nail down than most of the other leadership concepts. Foresight and intuition are not about making decisions based on careful analysis, or about following a clearly prescribed set of principles or guidelines. Rather, they are about making decisions based on a hunch or a gut feeling. The more analytically minded leader might hence be inclined to consider intuition less important. Not so. Just think about all the hiring decisions that you have made or witnessed throughout your career. How often did you just have a feeling that a candidate would work out well, but couldn't quite explain it? Or have you ever thought back about a hire that did not turn out to be successful, only to remember that you had a funny feeling during the interviews, but ended up quenching the gut feeling with some rational argument? If most opinions about job applicants are formed in the first 30 or 60 seconds of an interview, then intuition rather than analysis must clearly play a role.
Intuition and foresight can indeed be powerful skills, but they cannot be learned from books or courses. Insteady, they have to be acquired through past experience and by trusting one's own instincts. An old Webster defines intuition like this:
A looking on; a sight or view; but restricted to mental view or perception. Particularly and appropriately, the act by which the mind perceives the agreement or disagreement of two ideas, or the truth of things, immediately, or the moment they are presented, without the intervention of other ideas, or without reasoning and deduction.
Intuition and foresight are rather personal skills that require introspection and contemplation. The two concepts are actually closer related to each other than the words might suggest. The Latin roots of intuition are intuitio (the act of contemplating) and intueri (to contemplate, to look at). So, "intuition" could be appropriately rendered "in-sight", "inner-sight", or "inner-seeing". In other words, intuition is about looking inward, and foresight is about looking forward.
Thinking about foresight in the context of Scripture, the prophetic qualities of many great Biblical leaders might quickly come to mind. Moses foresaw the ten plagues, Jesus foresaw Peter's denial, and his own betrayal and death, and so on. But even if we don't have the divine powers of Moses or Jesus, we can still benefit from a further look at the prophets in the Bible.
The first point to be made about the prophets is that they were held in high esteem. Consider, for example, the following verse from the first book of Samuel (1Sa 9:6):
But the servant said, "I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go."
The importance that God gave to his prophets, particulary in keeping his people on the right path, is a recurring theme throughout the entire Bible, but the following quote from the second book of Chronicles (2Ch 36:14-15) may be a particularly good example:
14All the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. 15The LORD, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.
One might also think of the story of Deborah in the book of Judges (chapters 4 and 5). In various translations, the prophetess Deborah is described as either judging or leading her people, so it is clear that as a prophetess she held a high position. She went on to lead Israel in a battle that liberated the nation from an oppressive foreign king, and as a result there was peace in the land for forty years (Judg 5:31).
The second point to be made is that in the Bible prophesy and faith are closely related concepts. The writer of the book of Hebrews made this clear in the great chapter 11 on faith (Heb 11:32-33):
32Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. [...]
What then is the meaning of faith? Well, volumes have been written to answer this question, but clearly, a few quick notes have to suffice in this context. The same 11th chapter of Hebrews from which the last quote was taken, defines faith in its first verse like this (Heb 11:1):
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)
2Co 5:7 says that
We live by faith, not by sight. (NIV)
Easton's "Illustrated Bible Dictionary" from 1897 defines faith like this:
Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true [...]. Its primary idea is trust.
This last definition of faith brings us back full circle to Webster's definition of intuition earlier in this chapter. Acting according to intuition really is acting according to faith. Decisions involving foresight beyond the immediate present are decisions based on faith.
How then do we live and lead by faith? How do we use foresight and intuition?
Again, one must start by acknowledging that intuition and foresight are not about following certain recipes, but about trusting one's instincts. Perhaps then the first step would be to overcome the fear that intuitive decisions are irrational decisions lacking proper care and analysis.
Didn't most us (at least in Western cultures) marry someone we happened to have fallen in love with, rather than someone whom we carefully selected according to rigorous analysis of all contributing factors? (My apologies to any readers from cultures where marriages tend to be arranged.) My own marriage decision is actually a rather ironic case in point. Until I met my wife, I would have gladly lectured anyone that marriage should be carefully considered after a rather extended period of getting to know one's potential partner for life. Well, I proposed to Michele nine days (yes, 9 days!) after our first date, and five of those days we weren't even in the same country together. Lest anyone worry, we have now been happily married for over eight years. Clearly, intuition overtook rational analysis in that decision!
By and large, I am a person who has a more analytical than intuitive mind (or perhaps I have simply made more use of one over the other?). However, when I look back at my life so far, intuition has served me well in many important decisions and turning points in my life. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't; and if it feels right, we might as well follow our instincts.
Secondly, foresight is really a learned skill that comes from experience. As we cannot really predict the future, all we can do is reflect on decisions and their outcomes from the past, and based on that knowledge base make a guess about the likely future outcome of a decision to be made in the present. Again, this probably happens more intuitively than analytically, but it does require that we regularly take some time out to reflect consciously about our past and what we have learned from it.
Thirdly, intuition and foresight involve an element of trust. We have to be willing to trust our own instincts when we make decisions that we cannot explain rationally. Once again, it will be helpful to reflect back on our past and to recount important decisions where intuition has served us well. Most decisions, however, affect not just ourselves but others as well, so ideally, intuition and foresight will flourish in a culture of mutual trust, within the organization or perhaps within our families. In such an ideal climate, followers are willing to trust their leaders even when their decisions don't seem rational, and leader can trust their followers that not all decisions have to be fully explained before they will act on them.
Finally, any use of foresight and intuition requires a willingness to accept and lovingly forgive mistakes. When we were children, we didn't learn to walk without falling down in the process. (Ok, some of us are better than others, as my wife tells me that she never even crawled, and when she decided it was time to walk, she never fell down. But then, my wife also taught herself to read before the age of three, so I'm simply not up to her standards!). We simply can't explore new territory without making mistakes and learning from them. At least until we will be with our Maker in heaven, we won't be perfect, which brings the following verses to mind as a close to this chapter (1Co 13:12-13):
12Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. 13There are three things that will endure--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
For Thought and Discussion
- Look back at some of the major milestones and turning points in your life. On which occasions did your intuition serve you well? Are there other steps where you didn't trust your intuition, but in hindsight realize that you should have? Did your intuition ever fail you?
- What important decisions do you have to make in the next weeks or months? Do you feel you have enough foresight? If you think back about your past, can you gain any helpful insights?
- Did Jesus use intuition when he "hired" his disciples? Was there any evidence that they were successful candidates? How did things work out?
