Contents
Intuition and Reflection
Bringing It All Together
Tools for Reflective Practice
The Journal
Imaging
Dreams
Analysis
Emotions
From Reflection to Action
Suggested Readings
Background
Key Point Summary
Lead Contributor
Ideas Into Action Guidebooks
Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook in this series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.
| LEAD CONTRIBUTOR | Talula Cartwright | |
| GUIDEBOOK ADVISORY GROUP | Victoria A. Guthrie Cynthia D. McCauley Ellen Van Velsor |
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| DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS | Martin Wilcox | |
| EDITOR | Peter Scisco | |
| ASSOCIATE EDITOR | Karen Mayworth | |
| DESIGN AND LAYOUT | Joanne Ferguson | |
| CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS | Laura J. Gibson Chris Wilson, 29 & Company |
Copyright ©2004 Center for Creative Leadership.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
CCL No. 425
ISBN No. 1-882197-83-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-882197-83-5
Center for Creative Leadership
Post Office Box 26300
Greensboro, North Carolina 27438-6300
336-288-7210
www.ccl.org/publications
pfeiffer.com/go/cclguidebooks
The Ideas Into Action Guidebook Series
This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) has generated in the course of more than thirty years of research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared—in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today’s leadership and organizational challenges.
The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. We think you will find the Ideas Into Action Guidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.
Executive Brief
Leaders often have to make decisions without complete information, and those decisions are expected to be not only right but also timely. Using reflective techniques can help you learn to depend on your intuition for help in making good decisions quickly. Reflective practices may seem time-consuming at the beginning, but the time you put in on the front end is well worth the investment. It will pay you back both in time and in the quality of the decisions you make.
Intuition and Reflection
In the world of work, leaders often find themselves in the position of having to make decisions without complete information. They’re expected to make decisions that are not only right but also timely. Strategic and tactical choices can’t always wait, so effective leaders learn to depend on their intuition as well as the evidence of the moment to reach decisions quickly with minimal information. Without the confidence to trust their intuition, less effective managers may analyze too long, second-guess their decisions, or change course midstream.