The quiet power of intuition in the boardroom

By: Professor Kwasi DARTEY-BAAH

Leadership is rarely a straight line. It is shaped by frameworks, strategy, performance metrics and governance structures, but it is also influenced by something far less formal and far more human, intuition. In practice, some of the most consequential leadership decisions are not born solely from data or processes, but from a deep internal sense of what feels right in the moment.

Intuition in leadership is often misunderstood. It is not guesswork or recklessness. Rather, it is the subconscious integration of experience, pattern recognition and accumulated learning. Leaders who have spent years navigating complexity develop an internal compass that helps them sense opportunity, risk and timing long before these can be fully articulated in reports or projections. As one executive puts it, “Experience doesn’t always speak in numbers; sometimes it whispers.”

The tension emerges most clearly at the interface between boards and management. Boards are rightly charged with safeguarding the organisation, enforcing discipline and ensuring due process. Their role demands caution. Yet excessive risk aversion can become its own form of risk, particularly when it sidelines the informed judgment of capable leadership teams. When intuition is excluded from the conversation, boards may inadvertently constrain innovation and long-term value creation.

Effective governance does not mean choosing between discipline and instinct. It means learning how to hold both. Boards that perform well in uncertain environments tend to ask better questions rather than impose tighter controls. They seek to understand the reasoning behind a leader’s conviction, even when that reasoning is not fully reducible to spreadsheets. Good governance doesn’t silence judgment; it sharpens it.

Track record matters here. Trust is not blind; it is earned. Leaders who have demonstrated sound judgment over time, particularly in complex or volatile conditions, deserve a greater degree of latitude when they advocate for unconventional paths. Empowerment in these moments is not a governance failure; it is a recognition that leadership capability extends beyond technical competence.

Organisations that thrive over the long term are those that create space for thoughtful intuition within clear accountability frameworks. They recognise that planning and execution are strengthened, not weakened, when informed instinct is allowed to surface. In an era defined by uncertainty and rapid change, leadership that combines analytical rigour with human judgment is not a luxury, is a necessity.

The real challenge for modern boards is not whether to trust intuition, but how to recognise when it is grounded in wisdom and when it is not. Getting that balance right may well be the defining leadership skill of our time.

The writer is the Vice-Chancellor of Central University and a Professor of Leadership & Organisational Development

 

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