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In leadership training, management development, and employee performance programs, one question appears again and again:
What is leadership really about—and how does a leader make decisions that matter?
To answer this, we must explore not only what the decision making process is, but who we must become to execute it wisely. Decision-making, after all, sits at the center of every outcome we produce—professionally and personally. The small choices that shape our days and the long-range choices that shape our lives are threads in the same fabric.
In truth, we are the sum total of the decisions we have made and the beneficiaries—or inheritors—of the decisions made by others before us. Our modern world is built on choices we did not make, yet they influence the choices we can make today.
So the question becomes:
How do we elevate decision-making into an art worthy of 21st-century leadership?
Gut Feeling: The Most Underrated Leadership Intelligence 
Recently, after concluding a seminar for 50 executives of a Fortune 500 company, something remarkable happened. While the curriculum centered on “The Big Picture of the decision making process,” a deeper need emerged in the room:
They wanted to know how to listen to—and act on—their gut feelings.
This shift from thinking to feeling was a revelation. It unlocked a new understanding of decision quality and reshaped the room’s definition of success.
Most people assume decision-making is analytical, structured, and left-brain dominant. That is only half the picture. The other half—often ignored—is the realm of intuition, emotional intelligence, and inner knowing.
Your gut knows more than your brain because your gut perceives the whole of you, while your brain only knows what has already been programmed into it.
To access this intelligence, leaders must listen differently. They must listen inward.
Gut feeling is not fantasy.
It is instinct.
It is intuition.
It is the human detection system at its highest setting.
And yet, most people ignore it—until they regret not listening.
Gut feeling is not loud, and it is not forceful. It speaks in subtle language—impressions, hesitations, nudges, clarity spikes. It is the “super feeling” that accesses knowledge our logic cannot compute.
The Big Picture vs. The Small Picture 
Understanding the Decision Making Process in Leadership
There is a profound difference between making decisions and following a decision making process.
The latter requires balanced engagement of both hemispheres of the brain, integrating rational analysis with intuitive guidance to create a higher evaluation capacity. This approach builds resilience, clarity, and long-term success.
“Making decisions,” however, is often impulsive, defensive, or driven by fear. These quick, convenience-based choices arise from the comfort zone—a space designed to preserve the known, not expand potential.
The danger?
These decisions are rarely aligned with the present. They are reactions shaped by yesterday’s fears, not today’s realities.
To lead well, professionals must transition from momentary decision-making to a systematic, organic process.
Your Brain: A Brilliant Servant, a Terrible Master 
The human brain is the most intricate computer ever created. It consumes impressions the way the body consumes food. The higher the quality of what we input, the higher the quality of what we output. Yet modern life overwhelms the brain with noise—media, technology, conditioning, biases—so intensely that most people no longer own their thinking. Instead, the brain feeds itself whatever stimulates it and pushes aside the quiet voice of the gut.
This imbalance creates a major challenge in the decision making process because the brain loves control while the gut seeks truth. The brain argues, convinces, and debates; the gut simply knows. So if your mind is currently rejecting the idea of gut intelligence, you are witnessing the ego resist being exposed.
Feelings: The Human Instrument Panel 
Not all feelings are created equal.
Lower emotional feelings—fear, guilt, shame, doubt, old trauma—distort perception and lead to poor decisions. These must be acknowledged, released, and allowed to pass through. Making decisions from these states is like flying a plane upside down while believing you’re right-side up. Without inner instruments, you crash.
Higher emotional feelings, however—gratitude, purpose, integrity, values, forgiveness, compassion—form the most accurate internal compass a leader possesses. They stabilize judgment, strengthen intuition, and guide the professional toward clarity within the decision making process.
Your gut feelings arise from this higher emotional territory. They are your internal flight instruments.
So how to make great decision?
Involve both hemispheres in the process. Satisfy first the left side known as the neocortex which collects relevant facts, analizes possible decisions and creat a map of short and long term consequences, positive and negative. Weigh all variable possibilities and then just leave it for a while and let your gut feeling into the act. It is important taht you feed your mind before you engage your gut.
How to Act on Your Gut Feeling
Gut Feeling Training Framework 
- Acknowledge your gut impressions
- Cultivate an inner dialogue
- Speak to yourself honestly
- Ask your gut questions
- Listen for subtle responses
- Avoid pressure—gut wisdom has its timing
- Be patient
- Show belief and the gut will respond
- Learn its quiet language
- Expect gradual results
- Avoid inventing what you want to hear
- Give it time
There is no insurance policy for gut-based leadership. You cannot guarantee outcomes the way you guarantee processes. But you can learn the language of inner communication, which is the foundation of the decision making process at its highest level.
Trust grows both ways.
When you trust your gut, your gut begins trusting you.
This is where genuine clarity emerges.
The True Professional’s Edge 
The true edge of professional leadership lies in self-awareness and inner alignment. It is this internal clarity that strengthens the decision making process and elevates a leader’s capacity to navigate complexity with confidence.
Professionals committed to excellence continually examine:
- What leadership truly is
- What management truly is
- What success must look like in turbulent times
- What constitutes a meaningful win in today’s workplace
- How to lead from inner stability rather than outer pressure
- How to remain authentic under stress
Those who embrace this reflective approach become rare leaders—individuals who never stop learning, refining their craft, and growing their intuitive and emotional intelligence. They lead not just with skill, but with grounded awareness and integrity.
This is the edge that transforms leadership from functional to exceptional.
If your organization is ready to strengthen leadership depth, elevate decision-making clarity, and empower professionals to lead with intelligence and authenticity, invite Eli Harari to your next seminar, keynote, or leadership workshop.
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