Superpower #6 was about the business niche — one of the descriptions of a niche is a wall indentation where a vase could sit, which is a great segue. What better way for an R-Leader to think about the next moves for their organization than sitting?

There are occasions when time in the office moves at breakneck speed and innovation and ideas arrive apace of it all. However, that\’s not sustainable, as has been evidenced by the ups and downs of Silicon Valley: not everyone can be a Google or an Apple. Even Microsoft, a company that was a juggernaut in the 1980s through 2000s, has become something of a \’comfort brand\’.

So, if corporate giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft hit slow patches when it comes to their business niche, what chances do R-Leaders working at smaller or less-well-known organizations have?

Plenty.

R-Leaders who take time to put themselves in the indentation, who sit and think, who consider the costs and benefits of change management, new product development, innovative customer service process, and all the other things that bring organizational advantage … will find it.

What Does It Mean to Intuit?

Intuiting is to the brain what feeling is to the hands or the body.

Here\’s an exercise to illustrate this point: Find the softest blanket in your house. Touch it. Feel the fluff and warmth. Better yet, wrap yourself in it. What happens? Chances are, you closed your eyes and let out a deep breath. You might have even smiled.

In other words, you felt comforted.

Now, remember a time when you had a great idea for a product or process in your organization. It doesn\’t have to be one that you put into action. As you let your mind rewind to the moment of realization that you\’d thought of it, of the thing that — in that instant — was the answer to a business prayer, chances are your physical reactions were pretty similar to what you felt wrapped in that squishy soft blanket. You probably smiled, closed your eyes, let out a deep breath.

And then you got to work.

R-Leaders love that feeling and are excited to share it with others. Even if it doesn\’t work this time, they still cheer on the team who tried to take it to the finish line.

But What If Intuiting Doesn\’t Yield Fruit?

Some might think that the leader who sits, thinks of a way to bring innovation to the organization, but whose idea falls flat has wasted their time. Not only that, they seem to have wasted the team\’s time as well — the people who also got excited, who bought into the dream, and after who knows how many hours of trying to bring it to life ended up watching it not work. That seems like a tough sell to Corporate, right?

Hold on a moment.

R-Leaders recognize that organizational advantage is not just an external line item. They know that organizational advantage looks different, depending on the sector. Sure, it\’s always nice to see the lines on the bar graph going up each quarter, but there\’s tons of intrinsic value in seeing more smile lines on team member\’s faces because they love their jobs more and more with each passing day.

Organizational advantage may take the form of an award or recognition as a great place to work. Such accolades often translate into extrinsic value (such as revenue increases) because customers like putting their money behind companies with solid reputations.

Solid reputations come not only from superior products but through positive internal reviews and word of mouth from insiders — team members.

Positive internal reviews don\’t just magically occur.

R-Leaders look to create a positive work environment, which leads to organizational advantage, by intuiting the needs of their internal and external constituents.

How\’s your intuition these days? Let\’s connect if you need to build it.