#488 Balancing Data-Driven Decisions with Gut Instinct in Leadership

Join Coach Curl in this episode of the Today's Leader podcast as we explore the art of balancing data-driven decisions with gut instinct. Discover how modern leaders can effectively integrate analytics and intuition to make powerful, informed choices.

leadership, data-driven decisions, gut instinct, analytics, intuition, business leadership, emotional intelligence,

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⏱️⏱️VIDEO CHAPTERS⏱️⏱️:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Modern Leadership Challenges

00:01:07 - Balancing Data-Driven Decisions and Intuition

00:02:01 - Understanding the Role of Emotional Intelligence

00:02:56 - Validating Intuition with Hard Evidence

00:03:53 - Becoming a Balanced and Empathetic Leader

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Way to go, guys. Way to go. Keep it

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going. Good job, guys. All right, Paul, I

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see you. Great job, guys.

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Hey there, it's Coach Cole here and

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welcome to the Today's Leader podcast,

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Building Tomorrow's Best Leaders

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today. In this episode, I'm going to dive

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into something that every modern leader

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wrestles with, and this is how do you

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balance data-driven decisions with your

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gut instinct?

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We have a world, a business world that's

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flooded with analytics, dashboard and

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KPIs. And it's tempting for us to think

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that data has all the answers,

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data-based decisions. But here's the

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truth. Great leadership isn't

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just about logic and

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data, it's about wisdom. And that

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means knowing when to trust the numbers

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and when to trust yourself.

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And this balance matters because,

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and there's a number of reasons, right?

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Data will give you clarity and

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confidence, but intuition

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and gut will give you speed and

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sensitivity, and

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relying on one will create blind spots.

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You either become too rigid or too

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reactive, and the best leaders

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will use both. They'll use facts

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to inform us. And they'll

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use intuition, experience or their

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gut to interpret.

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So how do we strike the right balance?

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Well, we start with the data. So we let

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the numbers challenge our

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assumptions. So we ask

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ourselves things like, what is this

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really telling me?What trends, what

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patterns are starting to emerge?And

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this helps us keep our

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decisions grounded, right?And

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then we want to check in for the human

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context. So data shows us what's

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happening, but it also, it never tells

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you why it's happening. And

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this is where we need our emotional

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intelligence. What's the mood in the room?

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What's not being said?What is your gut

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telling you?What is your gut signals

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be being picked up?

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And so therefore, we use our gut or our

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intuition as a filter, not as a

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shortcut, right?So your instinct is

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shaped by your experience.

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And we use this sense. We

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use this sense um to see if

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something just doesn't feel right, it

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feels off, it feels out of whack.

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Or is this an opportunity others

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might miss if they just rely on the data?

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So our instinct is shaped by our

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experience. But we do want

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to validate that intuition. And once

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again, we don't want to create, make a

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decision based on a hunch if the

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hard evidence isn't supporting it.

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So it's a balancing act.

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And finally, for leaders to balance this

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data, gut instinct

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equation. You've got to make the call and

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you've got to own it, right?At the end of

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the day, leadership is about judgment.

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Data won't make the decision for you. It

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helps make the decision, but it will not

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make the decision for you. And your gut

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cannot be the only voice in the room.

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But you decide ultimately which way

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that balance goes with every

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decision, and then you take

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responsibility for that.

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So the strongest leaders that are

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out there aren't either or,

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right?They aren't either. They aren't

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data or gut or

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gut or data. They

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aren't either or thinkers. They're

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both and leaders.

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So how can we take the data and how can

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we interpret it?And we know

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that our best leaders make powerful

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decisions that come. From that

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balance, that balance between data,

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instinct, logic and

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empathy. That's how it works.

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Hey, thanks for tuning in to the Today's

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Leader podcast. Uh, keep tuning in as

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we continue to build tomorrow's best

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leaders today. I'll see you next

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time.