I recently read two articles in the Summer 2008 issue of Leadership which offer help here. Gordon Macdonald tackled the issue of a leader’s intuition and Ruth Haley Barton wrote about discernment. Barton said that “our most important leadership role is hearing and obeying God’s voice – together”. She broke it down into three concepts:
1. Recognize God’s presence
2. Respond to God’s presence by following
3. Both are done in the context of spiritual community
The whole process succeeds in a climate of God directed discernment/intuition. Unlike Moses, we don’t get to talk with God face to face or listen to his voice thundering on the mountain. We must listen deeply and rely on the often subtle affirmations of the Holy Spirit. It’s not automatic and rarely easy. This leads us to the importance of #3, the involvement of trusted Christians in the process, and, to what MacDonald writes about: recognition that some leaders are more inclined to intuition than others by virtue of their temperament. Yet he believes even non-intuitives can hone these leadership instincts. Both would value spiritual disciplines/practices to make this climate/culture happen: reading scripture, reflection, silence, self-examination, prayer.
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