Intuitive (I)

Overview
Imagination. Creation of the new, the untried. Blue sky, inspirational thinking. Uses hunches, guesses, approximations. This is an exploratory, open-ended seemingly undisciplined approach that works from many potential solutions backwards more often than from the problem towards a solution, using multiple approaches. The style of a highly impatient person loyal to the challenges and the process.

Your thinking style
You like to experiment, trying new ways to do things or to create new ideas. You usually have many projects going, either at work or home. You like to play with concepts or possibilities. You often rely on your hunches, as long as they “feel” right. People see you as intuitive, imaginative, and innovative or creative. You often have insights into problems. You will take risks if they “feel” right. You generally learn best through your own experimentation and self discovery. Your favourite questions start with “IF…?”

Your creative style
When you are working on a challenge you generally…

• synthesise ideas
• use your intuition
• strive to be creative
• explore many ways
• use hunches/feelings
• tend to be visionary

Your communication style
You tend to be creative and sometimes playful in your speaking and writing. You usually see things in different ways than other people. Sometimes this causes you not to be understood by other people, even some who know you. You speak very colourfully, using images and gestures. People try to pin you down to specifics which usually annoys you. You may tend to be excitable and dramatic. You are frustrated by people who follow rules too much.

Your leadership style
Inspirer. Intuitives want everyone involved. Prefer to delegate pieces while encouraging each to reach for excellence. May be impatient at others’ pace and occasionally usurp power back after delegating it. Push for ideal goals and quality when inspired to do so. Rest upon intuition and innovation to solve problems. Generally will be seen as inspirational leaders if minimum of contact is experienced. Overexposure may produce burnout or frustration of subordinates. Prefer to work alone. Will lead effectively if everyone works alone and at his/her pace. Will persuade by inspiration or painting the possibilities of the results. Focus is upon uniqueness, innovation, excitement of solution.

If our style matches the people we are leading generally we work well together. If our style contrasts it may cause a range of problems. For example, if your style tends to be mostly Intuitive, and you are working with …

• People who prefer Negotiative: experience and research show that you will have difficulty up to about 25% of the time. You will usually disagree and possibly argue over changing things or trying new ideas without having input from all the people involved. Negotiative-oriented people prefer to work in harmony as teams and you prefer most of the time to work alone.
• People who prefer Meditative: experience and research show that you will have difficulty up to about 50% of the time. Intuitives generally prefer to trust their intuition or to experiment while solving a problem, while Meditatives will want facts and data, and to experiment before working on the actual problem.
• People who prefer Directive: experience and research show that you will have difficulty up to about 75% of the time. Directives will prefer to plan and organise everything before you start. Intuitives will prefer to jump in and experiment and generate many, many ideas, while the Directives simply want one correct, dependable answer.

Leaders will be more productive (efficient and effective both) when they adapt, adjust or modify their style to their followers’ individual styles rather than trying to cause all their followers to change to the leader’s.

Your basic needs