The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
— ALBERT E INSTEIN
The genius of leadership lies in the capacity to look beyond the immediate circumstances and imagine the possibilities. Leaders who win high commitment are creative people, open to new experiences and new ways of thinking; they welcome possibility and potential, are able to tolerate the ambiguity of the creative process, and make connections where none seem to exist. This capacity to see beyond what is and to glimpse possibilities acts like radar, scanning the horizon of the leader’s world and exploring the depths of a leader’s experience. This combination of scanning the horizon and exploring the depths draws forth the insights that are the seeds of winning commitment from others. The first kind of scanning—toward the horizon of their world— involves an unquenchable urge to look into the future, to imagine what is possible. Listen closely to any leader, especially when she is speaking personally and informally, and you will consistently hear expressions of hopes and dreams, goals for future projects, the next steps in an ongoing venture, a description of an ideal world or society, or perhaps concerns and plans for her own future. You may hear the word ‘‘beyond’’ often. This capacity, to see beyond the immediate horizon, is usually called vision and is viewed by many as the central characteristic of leadership. Vision is the ability to create a compelling picture of a desirable future. However, there is an important and vastly overlooked precondition for vision. It is insight.
Insight arrives because of the second way in which the genius of leadership stretches a leader’s thinking. Before any of us can see beyond what is, we must faithfully see what is, and then see it in a new way. Leaders peer beneath the surface of things, catching sight of subterranean levels of meaning within ordinary events and circumstances, or seeing the familiar in new and surprising ways. Again, listen carefully to the personal and informal talk of any leader and you will also hear curious and heartfelt examination of the deeper significance of the moment’s important happenings. Insight is not mere observation, but a perception that penetrates beneath the accepted surface, providing a clear and deep understanding of a complex set of circumstances or seemingly disconnected information. It often comes suddenly. A leader’s insight is that kind of clear, and deep, and sometimes sudden perception that is specifically about the needs or aspirations of a group of people. A vision is the culmination of a process that begins with insight.
An insight is not merely a good idea, nor is it a conclusion based on rational analysis. An insight is visceral—in the gut. And it is inspiring—in the spirit. Insights may arrive after intellectual analysis, but they are beyond intellectual analysis. A good idea that arises solely from intellectual analysis may win intellectual commitment, but it takes the compelling force of an insight to win emotional and spiritual commitment.
Bill Strickland is both a leader and an artist who sees clearly the value of insight to the leader’s art. Strickland grew up in Pittsburgh’s North Side. He was much like other teenagers in the predominately African-American neighborhood. He described himself as ‘‘walking around in a sixteen-year-old’s haze’’ until he was enthralled by the sight of a skilled potter working at his wheel and decided that he too would learn the potter’s art. Today, over forty years later, he is still in North Side as president and CEO of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center, and he continues working as a potter. Strickland founded the guild in 1968 to help combat the economic and social ills of the community, and was later asked to take the reins of the training center. Today these two institutions offer model education programs in a 62,000 square foot vocational training and arts center, offering programs in such varied disciplines as chemistry, culinary arts, horticulture, and information sciences. Strickland’s wisdom about the relationship between social change, entrepreneurship, and the arts is much sought after, and he served on the board of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Strickland defined insight as, ‘‘The ability to perceive relationships that are not obvious or apparent.’’ He offered the image of a painter as an example: ‘‘An artist sits down and looks at a canvas and sees this fabulous painting. Twenty other people say ‘I don’t see anything.’ The painter says, ‘It is right here.’ ’’ When an insight visits a person, said Strickland, ‘‘They see things that other people don’t see. They are right there in front of your face, but are not being observed.’’