I see where you’re coming from
Should you trust your intuition? Watch out, say Lis Merrick, senior lecturer at Sheffield Business School and Paul Stokes, deputy director of the Coaching & Mentoring Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University
At the last European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) conference in Paris, we ran a session on the fascinating theme of the coach’s ego. We involved coaches in examining their motivation for using different interventions with clients, how much they were pre-occupied with evidencing their own impact, at the expense of actually helping the client think, and how their ego can manifest itself in their practice.
Overwhelmingly, the more experienced coaches said they chose their coaching interventions using intuition. It’s something we all glibly say, but is this instinct trustworthy?
Is it ‘safe’ for our clients?
More than a feeling?
Intuition “creates a sense (as gut feeling or hunch) of a direction to be followed (a signpost) or of an impending solution (a feeling of knowing). An intuition is more subtle than an insight; it’s a subjective private feeling of conviction, a cognitive nudge, a sneaking suspicion – but one which is hard to explain” (Sadler-Smith, p91).
Daniel Kahneman writes that “intuition is nothing more or nothing less than recognition” (p11). He views intuition as simply being the build-up of expert access to information stored in the memory, which provides the answer quickly when experts recognise familiar elements in a new situation and act in a manner that is appropriate to it. Both Sadler-Smith and Kahneman identify two types of thinking.
Sadler-Smith uses the distinction of an intuitive or rational mind, whereas Kahneman refers to them as intuitive ‘System 1’, which does the faster thinking, and the effortful and slower ‘System 2’, “which does the slow thinking, monitors System 1 and maintains control as best it can within its limited resources” (p408).
So System 2 often endorses or rationalises ideas developed by System 1 – ideas that may be faulty due to memory or demanding adherence to rules of logic which the human mind does not want to choose because it means using emotions or impulses.
Internal interference
Our initial research suggests that, as coaches, we need to be watchful of being overconfident in our intuition.
It is based on pattern recognition, so there is a danger that we will “anchor” our thinking processes on certain parts of the session, while excluding others.
As was evidenced by our conversations with coaches in our EMCC workshop, many experienced practitioners have a firm belief that their intuition is correct and feel they take elements of themselves into the coaching interaction. While they seem to see using their intuition as a strength, focusing on their own internal dialogue might interfere with their ability to concentrate on their client’s thinking, and on how they hold the space for them and listen to them.
Perhaps as coaches we should all reflect on our intuitive approaches and ensure we are using supervision to engage the rational part of our minds. That way, we may avoid an over-reliance on intuitive process and any negative impact on our clients.
References
• P Collard and J Walsh, “Sensory awareness mindfulness training in coaching: accepting life’s challenges”, in J Rational-Emotional Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, 26, pp30-37, 2008
• D Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, Allen Lane, 2001
• E Sadler-Smith, The Intuitive Mind, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2010