Intuition in Practice

Learn to Be Intuitive with Derek Wolf

Intuition in Practice
How one minute of clarity can reset a meeting, a project, and a relationship

Morning light on the conference table. Laptops open. A launch window keeps sliding. Before anyone speaks, you feel it—a quiet tension beneath the collarbone, a signal that something essential sits outside the current conversation.

The team dives in: timelines, dependencies, files, fixes. Voices stack. Energy rises. Yet the signal in your body remains: steady, tight, asking for attention.
You call a pause. Sixty seconds. Palms flat on the table, shoulders easy. One slow inhale, one longer exhale. The rhythm in the room changes. Silence recalibrates the energy.

“Success for this launch,” you say, “is a clean handoff to Support by Friday 4 p.m.—no surprises.” Heads nod. The room has a center again.

Now the signal speaks clearly: the constraint isn’t design, copy, or code—it’s approval time. Once you name it, momentum shifts. Three owners, one call, 30 minutes at noon. It’s on record. The body eases because reality and plan now align.

The Same Minute at Home
That evening, the noise changes. A conversation with someone you love edges toward conflict. The surface topic looks small—weekend plans—but the undercurrent is larger: presence, attention, feeling seen.

You notice the same intuitive signal—this time a warmth instead of pressure. One minute again. Breath steady. Spine tall. The same question applies: What matters most?

“I want you to feel valued tonight,” you say. “After dinner, phone off, just us.” The room softens. Dignity replaces defense. Specific action follows presence.

What Intuition Really Is
Intuition is not guesswork. It is rapid pattern recognition supported by physiology. The nervous system registers friction or alignment before the conscious mind articulates it. Signals show up as tightness, heaviness, warmth, or ease. With practice, leaders can notice, name, and act on those signals in real time.

The leadership loop is simple:
Notice → Name → Narrow → Act → Learn.
• Notice the signal in the body and the friction in the work.
• Name the situation in one clear sentence everyone can hold.
• Narrow focus to one priority—time, money, quality, or relationship.
• Act with the smallest visible step, with an owner and timestamp.
• Learn one line from the result and integrate forward.

One Minute That Travels With You
Apply it anywhere—a standup, a boardroom, a kitchen table.
00–15s: Inhale slowly. Longer exhale. Shoulders drop. Eyes soften.
15–30s: Write the situation in one sentence. Keep it plain.
30–45s: Identify the single priority—time, money, quality, or relationship.
45–60s: Define the smallest step that serves that priority. Assign name + time.

One minute creates clarity. It steadies communication at the exact moment drift begins.

When Work Starts to Drift
• Speed without traction: Shorten the step, keep the standard.
• Endless debate: Convert opinions into a 48-hour test.
• Silent rooms: Use a two-minute silent write: “Success for this decision is __.” Read them aloud. Patterns emerge.

Proof It’s Working
Track three signals for 30 days:
1) Average meeting length (trend shorter).
2) Rework rate (trend fewer backtracks).
3) Decision latency (time from issue to owned step—trend faster).

Any improvement proves a culture shifting from noise to signal—intuitive practice operationalized.

Back to the Table
Noon arrives. Three owners on one call. Two approvals consolidate into one documented gate. Legal gains clarity. Support gains predictability. Product secures its handoff. The launch moves because time is now designed, not drifted.

Later, the house is quiet. Two cups on the counter. Phone in a drawer. Conversation unforced. The weekend plan writes itself because the underlying need—attention—was named and honored.

What I am saying…
Intuition is not abstract. It is a leadership discipline that improves outcomes at work and strengthens presence at home. One minute of attention, one smallest step, repeated often—this is how intuitive leadership takes root in culture and in life.

Try This Today
• Before your next meeting: write “Success for this meeting is __.” End with one smallest step, named owner, and timestamp.
• Tonight: take one minute, ask what matters most, and act on it with someone you love.

Both moments build the same muscle. Both return momentum.

— Derek Wolf

Intuition practiced daily becomes intuitive leadership.