Discernment matters most when everything matters

How leaders see what truly counts

Bring to mind a leadership challenge you’re facing right now - something complex, uncertain and not easily resolved.

You probably have a lot of information about it: incomplete or ambiguous data, competing priorities across the organisation, strong views from different stakeholders and several possible paths forward to consider.

But even with all that information, a deeper question remains: are you clear about what actually matters most?

This is where discernment comes in.

What is leadership discernment?

Discernment is a core leadership capability. It is a specific form of judgement: the ability to distinguish between things that appear similar and assess their relative importance. The Merriam-Webster definition captures it well as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure”.

In other words, discernment helps leaders see through the noise and recognise what truly matters.

Like many leadership capabilities, some people seem to have a natural feel for it. But discernment is also something that can be developed and deepened over time.

When we are discerning, we draw on two different forms of intelligence:

• Analytical thinking: Evaluating the evidence, understanding systems and anticipating future consequences

• Intuition: Drawing on the deeper wisdom that comes from experience, pattern recognition and emotional awareness

The most effective leaders learn to draw on both.

Two questions to shift the discussion

One way leaders strengthen discernment within their teams is through the questions they ask. Two questions in particular can shift the quality of a discussion:

What matters most here?

What does your intuition tell you when you step back for a moment?

The first question invites analytical thinking. The second draws on the deeper wisdom built through years of experience.

When you ask these questions, slow the pace of the conversation. Let the question sit for a moment and resist the urge to jump in with your own answer. Often the most valuable insights emerge in that short pause - when people have space to reflect on what they already know deep down.

Sometimes the most strategic move a leader can make is simply to slow the conversation down long enough to see what truly matters.

I work one-to-one with senior leaders, helping them build strategies to tackle complex challenges. If you'd like to explore what that could look like for you, you can find out more here.

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