Leading Beyond Logic: The Role of Intuition in Business Success
In today’s world, leadership is often seen as a science of optimization and relentless pursuit of targets. But what if real leadership requires something deeper, something that goes beyond spreadsheets and strategy decks? In this blog, inspired by a candid podcast with Mark Dallimore and Dan Blackman, we’re diving into an often-overlooked quality in business and leadership: intuition.
Get ready for a very real, very relatable exploration of intuition, healing, self-regulation, and how inner work can reshape entire business cultures. We’re not pulling out big philosophical words here—we’re talking from experience, just like you might with a friend over coffee. So, if you’ve ever found yourself blending doing and being, thinking and feeling, this post is for you.
Table of Contents
- Our Story: The Journey to Intuitive Leadership
- Why Intuition Rarely Gets Mentioned in Corporate Life
- Fight-or-Flight Work Culture: The Everyday Reality
- How Can We Bring Intuition Into Corporate Teams?
- Agile vs. Waterfall: Small Steps Toward People-First Work
- Taking Breaks, Finding Purpose: Daily Rituals That Heal
- The Disconnect: Why Most Of Us Feel Unfulfilled At Work
- Practical Tools: How to Move Awareness From Head to Body
- Support Matters: Co-Regulation and Community
- Resentment: The Hidden Invitation to Healing
- The Power of Inquiry and Self-Awareness
- Receiving, Gratitude, and Creating Space for Intuition
- Final Thoughts: Beyond Instinct, Toward Intuitive Leadership
- Resources and How to Connect
Our Story: The Journey to Intuitive Leadership
It all started with Mark and Dan connecting through a community focused on healing, self-awareness, and personal development. Both had walked paths in the corporate world, led teams, built businesses, and discovered that the real game-changer wasn’t just skill—it was the inner work.
“We’ve gone more towards that leadership, that corporate environment, business success, and bringing what we’ve learned—the inner work—into the external and helping people in similar situations.”
Most business environments talk about logic, results, and intellect. But intuition? That’s almost taboo.
A visual of people coming together—a community focused on both inner work and external impact.
Why Intuition Rarely Gets Mentioned in Corporate Life
Mark reflected on his 20 years in advertising:
“Nobody talked about intuition, that’s for sure. Gut feel works in sports, it works in a lot of other things. But even in the creative, in the performative culture of corporate, if you have someone on your team who’s intuitive, that’s great, but they better have read the materials and know which way the company’s going.”
The norm is instinct—react fast, stay ahead, beat the deadline. Intuition becomes lost in the noise. The focus is on skill, knowledge, and getting everyone onboard, and that often means running in fight-or-flight mode.
A picture showing people in meetings, hurried and tense, always deadlines looming.
Fight-or-Flight Work Culture: The Everyday Reality
Think about your daily work environment: how many times have you been stuck in a cycle of firefighting, rushing to please clients, skipping meals, working late, and always feeling a bit behind?
“Everybody was in this fight or flight mode ... Everyone’s trying to get everything done as quickly as possible, trying to please the client, working late... There was no space for presence.”
Managers versus leaders—the difference often lies in whether people are firefighting or truly guiding teams forward. Most people (Mark included) admit they were “managers” not leaders, putting out fires, managing workloads, trying to keep people happy—but never really leading with presence.
And what happens when we live in our heads?
- No time to process what’s going on inside.
- Stress and energy build up.
- Sleep suffers, health suffers.
- Eventually, burnout strikes.
Energy graph rising throughout the work week, culminating in exhaustion or burnout.
How Can We Bring Intuition Into Corporate Teams?
Dan explains the struggle:
- “People burn out because they’re in fight, flight, freeze, and fawn of instinct and survival skills.”
- Corporate has gamified work, making everything a competition.
- Most are living in head-consciousness, all intellect, little feeling.
What would it look like to change this?
Imagine, before starting work on a new project, the entire team sits quietly together for a few minutes. They co-regulate—drop into awareness of their bodies, feel supported, let the nervous system settle. Then, they talk about the project—but now, from a place of presence.
Is it possible? Would people see it as a ‘waste of time’? Many would. The time pressure is real. But for sustained creativity, teamwork, and health, something needs to shift.
“I love the idea of ... intuition in motion. Instead of getting everyone pointed at B, what if we just allowed everyone’s best skills to take over and drop in?”
Agile vs. Waterfall: Small Steps Toward People-First Work
Dan shares his transition from Waterfall (old school do-it-all-at-once development) to Agile (more iterative, people-first). Agile values “People First,” weekly recalibrations, and taking pressure off—but even then, the defaults are deadline-driven and above-the-neck.
Still, Agile offers:
- Weekly check-ins to recalibrate.
- More space for instinct—but not much for intuition.
- Light Scrum (collaborative) can easily tip over to Dark Scrum (hyper-managed) when control creeps back in.
A Scrum team gathered, some heads down, a few looking up, bridging collaboration and control.
Taking Breaks, Finding Purpose: Daily Rituals That Heal
For Mark, the most powerful practice has been ending each workday with a “presence sit”—just 15 minutes with his community (via Zoom, no matter the distance), co-regulating, letting stuck energy process.
“For me, it feels like a battery recharging, basically, which I always do at the end of each day. Even if I’ve had a good day because I’ve been in my head for the most part, there’ll be energy that’s trapped in my system.”
Quick Ritual You Can Try:
At the end of your day, find a quiet spot. Connect virtually if needed. Drop into your body, notice sensations, breathe, let go. No fixing—just being.
A group sitting in presence on Zoom, relaxed, recharging for the next day.
The Disconnect: Why Most Of Us Feel Unfulfilled At Work
According to Gallup, up to 79% of people feel disengaged at work, and two-thirds aren’t thriving in terms of well-being.
Why? Mark and Dan connect this to living in head-space—always striving, never processing, never feeling.
If you find yourself in such an environment—feeling disengaged, lacking purpose, always stressed—what should you do?
Key Questions For Inquiry:
- How do you engage with others at work, at home, even at the store?
- Do you carry shame with you?
- Is competition with yourself showing up everywhere?
“The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.”
Acceptance and inquiry, rather than judgment, are the first steps toward shifting.
Practical Tools: How to Move Awareness From Head to Body
True intuition starts with awareness beyond the mind. If you’re always living above the neck, it takes practice to get below. Here are some beginner-friendly practices:
1. Learn You’re Not Your Thoughts
First big step—realizing the voice in your head, those constant thoughts, aren’t you. Until you see this, you remain “asleep”—just running on autopilot.
“You’re not your thoughts. This is the first stage in awakening.”
A brain and a heart separated by a bridge—building pathways between mind and body.
2. Use CBT Sensory Grounding
- What can you touch?
- What can you taste?
- What can you smell?
Bringing attention to the five senses quickly moves awareness out of the head.
3. Gentle Self-Discovery
No rush to change, find passion, or fix anything. The journey is to gently learn yourself.
- Notice failings not as failures but as learning opportunities.
- Notice the urge to protect the heart—often, the intellect forms a shell.
4. Emotional IQ
Business talks a lot about “emotional IQ,” but it’s often a patch on the deeper solution. True integration takes more than just meetings—it requires ongoing practice.
A group meditating, one person looking contemplative near a window at sunset—a symbol of quiet inner work amidst busyness.
Support Matters: Co-Regulation and Community
Support is vital. Healing and moving awareness into the body is much easier with others holding space.
Mark shares:
“I work with people who haven’t done a lot of inner work, and often it’s like they’re numb from the neck down. They can’t feel anything in the body. It takes months sometimes, but just having someone to hold space, provide energy of support, suddenly allows the system to feel safe and release.”
How To Begin:
- Co-Regulation: Find one person, a friend, or a small group open to exploring together. No need for words—just be present.
- Micro-Practices: 15 minutes a day, even while brushing your teeth, find moments for presence.
Two people in silent connection in a coffee shop, just being together, no expectation, no fixing.
Resentment: The Hidden Invitation to Healing
Resentment can be a powerful guidepost in your journey toward healing:
“Resentment has been huge in my field and I look at it as the continental divide between love and hate. If you notice what you’re resentful to, and not just manage the anger or fear or desires, but just sit with what you resent in your life, you’ll see there are two sides of that coin.”
Watch what triggers you—especially in today’s polarized world, where news, doomscrolling, and social media can fuel anger and division. Noticing your own resentments is not about suppressing them—it’s about using them to spot the places inside you that need love and healing.
“If you can somehow get to what you’re resenting, then you can see what’s presenting itself as an opportunity to shift yourself towards love or hate.”
A sunset halved by darkness and light—a visual metaphor of love vs. hate, and the role of resentment.
The Power of Inquiry and Self-Awareness
Instead of hunting for answers, shift to holding inquiries:
- What am I feeling right now?
- Where in my body do I notice sensation?
- Why do I react this way? Does it even matter right now?
“If you pose a question—who’s answering the question? Why am I asking myself a question? ... If you hold an inquiry, you’re able to receive the gratitude that is already there.”
Inquiry moves awareness out of habit and autopilot, bringing curiosity and openness.
A notebook filled with open-ended questions instead of answers, surrounded by calming objects.
Receiving, Gratitude, and Creating Space for Intuition
Gratitude isn’t just a practice—it’s a way of shifting your energy from depletion to fulfillment.
Try This:
- At the end of a tough workday, before rushing to change jobs or criticize your manager, ask: What am I grateful for here? Maybe it’s a supportive teammate, the paycheck, or moments of laughter.
- Finding gratitude allows you to receive energy—not just drain.
“If you can find some gratitude for it ... the environment becomes more of something that energizes you rather than depletes you.”
But before you can really notice gratitude, you have to be able to receive. That means relinquishing a bit of control, letting go, and giving intuition enough space to bring something new through.
A plant growing from a stack of office folders—a symbol for new life and purpose rising from the mundane.
Final Thoughts: Beyond Instinct, Toward Intuitive Leadership
- Most corporate work is still wired for fight-or-flight, instinct, and control.
- Re-imagining work to include intuition means making space to feel, to heal, and to connect within and with others.
- You can’t just flip a switch—it’s daily reps, returning to awareness each time you’re pulled into the mind’s stories.
- Inner purpose comes first—heal, create space, then outer purpose can emerge: how you serve, how you lead, how you build.
- When resentment or triggers come up, see them as invitations, not obstacles.
Standout Quote:
“The way you do one thing is the way you do everything ... Accepting how you’re showing up in the world is okay.”
A winding path out of a misty forest, each step lit by lanterns—a metaphor for reps, slow awakenings, and daily progress.
Resources and How to Connect
Connect with Dan Blackman:
Find Dan on LinkedIn
, Threads, and other socials as danblackman
. He’s also launching a new school for this kind of work—reach out for details and early perks.
Mark Dallimore:
Check out Buddhistspot.com
with a free Purpose Alignment Assessment—see your alignment and get practical next steps for deeper connection to your purpose.
Screenshot of Buddhistspot’s homepage, with an easy link to the Purpose Assessment.
Final Words
The world is waking up. Whether you’re a manager, a leader, burned out or budding with new energy, the journey is not about perfection but presence. Bring awareness from the head to the body. Attune to intuition. Find gratitude—even if it’s small. Give yourself reps.
Remember:
You’re not your thoughts. You’re not your emotions. You are
the awareness that can guide real change in your work, relationships, and life.
See you on the next journey—let’s keep leading beyond logic.
Want to go deeper? Connect with Dan or Mark for more tools and community, and drop your own experiences with intuitive leadership below!