The Decision-Making Triad: Emotion, Logic, and Intuition
Leaders often try to “leave emotion out” and lean on logic, but the best decisions come when all three voices are in the room. Emotion shows what matters, logic clarifies facts, and intuition spots patterns before the data can. Here’s how to access your full decision-making triad.
The Pressure of Decisions
Few things weigh more heavily on leaders than decisions. Whether it’s a strategic pivot, a key hire, or a life-changing choice in healthcare, the stakes are high, the data is incomplete, and the clock is ticking.
When pressure rises, many leaders fall back on what feels safest: logic. They strip out emotion, push aside instinct, and cling to the numbers. But the leaders who consistently make the best calls know that logic alone doesn’t cut it.
Why Emotion, Logic, and Intuition All Matter
Decision-making is not a single-lane process. It’s a triad:
Emotion tells you what matters. Without it, even clear choices lack direction or urgency.
Ask: “What matters most to me?” and “What feels off?”Logic anchors you to facts, evidence, and structure. It helps you cut through noise.
Ask: “What are the facts?” and “What aligns with my strategy?”Intuition is distilled experience — the brain’s pattern recognition working beneath the surface.
Ask: “What does my gut say?” and “What do I sense but can’t yet explain?”
Ignore any one of these, and you risk blind spots. Overweight emotion, and you rush or rationalize. Overweight logic, and you freeze in analysis paralysis. Overweight intuition, and you risk bias or gut errors.
When all three are in play, decisions gain clarity, speed, and confidence.
A Client Example
A client was deciding between two job offers. His emotions pulled him toward the team with high energy and enthusiasm. His logic was stuck; it could make a case for either. But his intuition kept nudging him toward the second role: less sparkly on the surface, but more aligned with his long-term growth and collaborative values.
As he slowed down and explored that pull, his emotions shifted. What first felt exciting now seemed superficial. What once felt uncertain now felt solid. And the decision came with ease because he brought all three parts of the triad into view.
The Science Behind It
Neuroscience backs this up: emotion is not a distraction from rational thinking; it’s an activator of it. Patients with brain damage that blunts emotional processing struggle to make even simple decisions, despite intact logic. Emotion is the spark that moves thought into action.
Tools to Access the Triad
Leaders can deliberately bring all three lenses into the room:
Pause before deciding — even 30 seconds can shift you from autopilot to awareness.
Name what you’re feeling — emotions lose distortion when labeled clearly.
Check the facts vs. assumptions — strip away stories to see the data cleanly.
Ask what your intuition is whispering — pattern recognition deserves a seat at the table.
Balance, don’t eliminate — if one voice feels missing, bring it in before you decide.
Why This Matters for Leaders
High-stakes decisions define leadership credibility. People don’t just follow your outcomes — they follow how you make choices, especially under pressure.
When you use the full decision-making triad, you avoid the traps of overthinking, bias, or snap judgment. You make decisions that are not only smarter, but clearer, faster, and more aligned with what truly matters.
That’s not a soft skill. That’s leadership at its sharpest.
If you want support applying the decision-making triad to your own high-stakes choices, I work with leaders to hone decision-making and act with confidence.
For a practical tool on how to name and track emotions in decision-making, see my article on Naming Emotions.