Passion-Driven, Data-Informed

A Guide to Balancing Intuition and Insight in Strategic Decision-Making

He was confident, absolutely sure, his team was running at 85% productivity. He knew his business. He trusted his people. But something didn’t add up.

If productivity was truly at 85%, and the net revenue per visit was where he said it was, then profitability should’ve been stronger.

It wasn’t.

I asked him to double-check the numbers. The next day, he called back: “You were right. We were off by 15%.”

His gut told one story. The data told another. And that gap between the two was costing him profit, and clarity.

This is the leadership tension no one warns you about.

Your instincts got you this far.

They helped you build a 7-figure business.

But scaling from operator to CEO requires more than intuition.

It requires knowing how to test your gut against hard data, and how to let both inform your next move.

This is where real leadership begins.

Intuition is a powerful asset — but only when paired with perspective.

As Cheryl Strauss Einhorn wrote in her Harvard Business Review article, “Emotions Aren’t the Enemy of Good Decision Making”

“Naming our feelings can help create a little space between our emotions and our actions. Gaining that distance allows us to examine the emotion, and to acknowledge feeling it, without letting the emotion drive the decision, replacing our conscious thought and agency.”

Another owner I worked with was struggling to grow.

New patients were coming in. Front desk metrics looked fine. His gut still told him something was off.

So he zoomed in — past the team-level reports — and looked at individual provider performance.

One therapist was falling short on plan-of-care completion. His data confirmed the issue. But instead of confronting it head-on, he trusted his intuition to guide the how.

He chose to listen first. Observe. Understand. That choice opened the door to real solutions.

Data told him what was wrong. Intuition helped him discover why, and what to do about it.

Here’s a simple framework to help you balance passion and performance with emotionally intelligent decision-making:

1. Pause and Name the Emotion

• What are you feeling? What does your intuition say?

• Label both. It gives you space to choose — not just react.

2. Examine the Data

• What are the KPIs saying? Productivity? Net collection rate? Arrival rate?

• Look for trends, not just one number.

3. Infuse Intuition

• What are you noticing in the culture or on the floor?

• Where might the numbers not tell the full story?

4. Synthesize and Decide Intentionally

• You’re not blind to instinct. But you’re also not a slave to spreadsheets.

• Marry insight with intuition to lead from a place of strength.

As your business grows and you step fully into the CEO role, leadership becomes less about knowing everything — and more about seeing clearly.

Your passion built the business. But your ability to be data-informed will sharpen your intuition and unlock your next level of leadership.

Leaders who learn to trust both scale with clarity, and confidence.