Okuzeka
Management & Leadership vocabulary · Decision Making

Gut feeling

Meaning in management & leadership, with examples

idiomCommon term

In management & leadership, gut feeling means: A strong belief about what is true or what to do that comes from intuition or experience rather than from facts or careful analysis.

In Turkish: iç ses, önsezi, sezgi

How it is used

Informal but common in meetings: 'My gut feeling is that the price is too high.' People trust or go with their gut feeling, or simply say 'go with your gut'. It is often contrasted with data-driven decisions.

Example sentences

  1. My gut feeling says this candidate won't stay long, but let's check her references.

  2. Experienced managers often combine data with gut feeling.

Common collocations

  • go with your gut feeling
  • trust your gut feeling
  • have a gut feeling
  • my gut feeling is
  • data-drivenBased on the analysis of facts and figures rather than on opinion, habit or intuition; used about decisions, company cultures and organisations.
  • decision-makingThe process of choosing between different options, including collecting information, weighing risks and benefits, and agreeing who makes the final choice.
  • risk assessmentThe process of identifying what could go wrong in a plan or activity, judging how likely and how serious each risk is, and deciding how to reduce it.
  • emotional intelligenceThe ability to notice, understand and manage your own emotions, and to recognise and respond well to the emotions of other people.

More terms: Decision Making

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: