Angie Ward reviewed (in Leadership Journal’s Spring 2008 issue) two books which recommend completely different leadership styles. She says Andy Stanley’s book “Making Vision Stick, communicates the pragmatic, how-to nature” that he leads from. But she says Tim Keel’s book, “Intuitive Leadership is all about story. Keel shares large portions of his own story, moving us from his childhood, through college, seminary, and into pastoral ministry.”

These brief descriptions are related to how left-brained (Stanley) and right-brained (Keel) thinkers operate. According to an article from Middle Tennessee University (MTSU) “the left side of the brain is the seat of language and processes in a logical and sequential order. The right side is more visual and processes intuitively, holistically, and randomly.”

This is an interesting study and the science is not universally accepted. I do believe that there is some value in understanding the concept though. I once read a book by Ann Mcgee-Cooper entitled, “Time Management for Unmanageable People” which offered some very good insights into the concept and how it relates to our personal style of management (I HIGHLY recommend this book). In Ward’s review of the two books by Stanley and Keel, she suggests that our overall management strategy is also influenced by our thinking style. Another article at the Funderstanding site describes how this concept relates to learning (very important consideration.)

So, which of your “half-brains” do you prefer to use? There are many inventories to test your preferred method of thinking (just google for “right left brain test”) but one that seems to do a pretty accurate job is found at the Test Cafe. Another test that takes a bit longer but seems to be more precise is found on the MindMedia site. I included the “spinning dancer” test. If you see the dancer spinning clockwise, that is supposed to mean that you are thinking with your right brain while left-brain thinkers see her spin counter-clockwise.

Check them all out and tell us more in the comments below. Or, just tell me that I am “half-brained” to put such silly stuff on my blog!

BTW, read the text in the blue triangle at the top of this article. If you only read one “the” then you missed something. Click on the graphic to see more such fun things.