‘We’ve sanitised strategy’: how much should business leaders trust their gut?

There’s often a conflict between data and expertise – successful leaders know when to trust their instincts. Photograph: Edwin Tan/Getty Images

Making strategic decisions is difficult at the best of times, but when you’re a CEO or business leader, the choices you make have significant implications.

Today’s corporate landscape is dominated by data-determining decisions, but according to John Rudd, professor of marketing at Warwick Business School, this doesn’t invalidate the age-old idea of trusting your gut.