The stereotype of the brilliant but socially awkward tech founder is misleading. Horowitz argues that the most successful CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Elon Musk are actually "very smart about people." Those who truly lack the ability to understand others don't reach that level of success.

In fields like finance, communities with strong internal communication and vested interests make better long-term decisions than purely quantitative models. The group's "shared wisdom" provides a broader, more contextual view of risks and opportunities that myopic mathematical approaches often miss.

Distinguish between everyday impulses (often unreliable) and true intuition, which becomes a powerful survival guide during genuine crises. Our hardwired survival mechanisms provide clarity when stakes are highest, a state difficult to replicate in non-crisis situations.

Elite decision-making transcends pure analytics. The optimal process involves rigorously completing a checklist of objective criteria (the 'mind') and then closing your eyes to assess your intuitive feeling (the 'gut'). This 'educated intuition' framework balances systematic analysis with the nuanced pattern recognition of experience.

Unlike a line manager who can train direct reports in a specific function, a CEO hires experts for roles they themselves cannot perform (e.g., CFO). A CEO's time spent trying to 'develop' an underperforming executive is a misallocation of their unique responsibilities, which are setting direction and making top-level decisions.

Intuition is not a mystical gut feeling but rapid pattern recognition based on experience. Since leaders cannot "watch game tape," they must build this mental library by systematically discussing failures and setbacks. This process of embedding learnings sharpens their ability to recognize patterns in future situations.

Founders often start with strong intuition but lose it after achieving success. This occurs because long-held societal conditioning, which teaches individuals to distrust themselves and outsource authority to experts, resurfaces and mutes their inner voice.

Intuition is often overridden in professional settings because it's intangible. A bad decision backed by a rational explanation is often more acceptable than a good one based on a "gut feeling," which can feel professionally risky.

Success at the leadership level requires a developed tolerance for pressure and uncertainty—a skill the CEO calls a 'stomach' for it. This resilience is a distinct capability, and its absence can cause even the most intelligent and talented individuals to fail under pressure, making it a crucial trait for high-stakes roles.