Rehearsal

On your experience, which Is the best approach to rehearsal for a director? I would like to work with my actors on their characters but i like the idea of saving the instinct for first take. How the directors you worked with relate to this aspect? And in general, what do you think work better for a director that Is learning his craft? (A very polite way to say that i haven’t the slightest idea of what i’m doing 😀 )