Therese Huston: How Women Decide

Therese Huston is looking to change the conversation about women as decision-makers. Her book, How Women Decide: What’s True, What’s Not, and What Strategies Spark the Best Choices*, debunks popular negative stereotypes about women as decision-makers. She is also the Founding Director for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University.

Key Points

When a female leader makes a mistake in a job traditionally held by men, people are much more critical.

When women are collaborative, they’re seen as less decisive.

Don’t be fooled by someone’s confidence—it could just be a sign they don’t know all the facts.

Use the Loopback strategy - think about your situation a year from now, and project what you wish you would have done differently.

Strategies to help women in the workplace:

Make sure nobody is interrupted when speaking in a meeting.

Take designated turns for speaking in meetings.

Make it clear that negotiations are expected when discussing salary, office setups, etc.

Resources Mentioned

Research: We Are Way Harder on Female Leaders Who Make Bad Calls by Therese Huston

Thinking, Fast and Slow* by Daniel Kahneman

Therese Huston's website

Related Episodes

Personality Preferences and Decision-Making (episode 46)

How to Tap Into Wisdom, with Barry Schwartz (episode 92)

Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)

How to Tame Your Inner Critic, with Tara Mohr (episode 232)

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