Episode Details

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:

1. Make sure nobody is interrupted when speaking in a meeting.
2. Take designated turns for speaking in meetings.
3. 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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