We tend to expect women to make decisions that are focused on other people, she says. Women often penalized for making a decision where they're not taking everyone else's needs into account. "There's something about her that just doesn't sit right with me," we might get a gut feeling about someone and it could be unconscious bias. Research shows you tend to actually like that decision better in the long run.
There’s a lot that goes into making a good decision at work: figuring out priorities, coming up with options, analyzing those — and several steps later, planning for what to do if you’re wrong. If you’re a woman, you are also factoring in how your colleagues expect you to ask for their opinions so you can create consensus. And if you do, they’re still likely to see you as indecisive and lacking vision.
We talk with Therese Huston, author of the book How Women Decide, about our strengths as decision makers and how to work around double standards when we’re making decisions and communicating them to our team.
Our HBR reading list:
“Research: We Are Way Harder on Female Leaders Who Make Bad Calls,” by Therese Huston
“Women and the Vision Thing,” by Herminia Ibarra and Otilia Obodaru
“Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
“Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement,” by Alison Wood Brooks
Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work
Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org
Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.