“Too emotional, too weak, too many divided loyalties”—these are just some of the misconceptions that persist around women in business and leadership, even in the 21st Century. Yet science continues to show that women are just as capable—if not more capable—than men at undertaking the responsibilities and obligations of senior leadership.
But even with data-driven insights, well-known role models and pioneers, and corporate initiatives designed to improve representation, women can still struggle to make the leap into the upper levels of leadership.
Executive presence is an essential aspect of leadership development that women can’t ignore. While the stereotypical “dress for success” leader may be a thing of the past, leaders still need to show up with authority—something even highly educated and emotionally intelligent people can struggle with.
One crucial skill that can make or break any executive’s success within the broader area of executive presence is effective decision-making. Although men and women may decide differently, women are not worse decision-makers than men. In fact, including women in the decision-making process can improve overall business outcomes. A 2014 piece in The New York Times cites a Credit Suisse study of 2,400 global corporations from 2005 to 2011; the study found that “large-cap companies with at least one woman on their boards outperformed comparable companies with all-male boards by 26 percent.”
But whether from societal bias and conditioning or a result of a lack of intentional development, decision-making can still be an uncomfortable skill for some women. Here are three ideas from author, cognitive psychologist, and decision-making expert Annie Duke that can help improve decision-making.
Duke suggests that from our earliest days, we are all taught that “I don’t know” is an unacceptable answer. After all, if we answer “I don’t know” on a test, that question will be marked wrong. However, Duke suggests that “I don’t know” can be a hidden strength. “Uncertainty is a more accurate representation of the world,” she says. “And I’d like to argue that the more accurate your representation of the world, the better your decisions are, and the better you’re going to propel yourself to success.”
Uncertainty in decision-making can invite others into the process, Duke suggests. “We want to open the door to other people to tell us what they know,” she says.
Embracing uncertainty frees us to take in other information and integrate it into the decision-making process. When leaders say, “I don’t know—what do you think? What information do you have?” they encourage collaboration.
In Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, Duke examines the phenomenon of “resulting.” When people are asked to name their best decisions and worst decisions, their best decisions usually precede a good result, and worst decisions precede a bad result. The reason? We judge the quality of our decisions based on the results of those decisions. “We link results with decisions even though it is easy to point out indisputable examples where the relationship between decisions and results isn’t so perfectly correlated,” she writes.
It’s understandable that we might link results to the quality of the decision, even if that link doesn’t always make sense. “No sober person thinks getting home safely after driving drunk reflects a good decision or good driving ability,” Duke says. “Changing future decisions based on that lucky result is dangerous and unheard of.…”
The problem with resulting is that it’s tempting to change future behavior based on the results of past decisions—even if they were a result of luck or circumstances. A leader’s hiring decision may look brilliant or foolish based on results, but those results may have been more dependent on market forces, disruptions, or unforeseen circumstances than on the decision itself.
While it’s impossible to completely separate previous decisions or results from current challenges, leaders can look at how forces outside their decision-making impacted results. Looking at the bigger picture can help make current decision-making more successful.
In Thinking in Bets, Duke recounts comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s explanation about why he doesn’t get enough sleep: “Night Jerry” doesn’t consider how staying up late will impact “Morning Jerry.” As Duke explains, “This tendency we all have to favor our present self at the expense of our future self is called temporal discounting. We are willing to take an irrationally large discount to get a reward now instead of waiting for a bigger reward later.”
To avoid temporal discounting, consider the different outcomes that might result from a decision. What challenges might arise from the decision? How could those be overcome? Are the risks of different scenarios too great to take a chance? Is there a modified decision that might reduce risk or improve potential outcomes?
Leaders don’t always have the time to think through every possible scenario that could result from a decision, and sometimes, engaging in this level of consideration could result in delay or inaction. However, simply getting accustomed to imagining future results can help leaders better assess the wisdom of a decision at the moment.
Any leader can benefit from improving decision-making skills, but for women in business, this critical aspect of executive presence can make the difference between being stuck in the middle and making the leap to the C-suite.
The executive coaches at Stewart Leadership can help. Contact us to learn more.