Winners Don’t Quit: A Plan for Sustained Leadership and Innovation - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 167

by Hereford can be useful to any decision-making process [3] . The process
includes the following seven steps in making a quality decision:
1. Identify the decision to be made as well as the objectives or outcome you
want to achieve.
2. Do your homework. Gather as many facts and as much information you can
to assess your options. You must do the research in order to make a well
thought-out decision, but don't let analysis lead to paralysis.
3. Brainstorm and come up with several possible choices. Determine whether
the options are compatible with your values, interests, and abilities. When
my daughter found herself at a crossroad in her life where she needed to
make a career move we took the time to discuss and weigh the possibili-
ties. While she had a good position that had the possibility for growth and
economic stability that she wanted, it didn't give her the quality of life she
wanted. She made a change, and she made her choice with confidence. It is
important to be confident with your choice because you've now weighed
your options and done the most you could to arrive at that decision.
4. Weigh the probabilities or possible outcomes. In other words, what is the
worst that can happen? What will happen if I do A, B, or C, and can I live
with the consequences?
5. Make a list of the pros and cons. Prioritize which considerations are very
important to you and which are less so. Sometimes when you match the pros
against the cons you may find them dramatically lopsided.
6. Solicit opinions and obtain feedback from those you trust or who have expe-
rienced a similar situation. If there are no similar situations go on blogs or
social networks, or look for chat rooms; the Internet is a beautiful thing!
There may be some aspects you haven't thought about in your evaluation.
7. Make the decision and monitor your results. Make sure you obtain the
desired outcome and get the feedback that you need.
After a detailed process such as this, you should feel comfortable that you're
making a well thought-out and informed decision.
ESTABLISH YOUR GOALS
My mother is the most optimistic person I've ever known and always told us
to speak positively about ourselves and our situation. She proves her unflap-
pable optimism on a daily basis, at least annually as a resident of “tornado
alley.” One of the most active regions in the United States for tornadoes. Being
a native Oklahoman, even in the worst tornado threats, her optimism remains
with statements such as “well if that tornado comes our way at least we'll get a
nice breeze [wind]!” Now that's optimism! I am consistently grateful that she
has passed this trait on to me, as well as her insistence upon speaking only posi-
tive words about our goals. If you haven't been fortunate enough to be a natural
optimist, don't despair - you can still see great things happening in your future.