Reflections from GWALA Cohort 2 Fellows

Blog from Andrea Anderson, MD, Associate Chief of the Division of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences

GWALA Cohort 2

Being a part of GWALA was a wonderful experience. I was honored to be involved as a member of the faculty from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. One thing that struck me was that many of the leadership challenges that we were experiencing were the same across our departments and disciplines. Our discussions were lively and applicable to many leadership scenarios.

I enjoyed all the sessions, but especially enjoyed the session on decision making. Decision making is a key skill in the workplace and is a hallmark of effective leaders. While making big decisions as a leader can feel daunting, we need to remember that decision making is a skill that can be improved with practice and precision. Gaining experience with making decisions, through the use of the tools and structures needed for effective decision making, can improve our effectiveness as leaders. This ultimately benefits our departments and institution. This topic was handled honestly and really caused us to take a clear look at ourselves. 

Reviewing the six essential steps of decision making* was very revealing. When faced with a difficult leadership decision, a leader needs to clearly identify where in the decision-making process they might be, both for their own clarity and that of the group. Even if one if not ready to make the final decision, communicating where you are the decision-making process can build trust and buy-in from the group that you are leading.

The six steps of decision making include:

1. Establishing a positive decision-making environment. It's so important for everyone to understand the issue before preparing to make a decision. This includes agreeing on an objective, making sure the right issue is being discussed, and agreeing on a process to move the decision forward. Have we included all stakeholders and agreed to have an open and honest process? This might be assumed but not always the reality.
2. Generating potential solutions. Involve others.
3. Evaluating solutions. This should be done with the perspective of risk, consequences, and feasibility in mind.
4. Deciding. Making the decision itself can be emotion-filled. Using a structured approach can help smooth things. We can improve accuracy by reviewing the decision to be sure that it is the best one for the current situation. Leaders need to be sure to take the time to think ahead and determine exactly what will make the decision "right." This will significantly improve decision accuracy.
5. Checking the decision. This part is often overlooked – but it is important to revisit the decision to make sure that it is the correct one.
6. Communicating and implementing. Communication is always key. Does everyone on the team understand what is being done and where we are in the process?  Is everyone still on board or have doubts and other considerations crept in for some?  Good leaders will keep lines of communication open and continue to check on the process.  It is important to remember that the decision-making process does not end with the decision itself.

I could go on and on. Overall, this program was a gift and one that I hope will keep giving. I am grateful to the members of my cohort and to the leaders, speakers, and organizers of GWALA for putting together such an impactful experience. Special thanks to my Dean, Dean Barbara Bass for her leadership and support of my involvement.

*  If you would like to take the personal assessment to explore your decision making, here is a link!