Succeeding at the Top

Chapter 2

Decision Making and Your Style

The Supreme Court appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 illustrates some of the difficulties in deciding needed facts for decision making. At one time in her career (October 2001), she made the following statement at the University of California, Berkeley: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”¹ This statement appeared in the context of her speech that focused on whether people of different backgrounds, gender, and experiences would arrive at the same legal decision. In the aftermath of her nomination, she was accused of being a racist who could not function impartially ...