I found this and many responses really helpful. It’s not a skill I’ve ever really learned and the way you explained everything made it easy to approach and understand. The only part that worries me is the external decision maker part.

As a woman, I feel like that having to wait to make a decision with someone else harks back to the day where the husband/father decided everything and it just makes me worried that ontop of the subtle bias that can exist that’ll just help it along and or make me look indecisive. Is there a better way to get more authority in this position? Or am I just feeling too overly concerned about this?