executive leadership
When delivery stalls, executives usually do one of two things: they double down on activity (more status, more meetings) or they centralize decisions (more committees, more approvals). Both responses are understandable—and both too often make delivery risk worse.
Three leadership truths first:
- Technology follows decisions. Business Before Technology™ means define the outcome, then pick tools.
- Leaders create transformation. Clear accountability and cadence remove the repeated delays that kill momentum.
- Measure value, not activity. Count decisions resolved, not meetings held.
A simple operating checklist for pressure moments
- Re-anchor on one business outcome and the tradeoffs you accept.
- State the measurable outcome (customer behavior, lead indicator, or business decision) and the timeline. Stop vague “deliverables” discussions.
- Declare decision ownership for the top five delivery decisions.
- For each decision, name one accountable executive, the evidence required, the deadline, and the escalation path.
- Institute a short decision cadence.
- Replace status updates with a weekly 30-minute decision forum that resolves or escalates only named items. Track decisions closed vs outstanding.
- Make evidence portable and auditable.
- One source of truth for the decision: a short record of the problem, options, evidence, owner, and outcome. Avoid reconstituted spreadsheets in every meeting.
- Sequence smallest-responsible experiments (30/60/90 days).
- Pick actions that reduce the highest-friction constraint and produce visible evidence fast.
What to measure (no invention—choose evidence your teams can produce):
- Decision cycle time for material choices (time from proposal to accountable decision).
- Number of recurring escalations or unresolved handoffs per week.
- Share of material scope changes with a named owner and signed tradeoff.
- Move in the leading indicator tied to the outcome (e.g., reduction in manual rework, fewer customer contact repeats) rather than delivery artifacts produced.
A practical 30/60/90 sequence (example sequencing for an executive sponsor)
- 30 days: Create an Executive Friction Snapshot. Capture the recurring delays across decisions, processes, data, and technology. Assign owners for the top five items; start the weekly decision forum.
- 60 days: Close the first set of accountable decisions. Publish the single-source decision records. Measure decision cycle-time and number of recurring escalations; show direction of travel.
- 90 days: Re-assess the remaining blockers; retire or re-scope initiatives that cannot produce the defined outcome within acceptable risk; institutionalize governance changes that removed friction.
Common friction patterns to watch
- Symptoms treated as causes: repeated fixes to the same downstream artifact (reports, integrations) while the upstream decision remains unclear.
- Committee paralysis: broad forums that collect opinions but do not produce accountable decisions.
- Activity masquerading as progress: long lists of deliverables without evidence they change business behavior or reduce risk.
Final executive rule: if you can’t point to the single decision that will materially reduce the next week’s risk, you are still managing activity, not outcomes. Move quickly to name that decision, name the owner, and require evidence.
If you lead a Salesforce or similarly complex program, start small: run one friction snapshot, name five decisions, and measure decision cycle time. Those steps return predictability faster than adding hours to a delivery schedule.