Leadership readouts

Synthesize the inputs provided into a weekly leadership digest.
Audience: internal leadership team.

Constraints:
- 250–500 words maximum
- Headline on the first line: the most important development of the week
- No emojis
- Calibrate confidence — do not pretend certainty you do not have; do
  not hedge what you do
- Lead with what changed; not a recap of everything

Format:

**Week of YYYY-MM-DD — Leadership Digest**

{Headline — one sentence on the most important thing about this week.}

**This week's big moves:**
- {What changed, decided, shipped, or launched}
- Three to six items maximum

**Where we are by area:**
- **Commercial / GTM:** one to two lines; current state vs. plan; trend
- **Product / Engineering:** one to two lines; in flight; at risk
- **People / Operations:** one to two lines; hires, departures, org changes
- **Finance / Cash:** one line; any material change

**What's at risk this week:**
- {Risk} — current read (Likely | Possible | Watch) — what we are doing
- Limit to three items. Anything not on this list is implicitly off-radar.

**Decisions made this week:**
- {Decision} — by {whom} — context: one phrase
- "None to report" is fine if true.

**Asks of the leadership team:**
- {Ask} — what is needed and by when
- "None this week" is fine.

**Looking ahead:**
- Two to four lines on what to watch for next week

Synthesize the inputs provided into a business review. Audience:
executive team.

Constraints:
- 600–1200 words
- Lead with the headline — the single most important takeaway
- Numbers before narrative — show the data, then interpret
- Honest about misses; specific about reasons; concrete about what changes
- No emojis, no padding, no hedging the misses with vague language

# {Function or Team} — {Month or Quarter} Business Review

## Headline
One paragraph (three to five sentences) on the period. What worked, what
did not, what changes as a result. Written so an executive who reads
nothing else gets the message.

## Performance vs. plan
For each top metric:

| Metric | Plan | Actual | Delta | Read |

Read column = "On plan" / "Above" / "Below — major" / "Below — minor."
If something is materially off, one to two sentences on why.

## What worked
Two to four specific things with evidence. Not "the team executed well"
— "shipped X two weeks ahead of plan; specific drivers were Y and Z."

## What did not work
Two to four specific things with evidence. Be honest.

## Strategic decisions made this period
- {Decision} — context: one to two sentences
- "None of note" is acceptable if true.

## What we are changing as a result
Specific operational or strategic changes. The function's *response*
to what was learned.

## Risks heading into next period
- {Risk} — likelihood — mitigation in flight or proposed
- Cap at five.

## Outlook for next period
One paragraph. Specific, not aspirational. What we expect to ship.
What we are betting on. What would change the picture.

## Asks of the executive team
- {Ask} — what input, decision, or support is needed
- Vague asks get vague non-decisions. Be specific.

Produce a board pre-read for the upcoming meeting. Audience: board of
directors and any invited observers.

Constraints:
- 1500–3000 words; longer only if material warrants, no padding
- Lead with the big-picture state
- Numbers before narrative
- Risks categorized (financial, commercial, operational, regulatory, people)
- Specific board asks
- Discussion topics flagged for the meeting

# Board Pre-Read — {Meeting date}

## State of the company
One page maximum. The CEO's honest read on where the company is. What
is working, what is not, what is most on our minds. Written to a board
that will skim if it is not useful and read carefully if it is — make
it worth reading carefully.

## Scorecard
Top 8–15 metrics with plan / actual / delta / read, grouped by
category (commercial, product, financial, people).

## Major developments this period
Categorized list, two to four sentences each:
- **Commercial:** wins, losses, pipeline movement, ARR changes
- **Product:** ships, roadmap shifts, technical debt moves
- **People:** key hires, departures, org changes, comp/equity decisions
- **Finance:** cash runway, fundraising context, material expense changes
- **Strategic:** anything that changes the company's direction or thesis

## Decisions made by management since last board
Decisions taken under management's authority that the board should be
aware of, even if not requiring approval.

## Decisions needed from the board
Specific calls being asked of the board at this meeting. For each:
- **The decision:** stated as a clear question
- **Recommendation:** management's recommended path
- **Why:** evidence-grounded
- **Risks of each path:** including the one management did not recommend
- **What we need from the board:** approval, discussion, deferral

## Risks
Categorized: financial, commercial, operational, people, regulatory,
existential. For each: likelihood, magnitude, mitigation.

## Forward look
What we are betting on. What would change the picture. Where
management's confidence is genuine and where it is calibrated against
uncertainty.

## Topics for board discussion
Specific items the agenda should make time for beyond the decisions
above. One sentence each on why.

## Appendices
- Detailed financials
- Cap table updates if relevant
- Anything the board specifically requested

Produce a decision memo. Audience: whoever holds decision rights on
this call.

Constraints:
- 400–800 words
- The decision being asked for is in the first two sentences
- Options are explicit; recommendation is explicit
- Risks of the recommended path are surfaced honestly
- The ask of the reader is unambiguous

# Decision Memo: {Title}

**Decision needed:** {State the decision in one sentence as a clear choice.}
**Recommended:** {Recommended path, in one sentence.}
**Owner asking:** {Name and role}
**Deadline for decision:** {Date}

## Context
Two to four sentences. Why this decision is needed now. What changed.

## Options considered
For each option:

### Option {N}: {Name}
- **What it is:** one to two sentences
- **Pros:** bulleted
- **Cons:** bulleted
- **Risks:** bulleted
- **Cost / effort:** rough estimate
- **Reversibility:** Reversible | Hard to reverse | One-way door

## Recommendation
Stated again, with three to five sentences of reasoning.

## What I'm less sure about
The honest part. What in the recommendation could be wrong? What would
change my mind?

## What I need from you
Specific. Not "your thoughts." Either "approval to proceed by Friday,"
or "your decision between Option 1 and Option 2," or "your input on the
risks section before I finalize." Be precise.