It is not clear who decides what
Responsibilities overlap, decisions pass through too many people, or matters always end up with the CEO because nobody is quite sure how far they can decide.
Executive Sounding Board
For CEOs and executive committees
Some decisions are worth testing
Starting point
3months
After that, the length is set by the matter we work on.
When you run a company, there are decisions you can take with your team and others where talking to someone from outside is essential. Someone experienced, who understands the context and can tell you what they think without being shaped by what happens inside the organisation.
The Executive Sounding Board is support for the CEO and members of the executive committee who have an important matter ahead and want to count on me during the months it will take to resolve it.
Start with the diagnostic
Direct work with me · Independent judgment · You make the decisions
The problem
Inside the company you do not always find the challenge you need
Some decisions reach the committee several times.
Meeting 1
They get discussed.
Meeting 2
New arguments appear.
Meeting 3
Alternatives are tried.
↻
And a few weeks later the matter is back on the table.
Not necessarily because information is missing. Sometimes the problem is that everyone looks at the decision from where they sit.
Operations sees some consequences. Finance sees others. Whoever runs the affected area knows details the others do not. And the CEO has to bring all of that together and decide.
Sometimes what is needed is to take the conversation out of that setting and discuss it with someone who understands what running an organisation involves.
Without starting from zero every time.
And without spending half an hour explaining to me how you got here.
Why someone from outside
A different conversation from the ones you already have inside
The value of someone external is not that they know your company better than you. It is that they can look at the decision from another position.
- I can
- ask why you are taking something for granted.
- I can
- point out a contradiction.
- I can
- tell you I do not find convincing an argument everyone inside the company has ended up accepting.
- I can
- help you check whether the decision you are proposing makes sense and whether it is time to put it in motion.
I hold no position inside your structure. That lets me keep a distance which, for certain decisions, proves useful.
How it works
I know the matter and follow it with you
The Executive Sounding Board is designed for situations that two sessions cannot resolve. There is a specific matter on the table and you know decisions related to it will keep appearing over the coming months.
The starting point is the same as in Executive Decision. The difference is that, instead of closing the matter in two sessions, we work on it over an initial three-month period: in more depth, with follow-up and without getting into execution.
One conversation serves one decision. The next starts from what happened afterwards. I already know the background, what was decided and the difficulties that have appeared. That means we reach what matters much sooner.
Month 1Month 2Month 3
Session
90'
90'
90'
Consultations
2×30'
2×30'
2×30'
Review
2 h
- 90'
A 90-minute session each month
You set the agenda. You can bring a specific decision, a pending conversation, something that is not quite working or a situation you need to sort out before acting.
- 30'
Two consultations a month between sessions
Some matters do not fit the calendar. If a decision comes up that cannot wait, you have two consultations a month: a call of up to 30 minutes or a written reply, whichever you prefer.
- 2 h
A two-hour quarterly review
Every three months, a longer session to look at the whole: what has been decided, what has worked, what is still pending and what has changed since we started. It is also when we decide whether to renew.
Where I can help
When the organisation starts to complicate the decision
Not every decision a CEO takes needs outside challenge. I am especially useful when the matter concerns how the company is organised and led.
01–03 / 08
The company has grown and the structure has fallen behind
The way of working that worked well a few years ago starts to cause problems. It is time to check whether the organisation that got you here is also the one you need to keep growing.
Too much still depends on you
Stepping out of certain decisions is not simply skipping a meeting. You have to decide who takes on the responsibility, what authority they will have and what has to change around them.
Why me
Thirty years taking decisions from inside
I have spent thirty years working with companies and leadership teams. I have led businesses in consulting, technology and professional services, with P&Ls of up to 70 million euros and teams of up to 300 people across six countries.
In recent years I have also worked with companies in engineering, construction, infrastructure, energy, defence and industry.
This matters because many of the situations that reach the Executive Sounding Board cannot be understood just by looking at an organisation chart. You need to understand:
- What happens when a decision affects several areas.
- What it means to change responsibilities.
- What happens when too many decisions sit with one person.
- Why a decision that looks obvious on paper can be much harder to execute in a real organisation.
I have been on that side of the table.
And I am the one in every session.
A case
Real case.A discussion that kept coming back to the committee every month
- Sector
- Technology
- Format
- Executive Sounding Board
- Duration
- Three months, then follow-up
- Result
- A mixed solution that has worked
A technology company needed to reinforce an important capability to keep growing. On the committee there were two positions.
Inside
One side believed the company should build it internally.
Outside
The other thought it would take too long and that they should rely on outside help.
Finance had doubts about the return. Operations was starting to feel the consequences of not deciding. The matter was discussed, not closed, and a month later it came back.
I did not come in to pick one of the two options. I started by discussing the criteria the committee was using to decide.
- 01How long can the company afford to wait?
- 02What capacity does it really need?
- 03What does each alternative cost if the forecasts do not hold?
- 04What are both sides taking for granted?
- 05What would have to happen to recognise, six months from now, that it was a bad decision?
The conversation changed when the question changed.
The committee chose a mixed solution, which over time has proved the right call. Over the three months of work, the sessions no longer went back over the same ground: they focused on what was happening as it was put in motion and on the new decisions that kept appearing. Afterwards we held follow-up sessions.
When to start
When to start
Better before the difficult decision arrives
The Executive Sounding Board works best when I have been able to learn the context before an urgent situation appears. That way, when you have to resolve something quickly, you will not have to start by explaining the company's history, who is involved or what was tried six months ago. I will already have that context, and we can spend the conversation on what you have to decide now.
Who this is not for
When something else suits you better
- You have a matter that two sessions can resolveExecutive Decision
- You need me to come in and execute with youStrategic Execution
- You want a stable voice on your board, with no end dateIndependent Counsel
- You want someone to confirm what you already thinkYou do not need me for that.
- There is no specific matter to work onWithout a matter, three months have no purpose.
The proposal
What the Executive Sounding Board includes
- Format
- 1 session and 2 consultations a month, quarterly review
- Duration
- 3 months as a starting point
- Renewal
- By quarter
- Contact
- Directly with me. There is nobody between you and me
- Where
- Remote or in person in Madrid
- Investment
- After understanding the matter
Outside Madrid, travel and the time involved are quoted separately.
You do not need to decide anything based on what you read here. You can start with the diagnostic: it takes five to ten minutes and you see a preliminary report on screen. Then we have a 30-minute conversation to review it, which also lets you judge how I work. If it makes sense to continue, we define the scope. If not, there is no commitment.
Free diagnostic and preliminary report · Free initial conversation · No commitment
Frequently asked questions
For CEOs and executive committee members with a specific matter to resolve, who know that over the coming months they will have to take several decisions related to it.
In Executive Decision there is an important decision that has been blocked for a while, and the work is to help close it in two sessions. The Executive Sounding Board is that same way of working stretched over time: several months, on the decisions that keep appearing around one matter.
Independent Counsel is a stable relationship with no end date, in which I get to know the company over time. The Executive Sounding Board has a specific matter and a period: three months as a starting point, renewable.
Because for a one-off decision there is already Executive Decision: a closed piece of work on one specific decision, priced according to its scope. This is different: three months working the same matter, with context carried from one conversation to the next.
The value of this service is precisely independent judgment. If I tell you what your team already thinks, you do not need me. And the relationship renews every three months: if I stop bringing a view you do not have inside, there is no reason to renew.
No. I help you examine the decision, question what you are taking for granted and weigh the alternatives. The responsibility for deciding stays with you.
No. Execution belongs to your organisation. If you need me to come in and execute, that is Strategic Execution.
That is what the consultations are for: two a month, for whatever cannot wait for the next session. A call of up to 30 minutes or a written reply, whichever you prefer.
Three months as a starting point, adjusted to the matter. After that it renews by quarter, and the quarterly review is when we decide.
There is no standard fee. First I need to understand the matter and the kind of support it requires. Then I put forward the proposal.
Executive Sounding Board
If you have an important decision ahead, let's talk
Start with the diagnostic. It will help you get your starting point in order and have a first conversation with me before deciding whether you need ongoing challenge over the coming months.
The decision will always be yours.
You will have someone to discuss it with before you take it.