ALEX STUDY GUIDE

Executive Leadership

Alex for Executives

Study Guide: Alex for Executives

Your accelerator for strategic thinking, communication, and decision-making. Ready-to-run prompts for C-suite leaders and senior executives.

What This Guide Is Not

This is not a habit formation guide (see Self-Study Guide for that). This is a leadership toolkit — the specific ways Alex can multiply your effectiveness at the executive level, and the prompts that deliver.

Core Principle for Executives

Your scarcest resource is attention. Every hour spent on work that doesn’t require your specific judgment is an hour stolen from the decisions only you can make.

Alex’s highest value for executives isn’t doing the work — it’s accelerating your preparation, stress-testing your thinking, and creating clarity before you walk into the room. The goal is better decisions, faster — not delegation of judgment.

The Seven Use Cases

1. Strategic Decision Framing

When to use: Before making a significant decision. Getting the framing right before you decide.

Prompt pattern:

I'm facing a strategic decision:

The decision: [describe the choice you're making]
Context: [business situation, timeline, constraints]
Options as I see them: [list the options you're considering]
Stakes: [what happens if this goes wrong]

Help me think through this:
1. Am I framing the decision correctly? What's the real choice here?
2. What options am I not seeing?
3. What are the second-order consequences of each path?
4. What would I need to believe for each option to be right?
5. What decision would I make if I couldn't revisit it for 3 years?

Follow-up prompts:

What's the reversible vs. irreversible part of this decision? Can I unbundle them?

Argue the strongest case for the option I'm least drawn to.

What would [respected peer/competitor] do? Why?

2. Board and Investor Communication

When to use: Preparing for board meetings, investor updates, or high-stakes stakeholder communication.

Prompt pattern:

I need to communicate with [board / investors / stakeholders] about:

The topic: [what you're presenting]
The reality: [honest assessment — good and bad]
What you want from them: [decision, support, input, approval]
What they'll be concerned about: [their likely questions/worries]

Help me structure this:
1. What's the executive summary in 3 sentences?
2. What's the narrative arc? (situation, complication, resolution)
3. What should I lead with?
4. What do I address proactively vs. wait for questions?
5. What's the one thing I must communicate clearly?

Follow-up prompts:

The news is bad. How do I present it without losing confidence?

They'll ask about [specific concern]. Help me prepare that response.

I need to ask for [resources/approval]. How do I frame the ask?

3. Difficult Conversation Preparation

When to use: Before performance conversations, terminations, restructuring announcements, or confronting a peer.

Prompt pattern:

I need to have a difficult conversation:

With: [person and their role]
About: [the topic]
The goal: [what outcome you need]
The relationship: [context, history, current state]
What makes it hard: [why you're dreading this]

Help me prepare:
1. What's the clearest, most direct way to open?
2. What's my core message in one sentence?
3. What's their likely reaction? How do I respond?
4. What listening do I need to do vs. what's non-negotiable?
5. How do I close the conversation?

Follow-up prompts:

They're going to get defensive. How do I de-escalate without backing down?

I have to deliver this by [method — in person, call, etc.]. What changes?

What's the version of this where they walk out feeling respected even if unhappy?

4. Organizational Communication

When to use: All-hands announcements, strategy rollouts, change communication, crisis response.

Prompt pattern:

I need to communicate to [audience]:

The message: [what you're announcing]
Why it matters: [the significance]
What will worry people: [the concerns this will raise]
What you want them to do: [the action or mindset you need]
Tone: [inspiring / reassuring / direct / urgent]

Draft a communication that:
1. Leads with the "why" before the "what"
2. Acknowledges the concerns honestly
3. Is specific about what's changing and what's not
4. Ends with clear direction
5. Sounds like me, not corporate boilerplate

Follow-up prompts:

This is change people won't like. How do I acknowledge that without being weak?

Read this back to me as a skeptical employee. What questions does it raise?

Make it shorter. What's essential?

5. Meeting and Time Optimization

When to use: Evaluating your calendar, preparing for high-stakes meetings, or designing recurring meetings.

Prompt pattern:

Help me evaluate this meeting:

Meeting: [name and description]
Participants: [who attends]
Frequency: [how often]
Purpose: [what it's supposed to accomplish]
What actually happens: [honest assessment]
Time cost: [duration × attendees × frequency]

Questions:
1. Does this meeting need to exist?
2. Could the purpose be accomplished async or with fewer people?
3. If it must exist, what's the optimal structure?
4. What should be the decision rule for whether it happens?
5. What would I lose if I cancelled it for a month?

Follow-up prompts:

I have [X hours] of meetings per week. What framework should I use to cut 30%?

Design the ideal executive team meeting structure for my org.

I'm invited to meetings I shouldn't attend. How do I decline without damaging relationships?

6. Talent and Team Decisions

When to use: Hiring, promotion, restructuring, succession planning.

Prompt pattern:

I'm making a talent decision:

The role: [position and its significance]
The candidates/situation: [describe the options]
What I know: [facts and observations]
What I don't know: [uncertainties, risks]
What worries me: [the concern I can't shake]

Help me think through:
1. What's the decision I'm actually making? (Sometimes it's not what it appears)
2. What would I need to see to be confident?
3. What's the cost of being wrong?
4. What's my track record on decisions like this?
5. Who should I consult who sees this differently?

Follow-up prompts:

I like candidate A personally but candidate B might be better. How do I separate relationship from capability?

I need to bet on potential over proof. What should I look for?

This person is underperforming. Is it the person or the role?

7. Personal Effectiveness

When to use: When you’re overwhelmed, losing strategic focus, or need to reset priorities.

Prompt pattern:

Help me get strategic about my time:

My role: [what I'm responsible for]
What's on my plate right now: [list current priorities and demands]
Where I'm spending my time: [honest assessment]
What's not getting attention: [what you're neglecting]
What only I can do: [your unique contribution]

Help me:
1. Categorize: What's urgent vs. important? What's neither?
2. Identify: What am I doing that someone else should do?
3. Protect: What must I carve out time for even when it's not urgent?
4. Eliminate: What should I stop doing entirely?
5. Reframe: What one change would have the biggest impact?

Follow-up prompts:

I know what to do but I don't do it. What's the real obstacle?

Help me design my ideal week given these priorities.

What should I delegate and to whom?

Practice Progression

Week 1: Take one pending decision through Strategic Decision Framing. Notice what changes when you think it through systematically.

Week 2: Audit your calendar with the Meeting Optimization prompts. Make one cut.

Week 3: Prepare for a difficult conversation using the framework. Debrief afterward — what worked?

Week 4: Write one organizational communication using the prompts. Compare it to how you would have written it cold.

What Great Looks Like

After consistent use, you should notice:

The goal isn’t to outsource your judgment — it’s to multiply your effectiveness.