executive-update

Executive Update Skill

Produce a stakeholder update that busy executives will actually read — structured around what they care about: decisions, risks, and numbers.

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Product update or notes (raw input to transform — even bullet points work)
• Audience (CEO, board, specific exec, or general leadership)
• Period (this week / sprint / month / quarter)
• Key metrics (what numbers matter to this audience)

Executive Communication Principles

• Lead with the headline, not the context
• Every update should answer: "So what does this mean for the business?"
• Flag decisions needed clearly — don't bury asks in paragraphs
• Be honest about risks — executives hate surprises more than bad news

Process

1. Read the full product update provided
2. Identify: key metric movements, decisions required, risks to flag, wins to celebrate
3. Write in reverse pyramid style — most important first
4. Limit to 250 words maximum for the main body
5. Add a "Decisions Needed" section with clear options and your recommendation
6. Validate — Confirm every decision needed has a specific option and recommendation (not just "TBD"), and every risk has a mitigation or watch plan

Output Structure

Product Update — [Date / Sprint / Month]

Headline: [One sentence on the most important thing]

By the Numbers:

• [Metric 1]: [value] ([vs. target / last period])
• [Metric 2]: [value] ([vs. target / last period])
• [Metric 3]: [value] ([vs. target / last period])

Progress This Period:

[3-4 bullet points, outcome-focused not activity-focused]

Risks & Watch Items:

[2-3 bullets — be direct, include mitigation]

Decisions Needed:

1. [Decision] — Options: [A] or [B] — Recommendation: [your view] — Needed by: [date]

What's Next:

[2-3 bullets on next period priorities]

Quality Checks

• [ ] Whole update is under 250 words (if not, cut ruthlessly)
• [ ] Every metric includes a comparison point (vs. target or last period)
• [ ] Every risk has a mitigation or watch action
• [ ] Every decision needed has at least two options and a recommendation
• [ ] Written for a CFO or CEO — no jargon, all outcomes

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not lead with context or background — executives read the headline first; bury the important thing below two sentences of setup and they will miss it
• [ ] Do not present metrics without a comparison point — a number without context (vs. target, vs. last period) cannot be interpreted and will prompt follow-up questions
• [ ] Do not soften or spin risks — executives rely on these updates to make resource and escalation decisions; sanitised risk sections destroy the update's utility
• [ ] Do not present a "Decisions Needed" item without a recommendation — asking an executive to decide without your view forces them to do the analytical work the PM should have done
• [ ] Do not exceed 250 words in the main body — length signals the author has not done the compression work; every word over 250 reduces the chance the update is read