Executive Summary

Compress detail into a brief a senior leader can absorb in 30 seconds and act on.

When to use

• Preparing an update for execs/leadership/steering committee.
• Turning a long doc, status, or thread into a leadership-ready summary.

Principles

• Lead with the answer. Headline first: status + the single most important thing.
• Decisions over description. Leaders read to decide — make asks explicit and easy to say yes/no to.
• Altitude. Outcomes and business impact, not implementation detail. Cut jargon.
• One screen. If they want detail, they'll ask or click the appendix link.

Process

1. Write a headline (1 sentence): overall status + the thing that matters most.
2. Give status (🟢/🟡/🔴) with a one-line why.
3. List 3–5 key points — progress, risks, changes — as outcomes with impact.
4. State decisions/asks needed: each as a clear question with options and a recommendation.
5. Add a one-line what's next and where to find detail.

Output format

**{{Program}} — Executive Summary · {{date}}**

**Headline:** {{status + most important thing}}
**Status:** 🟢/🟡/🔴 — {{why}}

**Key points**
- {{outcome + impact}}

**Decisions needed**
- {{question}} — *recommend:* {{option}}. Needed by {{date}}.

**Next:** {{one line}} · Detail: {{link}}

Ruthlessly cut anything a VP wouldn't act on. Quantify where possible.