Welcome to the Brilliance Brief. Every week, we break down leadership, mindset, and personal growth into something real and doable. Expect research-backed insights, a little storytelling, and practical ideas that actually fit into your life (even the messy parts).

Early in my career, I walked into a meeting with my CEO.

40 slides. A story arc. 3 days of prep.

8 minutes in, he looked up.

"Just tell me what you want me to do."

9 words.

I froze.

I'd built a documentary. He needed a decision.

Those 9 words changed how I communicated for the rest of my career.

Senior leaders process information differently than the rest of us.

Research from communications consultant Sally Williamson found that over 90% of executives say the same thing about meetings: tell me what you need and why it matters to the business. Cut the details.

In a typical 30-minute meeting, they expect to interact within the first 5 minutes. Not the last.

McKinsey codified this idea 60 years ago. Barbara Minto, the first female MBA hire at the firm, built the Pyramid Principle in the 1960s. Lead with the answer. Support it with arguments. Back the arguments with data.

The U.S. military reached the same conclusion. They call it BLUF. Bottom Line Up Front. HBR says it’s the format that gets emails actually read.

Both come down to the same idea. Structure your communication around the conclusion, not the journey to it.

My CEO's 9 words said the same thing in plain English. I turned them into a 4-sentence framework I’ve since used for important emails, pitches, or 1:1 updates with leadership.

In this order.

The conclusion you'd give if they only had time to read one sentence.

Wrong: "I've been analyzing customer churn over the past 3 quarters and I think…"

Right: "We need to invest $200K in customer retention by Q3."

State the answer first.

Is this an FYI, a decision, or a request for input? Make it explicit. Use "we" framing so it lands as a team need, not a demand.

Wrong: "I wanted to flag this for you."

Right: "We need a decision on this by Friday."

If they don't know what you want from them, they'll give you nothing.

One business-level reason. Not five. Tie it to their world.

Wrong: "This is a strategic initiative."

Right: "We're losing 12% of customers per quarter and this fixes that."

If you can't tie it to their priorities in one line, the ask isn't ready.

What happens if they say yes?

Wrong: "Let me know your thoughts."

Right: "If you approve, I'll kick off with the top 3 customer segments next Monday."

This signals you've thought past the ask. You're handing them a plan they can approve in 30 seconds.

Say you need to hire a senior designer for your team. The 4 sentences in action:

Headline: "We need to hire a senior product designer this quarter."

Ask: "We're asking for headcount approval by Friday."

Reason: "Our design backlog has grown 40% in 6 months. It’s blocking 3 engineering teams and impacting revenue."

Next step: "If approved, I'll start interviews next Monday and aim to hire by month-end."

Pick the most important email or update on your calendar this week. The one going to a senior leader.

Write the 4 sentences before you write anything else.

Headline.

Ask.

Reason.

Next step.

Then send it. Watch what happens.

The version of you who masters this gets invited to rooms the old version never could.

Talk soon,

Justin

P.S. What's the best advice you've ever gotten on communicating with senior leaders? Hit reply and tell me. I'm always collecting them.