Category Archives: Manage to Lead

Managed to Lead posts are organized into the categories below and are about what can be managed in order to be a better leader. There is a category for each of seven actions motivated by seven simple truths about leaders and organizations which, if followed, can help you change the world.

Get Aligned, Operations

When there’s no right answer: get input, get commitment, then decide

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Calls about who the team counts on for what are hard. Leaders worry about making valued people feel overlooked or diminished. Direct reports mostly want clarity, fair reasoning, and as much scope and recognition as they can reasonably earn. This post offers a way to handle those tensions: get input one-on-one, secure commitment to support the outcome, then decide and lead alignment.

Before you decide on a consequential call about who the team counts on for what, check in one-on-one with those who will be most impacted. Use these 1x1s to get their best thinking and secure an explicit commitment to support the outcome, whichever way you go. Then decide, own it, and lead everyone to align and execute. Remember: there is no single “right” organization. What works is what your team commits to make work. Don’t chase the perfect answer; make a sound call and then make the call right.

Start each 1×1 by setting context. Explain the decision you have to make and why it matters now. Ask them to set aside self‑interest and give you their best view of what to do and why. Probe for what you may be missing, the main risks, and how they would mitigate them. Listen hard. You are not asking them to decide for you; you are gathering the input you need to make the decision you are accountable to make.

Close every 1×1 with a clear ask for commitment to support whatever you decide. Say plainly that it is your job to decide and that, when you do, you expect full support either way. Make sure they know that support means words and deeds, in the room and outside the room. If they hesitate, stay with it. Surface concerns now, while you can still use them. If after a real conversation they cannot commit, that is useful data about whether they are on this team for this next phase.

After you decide, announce the decision and the reasoning at a level that lets reasonable people understand how you got there. Remind the team of the commitments made in 1x1s. Set the expectation that leaders will be visibly and consistently supportive, especially when they share the decision with their teams. Organizations change best slowly because change is hard on people, so favor steady, incremental moves and keep everyone clear on what is happening, why, and what you need from them. Sometimes it is better to roll out a major change as a series of smaller changes over a longer period.

If support slips, use a three‑step response that matches the moment:

  • First slip: private reset. Meet one-on-one to reaffirm the decision and what support looks like—words and deeds, in the room and outside the room. Ask for explicit recommitment. If they hesitate, stay with it. Surface concerns now, while you can still use them. Leave with a clear “yes.”
  • Second slip: public correction. In the moment and in front of others, restate the decision and the expectation to align. Keep it short, neutral, and firm. Move the conversation back on track.
  • Third slip: in or out. Meet privately, with your inner circle if helpful, and make the choice explicit: be fully in and support the path we chose, or step out. This is about whether they are part of the team that moves forward in a specific way. If not, help them out.

Two mindsets make this work. First, own the call. Do not attribute the decision to advisors, the board, or the market. Once you know, own it. Second, get help without becoming dependent on it. Invite strong input and dissent, and then decide. Disagreement before the decision is input. After the decision, alignment is the standard.

How organizations evolve

Organizations are not fixed. Treat structure and roles as means to an end, and expect them to change as you grow.A short script you can adapt

  • “I need to make this decision. Before I do, give me your best thinking—what do you recommend and why? What am I missing? When I decide, can I count on your full support either way?“
  • “If you can’t commit, tell me now and we’ll address it. After I decide, we speak with one voice and execute.“

Why this works is straightforward. Everyone is heard and treated with respect. Commitment is explicit, not assumed. You show up as decisive and fair. And if misalignment appears, you handle it quickly and cleanly.

Next steps

  • Run the 1x1s. Use the script above. Capture each leader’s recommendation and explicit commitment in writing.
  • Book an IntelliVen workshop for your ELT. A focused 60–90-minute session to practice the Input → Commitment → Decide method on a real decision. Includes prep and a follow‑up plan.
  • Enroll in Manage to Lead (MtL) training. Apply the seven truths and the W‑W‑W framework to your strategy and org design.
  • Share the “How organizations evolve” section with your ELT. Ask each leader to name one risk and one action to support the change.
  • Set a cadence checkpoint. For the next four ELT meetings, include a 10‑minute alignment check on this decision.
  • Want help? Invite IntelliVen to facilitate your first round of 1x1s or the in‑or‑out conversation.

Get Clear. Align. Grow.

Executive Reviews, Get Help, Manage to Lead

Steering Committees: Engaging Stakeholders for Guidance, Commitment, and Growth

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Note: A complementary reading for MtL Module 8 Get Help

Leaders who “get help” know success comes not from going it alone but from surrounding themselves with structures that strengthen thinking, accountability, and action. In Manage to Lead, we emphasize the value of an Accountability Board, Advisory Board, Coach, and Peer Group.

There is another form of outside help that deserves equal attention, especially for initiatives that affect customers, partners, or community stakeholders: the Steering Committee.

What a Steering Committee Is

A steering committee brings together stakeholders who represent the organizations, communities, or customer segments that will be most directly affected by what your organization or initiative produces. Unlike an advisory board, which offers expertise, or a governing board, which ensures accountability, a steering committee co-creates success by helping shape priorities, decisions, and outcomes.

Why Steering Committees Matter

  • They give leaders direct access to the voices of those who will live with the results of decisions.
  • Members often have decision-making authority and access to resources within their own organizations, allowing them to influence adoption, funding, and partnership.
  • They help leaders anticipate resistance, discover alignment opportunities, and stay connected to real-world needs.
  • When members see that their guidance has been heard and acted upon, they become even more committed to the success of the effort—often becoming early adopters, users, and buyers of what is produced.

How Steering Committees Add Value

  • Guidance and Direction: Members provide grounded input, helping leaders avoid blind spots and adjust course before costly mistakes occur.
  • Legitimacy and Endorsement: Their involvement signals credibility to others in the ecosystem.
  • Acceleration: Members help open doors, clear obstacles, and facilitate decisions that move implementation faster.
  • Sustained Alignment: Regular engagement ensures the organization’s goals stay relevant to stakeholder priorities and that everyone is working from a shared picture of success.

How to Form and Manage One

  • Identify six to ten individuals who represent the key stakeholder groups your initiative depends on.
  • Be explicit that their role is to advise and connect, not to manage day-to-day execution.
  • Meet quarterly or at major decision points with focused materials and specific questions.
  • Listen deeply. Summarize and report back on how their input has influenced what you do next—this simple feedback loop builds extraordinary trust and advocacy.
  • Keep the tone collegial, practical, and forward-looking. Participation should feel rewarding and consequential.

How It Fits in the Leader’s Support Structure

Adding a steering committee complements the existing support framework:

  • Accountability Board: Keeps leadership focused on plans, performance, and resources.
  • Advisory Board: Provides wisdom from experienced operators.
  • Coach: Strengthens the leader’s use of self and interpersonal effectiveness.
  • Peer Group: Offers perspective, learning, and accountability from equals.
  • Steering Committee: Connects leadership directly to those who will benefit from, and champion, the organization’s results.

The Payoff

When stakeholders see their fingerprints in your output, they work harder to make it succeed. Their ownership translates into faster adoption, greater influence, and more sustainable results. A well-run steering committee transforms external stakeholders into allies, advocates, and extensions of your leadership team.

Call to Action
As you design your leadership support structure, ask:

“Who outside the organization has the most to gain from our success… and how can we bring them inside the tent?”

Form your steering committee early, engage them often, and show them how their voices shape your outcomes. You will multiply your leadership capacity and set your organization up for enduring success.

Keep Growing with Manage to Lead

Steering committees are one of many ways leaders can expand their impact by bringing others into the process of thinking, managing, and acting strategically. If this approach resonates with you, explore how the Manage to Lead (MtL) System helps organizations like yours:

• Get clear about purpose and priorities.
• Align leadership teams and stakeholders.
• Drive change that sustains performance and growth.

Visit intelliven.com to learn more about the Manage to Lead framework, download tools, or join an upcoming session to practice applying MtL methods to your organization’s real-world challenges.

Get Clear. Align. Grow.

Get Aligned, Get Clear

Process Maps Turn Confusion Into Clarity

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Participants in IntelliVen’s Manage to Lead (MtL) program sometimes ask: “Why do we need to work on process maps?” It’s a fair question. The answer is that process mapping is not theory or busywork — it’s a practical tool you use on your own organization to turn hidden confusion into shared clarity. What follows explains how and why it works.

Every team member operates with their own mental map of how work gets done. The problem is, those maps rarely match. When they stay hidden, confusion builds, errors repeat, and opportunities slip away. Process maps transform scattered assumptions into one clear picture everyone can see, use, and improve together.

Turn Individual Mental Maps Into One Shared View

Organizations are an ecosystem of activities. Sales, delivery, support, finance, and HR leaders each hold pieces of the whole. Ask ten people how a key workflow happens across functions—say, onboarding a new customer—and you may hear ten different answers.

The same fragmentation shows up inside functions too: two sales reps handling similar opportunities may qualify leads or prepare proposals in completely different ways, even though the organization has learned a best practice for how it should be done.

When leaders work with their teams to draft a process map, a good first step is for each person to draw their own version of how the work gets done. Those maps reveal the similarities and differences in how people think the process works.

Looking at them side by side sparks discussion and exposes assumptions that would otherwise stay hidden. Collaborating to reconcile those views into a single, explicit picture reduces misunderstandings, strengthens alignment, and sets the stage for systematic improvement.

This aligns with the IntelliVen “Get Clear” truth: clarity is the first step to higher performance. Without it, even the best strategy gets lost in translation.

Make Handoffs, Gaps, and Choke Points Explicit

Once the flow of work is on paper (or screen), weak spots stand out. Teams can see:

  • Handoffs where work might fall between the cracks.

  • Gaps where no one is clearly responsible.

  • Choke points where one role or tool becomes a bottleneck.

  • Redundancies where two people are doing the same thing.

  • Error-prone steps where mistakes often creep in.

  • Measures—formal or informal—that indicate whether things are on track.

In day-to-day operations, these issues hide in plain sight. People learn to work around them. But a process mapping exercise surfaces them for open discussion.

This step mirrors the “NOW” stage of IntelliVen’s Change Framework. Leaders and teams must start with a clear-eyed view of how things currently work before they can chart a better “NEXT.”

Examine for Potential Breakthroughs

Mapping processes is not just about fixing problems. It’s about discovering opportunities.

When the whole flow is visible, leaders can ask:

  • What would happen if we automated this step?

  • Could two teams combine efforts to reduce time and cost?

  • Are we measuring what matters most?

  • Where could a small shift create disproportionate gains?

Sometimes, the exercise reveals breakthroughs. For example, moving a routine approval up in the process can cut cycle time in half. Or spotting a recurring customer question may inspire a new self-service product feature.

Organizations that grow successfully over time are those that consistently find and exploit such breakthroughs. Process maps are a tool to make them visible.

Ensure the Whole Team Plays the Game the Same Way to Win

Strategy is about how to win. Operations is about how to play the game. To succeed, the two must connect.

Process maps make the “playbook” explicit. They allow everyone—leaders, managers, staff, and partners—to see the same game board and understand their role on it. This alignment ensures:

  • Consistency: Consistency makes it easier to ensure everyone follows best practices and onboard new people. Consider an organization where half the professionals operate at peak effectiveness while the other half lag. If the whole team consistently applied the practices of the top performers, overall output and impact would rise dramatically. Process modeling is a step toward making that possible.
  • Efficiency: A shared map keeps teams from having to inventing steps or duplicate effort which frees time and energy for higher-value work. Efficiency in this sense isn’t just about speed — it’s about reducing rework, avoiding missteps, and channeling resources where they matter most.

  • Accountability: With a clear, shared process, everyone knows what’s expected of them and when. Instead of relying on memory, assumptions, or informal workarounds, roles and responsibilities are visible. This makes it easier to spot when something is off track and to coach or support people in real time, building trust and confidence across the team.

  • Scalability: Growth is hard when every new person has to “figure it out” on their own. A well-documented process gives newcomers a tested playbook so they can contribute faster and more reliably. It also allows leaders to delegate with confidence, knowing the approach will hold up even as volume increases or teams expand.

In IntelliVen terms, process maps help teams collaborate to “Get Clear and Get Aligned.” They make it easier for leaders to contract with their teams, govern effectively, and review performance against clear expectations.

Practical Tips for Leaders

If you’re considering introducing process mapping, here are some practical guidelines:

  • Start with one important process. Don’t try to map everything at once.

  • Involve people who do the work. They know the reality better than managers.

  • Keep it simple at first. Boxes, arrows, and labels are enough to start.

  • Use present tense. Describe how things actually happen now, not how they should.

  • Capture both formal and informal steps. Workarounds often carry key insights.

  • After mapping, ask: “What can we stop, start, or change to improve performance?”

  • Revisit maps as your organization evolves. A process that works today may need adjustment tomorrow.

Closing Thought

Working on process maps is not busywork. It is a leadership act. It shows commitment to clarity, alignment, and continuous improvement. It turns hidden assumptions into shared understanding. It shines light on bottlenecks and opportunities. And it ensures that your whole team is indeed playing the same game, the same way, to win together.

In short: process maps help leaders Get Clear. Align. Grow.

Put These Ideas Into Practice

In the Manage to Lead (MtL) program, you don’t just study tools like process mapping — you apply them directly to your own organization. YOUR CASE IS THE COURSE. By working hands-on with proven frameworks, you and your team surface hidden assumptions, sharpen execution, and accelerate performance. Learn more about the MtL program here »

Get Clear, Manage to Lead, Operations

Purpose and Goals: Why You Need Both W-W-W and Mandate

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W-W-W and Mandate: Two Distinct Tools, Both Essential

When working on their business, leaders sometimes ask: Which sequence is right?

W-W-W → Mandate

Mandate → W-W-W

Both sequences work. You need to work on both.

W-W-W is about purpose. It clarifies identity by answering three simple but interconnected questions:

  • WHAT do we provide?
  • WHO do we serve?
  • WHY do they choose us?

This is the cornerstone of clarity, rooted in Drucker’s insight that the purpose of a business is to solve a problem for a customer.

The Mandate is about goals. It defines what must be achieved, financially and non-financially, in a time frame. It sets targets, aspirations, and milestones. Where W-W-W establishes identity, Mandate locks in success conditions.

Though related, they require distinct lines of thinking:

  • W-W-W = identity and purpose
  • Mandate = success conditions and commitments

Which comes first? Both sequences work:

  • Mandate first: If you like Covey’s “Begin with the end in mind,” Mandate lays out the outcomes that guide everything else.
  • W-W-W first: Ensures that goals tie back to a clearly expressed purpose.

What matters more is that teams use both. W-W-W brings clarity of purpose. Mandate brings clarity of outcomes. Together, they create a foundation for alignment, prioritization, and growth.

W-W-W and Mandate aren’t one-and-done — they evolve together and become the backbone of the story you tell, tailored to what you need to say and to whom.

So, whether you start with W-W-W or Mandate, don’t stop until you’ve done both. And remember, they aren’t “one and done.” As your organization grows, work on one will often lead you to refine the other. Together, they form the backbone of your storyboard — a foundation you can adapt depending on what you need to say, and to whom.

Put These Ideas Into Practice

In the Manage to Lead (MtL) program, you don’t just study tools like Mandate and WHAT-WHO-WHY, you apply them directly to your own organization. YOUR CASE IS THE COURSE. By working hands-on with proven frameworks, you and your team surface hidden assumptions, sharpen execution, and accelerate performance. Learn more about the MtL program here »

Get Aligned, Get Clear, Sales Matters

What Would Peter Drucker Think of Your ICP?

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TL;DR

  • Investors’ first question is always your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). If you can’t answer crisply, nothing else matters.

  • Most teams treat ICP as one question, but it’s really three:

WHAT do you provide?

WHO must have it now?

WHY do they choose you over alternatives?

  • Mis-alignment on any leg stalls growth—marketing targets the wrong buyers, product builds the wrong features, sales can’t close.

  • Drucker’s biographer calls IntelliVen’s WHAT–WHO–WHY framework “an innovation that changes the value of leadership.” It’s exactly the clarity Drucker preached.

  • Why teams still struggle: cognitive overload, functional bias (product vs. sales vs. vision), and thinking ICP is “one-and-done.”

  • IntelliVen’s MtL System + AI-powered IVOA Sandbox crowdsources input, exposes misalignment, and guides teams to a shared ICP they revisit continuously.

  • Results when everyone shares the same ICP: faster sales ramps, sharper product decisions, lower CAC, higher LTV—one enterprise software firm grew from start-up to a valuation of $2+ B.

  • Takeaway: Treat your ICP as a living strategic asset. Use WHAT–WHO–WHY to align your team, revisit it often, and growth will follow.

The Hidden Failure Pattern

Pursue any professional financing or acquisition, and you’ll face the same first question: “Who’s your ideal customer?” It sounds like a simple question deserving a simple answer. But it’s not.

Most funding requests and transactions stall right here. Without a crisp answer, investors and buyers move on. What’s more troubling is that even after securing funding or sale, ICP clarity remains the make-or-break factor for sustained success. CB Insights, for example, found that more than a third of all startup failures stem from unclear market fit: companies that never nailed their Ideal Customer Profile.

It turns out that even seasoned executives struggle with the ICP challenge. As a result, they’re inefficiently burning resources in predictable ways:

  • Selling to customers who will never buy.
  • Wasting time closing sales with customers who will not reach target Lifetime Value.
  • Building features for people who don’t need them.
  • Crafting messages that resonate with no one in particular because they’re trying not to exclude anyone rather than focusing on the ideal.

The right solution for the wrong customer fails. The wrong solution for the right customer fails. While these may seem like execution problems, they are really clarity and alignment problems.

Most people think that a query to describe their ICP is one question requiring one answer, whereas it is really three interconnected questions at once:

  • WHAT do you deliver?
  • WHO needs it most?
  • WHY do they choose you?

Like a three-legged stool, if answers to any of the three is out of sync with one or both of the others, the cornerstone of the business caves-in. Marketing targets the wrong prospects. Sales struggles to close strategic deals in preference for deals of no strategic value (i.e., they are a waste of time!). Product builds features nobody wants. Teams pull in different directions, and so on.

What Would Drucker Say?

Peter Drucker, the father of management science, famously said, “The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” But what would the father of modern management think of our approach to tackling today’s ICP challenge?

We didn’t have to guess. Dr. Elizabeth Haas Edersheim (Drucker’s personally chosen biographer, former McKinsey senior partner, and MIT Sloan Ph.D.) joined our recent workshop. When asked what Drucker would think of our WHAT-WHO-WHY framework, her response was immediate:

“Peter defined innovation not as having a new idea, but by how much it changes the value delivered to customers. Your WHAT-WHO-WHY approach does exactly that—it fundamentally enhances the value leaders deliver. Drucker would have loved this because it clarifies purpose, aligns teams, and dramatically amplifies their collective impact.”

She continued:

“Drucker was deeply human-centric. Your method of bringing everyone to shared understanding of WHAT, WHO, and WHY doesn’t just clarify strategy—it unlocks human energy inside organizations. People can finally work with real purpose and clarity.”

Why Smart Teams Still Struggle

If the framework is straightforward, why do even experienced leaders find ICP clarity elusive? Three reasons:

Cognitive overload. Holding three interconnected dimensions in mind at once is mental work. Teams unconscious simplify, losing crucial nuance.

Functional bias. People gravitate toward their expertise. Product leaders obsess over WHAT. Sales focuses on WHO. Visionaries champion WHY. Without deliberate integration, teams optimize their piece while missing the whole.

Static thinking. Most treat ICP as a one-time exercise. But your ideal customer evolves as you do. The best-performing organizations revisit and refine their WHAT-WHO-WHY with regularity: embedding the framework into leadership rhythms, strategy sessions, and go-to-market planning.

Case Example

Here’s what happens when teams get the framework right. A consulting firm was stuck at $9M revenue, walking away from acquisition offers because they couldn’t get to their $12M target. Their WHAT-WHO-WHY was “we do stuff for money.”

After defining their true WHAT-WHO-WHY (visually stimulating strategy facilitation for U.S. Federal Government leaders who want to make a difference, accomplish missions, and get promoted), everything changed.

Four years later, they sold for $30M+.

But that’s just the beginning. Another company started using WHAT-WHO-WHY clarity at $15M revenue. They kept refining the framework through five private equity hold cycles. Today? North of $2 billion valuation.

The pattern isn’t luck. It’s what happens when organizations use clarity as a strategic asset, not a checkbox.

Whether you’re leading a startup seeking Series A, a nonprofit pursuing major donors, a church building community engagement, or a Fortune 500 division defending market share, the challenge remains the same. Every organization at every stage needs to answer the same three questions with precision. The framework works across all business models, capital structures, and geographies because the fundamental human need for clarity and alignment is universal.

Beyond the Foundation

Here’s what most people miss: WHAT-WHO-WHY clarity is powerful, but the framework is just the first element of what high-performing teams need.

Think of it as Truth #2 in our Manage to Lead system. It’s preceded by understanding your current context and followed by five more integrated truths about how teams actually execute and scale. Each builds on the others. Skip one, and even the best strategy stumbles.

The companies that outperform don’t just get their ICP right. They master the full sequence: how to assess where they stand, align everyone around the right priorities, plan change that works, execute without losing momentum, and remove the barriers that stop most teams from reaching their potential.

The Real Test

Your WHAT-WHO-WHY isn’t just a statement. The framework is a decision-making filter. When the framework is right, tough choices become obvious. Resource allocation gets clearer. Teams move faster because they’re no longer debating fundamentals.

When teams at inflection points (scaling, pivoting, fundraising, integrating new leadership) start with WHAT-WHO-WHY clarity, they compress months of alignment work into weeks. Not because the framework is magic, but because it surfaces and resolves the disconnects that otherwise create expensive detours.

Your Next Move

If you’re leading through change, start with the foundation. Download our WHAT-WHO-WHY template, or request access to the IntelliVen Sandbox where your team can work through this together—with AI-powered feedback that accelerates the iteration process.

But remember: the framework is just the beginning. The teams that win understand that clarity is built, not discovered. And building clarity requires more than one framework. Building clarity requires a system.

Get Clear. Align. Grow.

Ready to see what aligned clarity can unlock for your team?
• Explore the full Manage-to-Lead System at IntelliVen.com
• Request a 10-day IVOA Sandbox trial—just contact us and we’ll set you up
• Watch the 40-minute workshop Dr. Edersheim attended and hear her remarks firsthand

About the Author

Peter DiGiammarino has helped hundreds of leadership teams architect breakthrough performance across private, public, VC-backed, and PE-owned companies. His Manage to Lead system distills decades of operating experience into seven enduring truths and 60+ practical tools that guide teams through critical inflection points.