Executive advisory

A proven executive starts struggling. Did the person change, or did the job?

The P×E Executive Fit Review compares the executive’s operating patterns with what the role demands now. It identifies the mismatch affecting performance and sets a 90-day test before the organization makes a larger decision.

Request an Executive Fit Review

G. Damon Wells listening to two senior executives during a private leadership discussion — Damon begins with the operating problem. Assessment follows when it can improve the decision.

What you leave with

The Fit Review puts the whole case in one view.

The dashboard compares the Athlete Profile with the demands of the current or target role. It keeps differences in arena ratings visible, isolates the largest gaps, and records the evidence that should move during the first 90 days.

FIT ESTIMATE68/100Conditional fit

CURRENT ARENACultivatedThreat 31 · Stability 78

NEXT-ROLE ARENAChaoticThreat 67 · Stability 36

DECISION VIEWProceed with guardrailsTwo material gaps

01 · LEADER × ROLEWhere current evidence meets next-role demand

Current Role

Strategic range

-24

Delegation

-9

Boundary influence

-11

Decision speed

Ambiguity tolerance

-27

Recovery capacity

-5

02 · ARENA RATINGSThe perception gap

Executive54

Manager74

Peers70

The candidate sees less threat than the people already working in the role.

03 · ROLE SHIFTWhat gets larger

ScopeFunction→Enterprise

Time horizon12 months→36 months

InterdependenceModerate→High

Feedback delayDays→Weeks

VisibilityInternal→Board

Error costLocal→Portfolio

04 · PRIORITY DIAGNOSISAmbiguity may become a decision bottleneck

The next role will often require action before the evidence reaches the candidate's preferred level of certainty.

Watch: experimentation Carry forward: follow-through

05 · 90-DAY TESTEvidence before a final judgment

ActionOwnerSignalReview

Delegate two operating decisionsCandidateCycle timeDay 30

Install a red-team reviewCOOEarly dissentDay 45

Test the board narrativeSponsorDecision clarityDay 60

Working hypothesis · Developmental useNext review: October 15

Preparing for a bigger role

Promotion changes more than the amount of pressure.

Larger roles often raise the consequence of error and expose the leader to less settled conditions. The more reliable change is structural: work reaches farther, results take longer to observe, and more decisions depend on people outside the leader's direct control. The Next-Role Fit Review compares those demands with the patterns that made the executive successful in the current job.

The qualitative adjustment draws on Mumford, Campion, and Morgeson's 2007 study of skill requirements across organizational levels and Tett, Toich, and Ozkum's 2021 review of trait activation.

Scope

A function becomes an enterprise, portfolio, or region.

Time horizon

The leader acts now for results that may not appear for years.

Interdependence

Authority covers less of the system required for success.

Feedback distance

Signals arrive later, cleaner, and more politically filtered.

Visibility

More people interpret each decision, including boards and external partners.

Error cost

A local mistake can spread across capital, reputation, or the workforce.

Engagements

Use the smallest engagement that can answer the decision.

Flagship

P×E Executive Fit Review

For a proven leader whose new role or changed operation is producing results that no longer make sense.

Athlete Profile and STEP Scan
Executive and colleague arena ratings
Alignment Map and private debrief
One prioritized ADAPT plan
Ninety-day review of the result

Promotion

Next-Role Fit Review

For an executive preparing for a role with broader scope, longer time horizons, and less direct control.

Current and target-role comparison
Projected STEP position
Role-demand shift map
Carry-forward strengths and exposure points
Preparation plan for the first 90 days

Focused

Strategic Diagnostic

For one consequential decision that needs an outside diagnosis before action locks in cost.

Pre-session decision brief
Ninety-minute private session
Written diagnosis within 48 hours
One bounded 30-day intervention

Organization

Executive Team Alignment

For a senior team whose individual talent is producing weak collective performance inside the same operation.

Shared STEP Scan
Leader profile comparison
Team friction map
Executive workshop
Targeted follow-through

When P×E earns its keep

Examine the fit when a proven pattern stops producing the expected result.

Newly promoted executive

The new role rewards a different way of gathering information and using authority.

Founder in transition

The habits that built the company now slow the people hired to scale it.

Inherited operation

A capable leader has entered a system whose unwritten demands surfaced after arrival.

Senior team under strain

Experienced executives read the same operating conditions in incompatible ways.

Bring one consequential decision

Damon will tell you whether a P×E review can improve it.

Request a Fit Review