How do the best leaders influence executive decisions?
I’m interviewing 100 senior leaders about how they challenge the status quo upwards, including assumptions, risks, blindspots, priorities and approaches for my book TOO DIRECT, publishing 2027.
THE PREMISE
Most writing on this assumes leaders need more courage.
The problem isn't lack of courage. The problem is they are running a cost calculation. What does raising this do to my standing, my next promotion, my budget, my relationship with the person who signs off on my career? And most of the time, that calculation results in staying silent or softetning the message.
The leaders I'm interviewing have found ways to change it. They tell the executive team what it doesn't want to hear, improve decisions, challenge the status quo, and are more respected for their input.
Challenge here means questioning an assumption, a constraint, a default, a practice, or a proposed course of action. It does not mean challenging a person or their authority.
At the Director to VP level, these conversations happen across a power difference, and they are the ones that connect executive intent with team execution. They calibrate their messaging based on whom their speaking to.
That’s the book. This is the research that establishes the facts.
THE STUDY
100 interviews with two angles
Who I’m talking to: Leaders of functions: SVPs, VPs, Chiefs and Heads in Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, Product, R&D, Finance, FP&A, Risk, Audit, IT, Technology, Cyber, Strategy, Transformation, and Quality/Regulatory. L&D and HR business partner leaders: the people responsible for building this capability.
What I ask: If you lead a function: one story. A time you told someone who outranks you something they didn't want to hear, and the decision changed. How you raised it, what it could have cost you, what happened next. Then how the same thing plays out with the leaders who report to you.
If you lead L&D or HR (30 minutes): where this shows up in your organization, what it costs, what you have tried, and what worked.
CONFIDENTIALITY
You decide how you appear. And you decide at the end, not now.
Every interview is confidential by default. Nothing goes in the book with your name or your organization on it unless you tell me it can.
Named
Quoted with attribution.
Anonymous
Quoted, no name, no organization.
Background
Shapes the findings, never quoted.
You choose after you’ve heard yourself say it.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS GET
Your story can appear in the book, named or anonymous. You decide after the interview, not before.
A seat at a private roundtable with the other leaders in the study.
The findings before publication. Benchmarking across 100 senior leaders on this topic.
WHO’S ASKING
Ivna Curi. Creator of CREDIBLE DIRECTNESS, a senior leader communication system for Director-to-VP populations. TEDx speaker, three-time SHRM speaker, Forbes contributor. Host of Speak Your Mind Unapologetically, 450+ episodes. Author of TOO DIRECT. Former A.T. Kearney strategy consultant, INSEAD MBA. Trained as an engineer at Brazil’s Air Force university.
Has taught leadership communication to 7,000+ leaders at organizations including Moët Hennessy, Qualcomm, Autodesk, Akamai, Walmart, and KPMG.
TAKING PART
Interviews are by invitation.
Interviews are by invitation or referral. I'm talking with SVPs, VPs, Chiefs and Heads of the functions above, and the L&D and HR leaders who develop them.
Not sure you fit? Message me on LinkedIn.
Not up for an interview?
Get the findings when the study closes. 100 senior leaders.
This research becomes TOO DIRECT, publishing 2027.
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