# Pressure-test a leader's plan before I approve it

A structured CEO review of a functional or annual plan, surfacing weak assumptions and the questions to ask before sign-off.

- Topic: Leadership & Management
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Leadership, Summarize, Analyze, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/pressure-test-a-leader-s-plan-before-i-approve-it

## Prompt

```text
Help me review a plan from one of my leaders before I approve it.

**Plan:** [PASTE the plan, or summarize goals, initiatives, budget, headcount, and timeline]
**Leader and function:** [ROLE, their track record on past plans]
**Company priorities it should support:** [LIST]
**Resources available:** [budget and headcount envelope]
**What I'm worried about:** [GUT concerns, if any]

Review it for:
1. Alignment: does each initiative clearly support a company priority? Flag work that serves only the function.
2. Outcomes: are goals measurable outcomes with targets and dates, or activities ("launch", "improve", "explore")?
3. Assumptions: list the 5 assumptions the plan depends on most, rate each as evidenced or hopeful, and suggest how to test the hopeful ones early.
4. Capacity: does the team have the people and time, given everything else they run? Look for plans that add work without stopping anything.
5. Dependencies on other teams, and whether those teams have agreed.
6. Risks and what happens if the top initiative slips by a quarter.
7. Comparison to last plan: what was promised before and what was delivered. [ADD if I haven't provided it]

Return:
- A short verdict: approve / approve with changes / send back.
- The 8 questions I should ask the leader, ordered by importance.
- Specific changes I'd require before approval.
- A note on tone: how to push back in a way that builds the leader's ownership rather than replacing their plan with mine.
```

## What to fill in

- ROLE, their track record on past plans
- LIST
- budget and headcount envelope
- GUT concerns, if any
- ADD if I haven't provided it

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.