Choose a consequential question
An advisory conversation may focus on which segment to prioritize, how to assess a proposal, or whether the team needs leadership or execution capacity. Bring the alternatives and what is known about them. Advice is more useful when it changes a decision than when it simply validates an existing plan.
Connect advice to responsibility
Agree who owns implementation, what information is available and when the decision will be revisited. Advisory support is different from operating a campaign or managing a team. Make those boundaries explicit so a recommendation does not become an unassigned task or an assumed ongoing commitment.
Prepare the conversation
Nancy works through focused strategic projects, advisory engagements and fractional or interim leadership. Describe the business challenge, urgency and evidence already available, then discuss scope and availability. No fixed advisory frequency, response time or standard package is established by this page.
Put the decision into practice
- State the decision and alternatives.
- Share the relevant evidence.
- Identify the implementation owner.
- Agree a review point.
- Confirm the advisory scope and availability.
Bring the business question, the evidence already available and the constraints that matter. Discuss your next step with Nancy Chou.
When this support fits
An executive needs senior judgment on a consequential choice. The engagement should connect a clear business question to work your team can use.
Make scope and acceptance explicit
| Work to discuss | How to make it usable |
|---|---|
| A clearly framed question and alternatives | Name the owner, evidence required, review date and decision the output supports. |
| A recommendation with assumptions and tradeoffs | Name the owner, evidence required, review date and decision the output supports. |
| A decision record and follow-up responsibility | Name the owner, evidence required, review date and decision the output supports. |
Acceptance check: The executive can explain the choice, its evidence and the conditions that would change it.
An illustrative engagement situation
A hypothetical founder is comparing proposals with different delivery scopes. A useful advisory discussion establishes the common decision and comparable responsibilities before comparing fees.
What should you bring to the first conversation?
Bring the decision, current customer evidence, relevant commercial observations and the people who will use the work. Identify timing, access and implementation constraints. Confirm availability, responsibilities, deliverables and commercial terms directly; this page does not establish a fixed package.
Keep advice connected to an executive choice
Frame the question as a trade-off: which segment to pursue, which offer to prioritize, what to stop or which capability to add. Bring evidence and the constraints that matter. The advisory output should make that decision clearer, including uncertainty and what could change the recommendation.
Separate advisory input from delegated authority
Clarify who makes the decision and who implements it. Periodic advice does not by itself create an executive operating mandate or a production team. If ongoing ownership is needed, define the fractional or interim leadership scope and availability separately. Defining a fractional CMO's authority and responsibilities.