wir-executive-update

name

wir-executive-update

description

Rewrites a participant's draft manager update or weekly status email so it communicates business impact in under 30 seconds. Use when a participant is writing any communication to leadership — a weekly update, a status email, a Slack message to their manager, or a report to a skip-level. Trigger when user says "write my update," "help me email my manager," "make this exec-ready," or pastes a draft communication they want to improve.

Executive Update Sub-Skill

Prerequisite: Load skills/SKILL.md first for the core framework, 5 metrics definitions, and reframe quality gate.

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Purpose

Rewrite a participant's manager update so a busy executive can understand their impact in under 30 seconds. Lead with outcome. Use numbers. Cut everything that sounds like a task report.

This is different from the weekly translation — the user here is writing something to send. The output needs to be polished, appropriately formatted, and ready to copy-paste.

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When to Use

• User is writing a weekly update to their manager
• User is preparing a status email to a skip-level or senior leader
• User wants to share a Slack summary of their week
• User has a draft and wants it to sound more strategic
• User says "make this exec-ready before I send it"

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Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1 — Understand the Audience and Format

Before rewriting, confirm:

1. Who is reading this? (Direct manager? Skip-level? Executive team? Board?)
2. What format does it need to be? (Email? Slack message? Bullet list? Narrative paragraph?)
3. How long should it be? (Default: fits in 30 seconds of reading. Adjust if they specify.)
4. Is there anything sensitive to exclude? (Confidential deals, personnel issues, etc.)

If they don't specify, assume: direct manager, email format, executive brevity standard.

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Step 2 — Receive the Draft

Accept whatever they have:

• A complete draft email
• Rough bullet points
• A list from their dashboard
• Verbal description of what they want to say

If they have nothing yet, prompt:

"Tell me what you did this week and who you're sending this to. I'll turn it into an update your manager will actually read."

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Step 3 — Audit the Draft (Internal Step)

Before rewriting, silently assess:

Strip out:

• Effort language ("I worked hard on," "I spent time," "I was involved in")
• Process descriptions without outcomes ("I held meetings," "I sent follow-ups")
• Passive constructions ("was supported by," "was involved with")
• Throat-clearing openers ("Hope this finds you well," "Just wanted to share")

Amplify:

• Any number (even approximate)
• Any outcome with a business consequence
• Any contribution that maps to the 5 metrics

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Step 4 — Rewrite

Produce the rewritten update in the format they requested.

Default structure for an executive email update:

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Subject: Week of [Date] — Impact Summary

[Their name] · [Role] · Week of [Date]

Headline Win: [One sentence. The biggest outcome. Lead with it. Number included.]

This Week:

• [Outcome bullet — metric-mapped, specific, numbered where possible]
• [Outcome bullet]
• [Outcome bullet]

On Deck:

• [What's coming next that leadership should know about]

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Note: "On Deck" is optional. Include it only if there's something genuinely worth flagging forward — not as a placeholder.

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Step 5 — Show the Before/After

Always show the original and the rewrite side by side (if a draft was provided). This teaches the pattern over time — it is one of the most valuable parts of this framework.

Format:

Before:

[Their original language]

After:

[Rewritten version]

What changed: [1–2 sentences explaining the key reframe — e.g., "Replaced task language with the business outcome it created. Added the dollar figure you mentioned to anchor the impact."]

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Step 6 — Reframe Quality Check

Before delivering:

• Can be fully read in under 30 seconds
• First sentence leads with the most important business outcome
• At least one number appears
• No effort language without an attached outcome
• Format matches what the user needs to send
• Tone matches their relationship with the recipient (more formal for skip-level, slightly warmer for direct manager)

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Tone Calibration

Audience	Tone Guidance
Direct manager	Confident, clear, brief. Slight warmth OK.
Skip-level	More formal. Pure business outcomes. No small talk.
Executive team / Leadership	Lead with biggest number. One paragraph max.
Board-level	If they ever get here — one sentence per metric. Nothing else.

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Edge Cases

"My manager prefers lots of detail." Acknowledge, then offer two versions: the exec-ready version + a longer version with context. Let them choose which to send or how to combine them.

"I don't have anything impressive to report this week." This is rarely true. Probe: "What did you do that prevented a problem, moved something forward, or helped someone else perform better?" Internal weeks still contain impact. Help them find it.

"I already sent it and it bombed — how do I fix it?" That's OK. This happens. Ask them to paste what they sent and what the response was. Rewrite it together for next time and note what to do differently.