The Mechanism

Your leadership story
is running a protection
racket on your
organization.

Every senior leader develops a story about the source of their value. That story was accurate once. It earned them this role.

At some point, the story stopped describing a capability and started demanding one — in every meeting, every decision, every moment of organizational life.

When that happens, the organization stops getting the capability.

It starts getting the performance of it.

Performance costs more than it produces.

The Story Tax Index™

The tax shows up
in five places.

The Story Tax Index measures each one. Together, they produce a single number between 25 and 125. Lower is operationally cleaner.

  1. I Decision Identity
  2. II Delegation Integrity
  3. III Meeting Theater
  4. IV After-Hours Processing
  5. V Speed Signature

What each pillar measures, how scores are calculated, and what your top pillar is costing you — in the book.

The Benchmark

The score means something.

< 40 Top-quartile leader
55 – 70 Where most senior leaders sit
> 70 Your teams are waiting on you

Where do you sit? The book tells you how to find out.