The Mechanism

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

847 executives studied
$227K average annual bleed rate
90 days to close the gap

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 Benchmark

The score means something.

< 40 Top-quartile leader
40 – 55 Elevated drag — patterns are visible and costing you
55 – 70 Where most senior leaders sit
> 70 Your teams are waiting on you

Where do you sit? Find out in two minutes.

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 Book

The fix is documented.

Four protocols. Ninety days. The leaders who ran them dropped 12 to 25 points from their Story Tax score. The ones who didn’t — didn’t move.

Hardcover · First Edition · 2026