The act of writing forces clarity. Jeff Bezos mandates written narratives over slideshows at Amazon because the process exposes fuzzy thinking. While a clear thinker isn't always a great writer, a clear writer is invariably a clear thinker. This makes writing a critical leadership skill, not just a marketing tactic.

The common failure of "pre-read" meetings is that attendees don't do the reading. Atlassian, like Amazon, solves this by starting decision-making meetings with a dedicated, silent period where everyone reads the context document together. This guarantees shared context and makes the subsequent discussion far more effective.

Treat strategic thinking as a formal, scheduled activity, not a passive one. By blocking time on your calendar for specific thinking formats—like a walking meeting with yourself or a dedicated commute session—you create the space for your subconscious to solve problems and generate novel insights.

Jensen Huang uses the whiteboard as the primary meeting tool to compel employees to demonstrate their thought process in real-time. This practice eliminates hiding behind prepared materials and fosters rigorous, transparent thinking, revealing immediately when someone hasn't thought something through.

Instead of using AI as a compliant assistant, program it to be a challenging 'sparring partner.' Ask it to find holes in your logic or anticipate all the critical questions your CEO might ask. This transforms it from a content generator into a powerful strategic tool for preparation.

Instead of presenting information that can be read in an email, a successful founder sent updates beforehand. This freed up meeting time for strategic discussions on product, capital, and hiring, which accelerated the company's growth.

To prevent the first or most senior person from anchoring a conversation, collect everyone's independent analysis in writing first. Only after this information is aggregated should the group discussion begin. This method ensures a wider range of ideas is considered and prevents premature consensus.

Adopt the private equity board meeting model: circulate a detailed brief a week in advance. This forces attendees to consume updates asynchronously. The meeting itself can then be dedicated entirely to debating critical, forward-looking decisions instead of wasting time on status reports.

Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, leads through a distinct, asynchronous style: writing long-form essays on Slack to explain his reasoning on key topics and engaging in written debates. This method creates a "coherent sense of direction" by ensuring the entire company has a deep, shared model of his thinking and the rationale behind major decisions.