Elevate - The Foundations (PDF)

Davina Stanley shares how she has been using the Minto Pyramid Principle to go further than just lift the clarity and insight in her clients' communication.

Her Elevate framework helps teams at companies like 7Eleven, Meta, Marsh, KPMG, and many more prepare significant papers and presentations during working hours rather than at nights and weekends.

She shares the first, foundational section of her new book, Elevate, to help you benefit from the approach also.

If the following situation sounds familiar, then this is for you.

It's 9 pm and you're turning to your laptop to review the pre-reading your team has prepared for the coming senior leadership meeting.

You sigh. You'd much prefer to be watching Netflix, tucking into a book or having an early night. But having been swamped with meetings for the past week, you have again left this review to the last. You flicked through it days ago but could tell it wasn't ready – and a lot of time would be needed to get it there.

The team has a great plan, but your quick look told you their draft will not cut it.

You are frustrated that you can't quickly find the key messages that will land with your leadership. The framing is off. The nuggets are buried. Long lists of relevant facts are scattered throughout without being woven into the central narrative.

Without the paper providing high-quality insights that are easily digested, you will spend the leadership meeting answering basic questions rather than discussing the issues.

You will most likely leave with more questions than answers and without the decision you need. And you haven't had a block of focus time to deal with it.

Darn. You must settle in for a long night. Yet again, you must dig in to find the nuggets you know are there and frame them so they land with the leadership team.

This is a delicate dance as you aim to keep as much of your team's work as possible so you don't crush them, while lifting the messaging.
You turn in at midnight wondering whether you have done your team's ideas justice and whether the paper will get the decision you need or just more questions.

Does this sound familiar?

Many leaders tell me they assume it is their job to rework hundreds of pages of their team's work each weekend. It is ‘normal' to rework their team's papers out of hours. It comes with the territory.

But … does it need to?

I don't think so.

I've seen many leaders turn this around and look forward to helping you do the same.

Wouldn't it be amazing if you and your teams consistently got better, faster decisions from papers and presentations that are (mostly!) written and reviewed within working hours?

Imagine having time to think, and getting much of your nights and weekends back.

This book helps you do that. I first help you lay strong foundations, and then lift yourself out of the detail before elevating your team's capabilities.

Download the contents and first chapter here and learn more at and follow Davina on LinkedIn at