“Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” -Romans 2:4
Paul doesn’t aim this verse at people far from God. He speaks directly to those who claim to follow Him — those who’ve seen His mercy firsthand. And still, the warning is clear: Don’t presume on it.
Grace is not permission. Kindness is not compromise. His patience has a purpose — and that purpose is repentance. Not just remorse. Repentance. Turning. Reordering. Not just acknowledging what’s wrong, but walking away from it. There’s a prayer that captures this posture better than anything I’ve read in a while. It was written by Jane Austen — not in a novel, but in her private collection of family prayers. She didn’t just shape literature; she practiced disciplined, reverent faith. Her words echo the same truth as Romans 2:4, but from the quiet of a soul laid bare before God:
“Look with mercy on the sins we have this day committed and in mercy make us feel them deeply, that our repentance may be sincere and our resolution steadfast of endeavoring against the commission of such in future. Teach us to understand the sinfulness of our own hearts, and bring to our knowledge every fault of temper and every evil habit in which we have indulged to the discomfort of our fellow creatures, and the danger of our own souls. May we now, and on each return of night, consider how the past day has been spent by us, what have been our prevailing thoughts, words, and actions during it, and how far we can acquit ourselves of evil. Have we thought irreverently of you, have we disobeyed your commandments, have we neglected any known duty, or willingly given pain to any human being? Incline us to ask our hearts these questions, oh God, and save us from deceiving ourselves by pride or vanity. Give us a thankful sense of the blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our lot, that we may not deserve to lose them by discontent or indifference.”
That’s the kind of repentance this verse is about. Not a moment of emotion. A habit of humility.
And today — while we still hear His voice — we walk through it. Not with shame. With honesty. With reverence for the One whose kindness keeps reaching for us. Let it lead you.
In most businesses, decisions get made in hallway conversations, rambling meetings, or vague threads that lead to misalignment and half-executed ideas. Nobody’s quite sure who owns what—or why they’re even doing it.
That’s why we use the Decision Pitch Meeting™ (DPM™). It forces clarity before commitment — and brings discipline back to how execution priorities are set. But to understand the Decision Pitch, you first need to understand where it fits.
An Unbreakable Cycle™ (download the PDF here) is a 30-day execution rhythm that keeps teams focused and aligned. Each cycle allows for one locked-in priority per domain — Growth, Finance, and Operations. Once the cycle begins, nothing gets added, shifted, or reprioritized. The goal is simple: stop starting and start finishing.
You can read more about Unbreakable Cycles™ in Volume 6. Here's another look at how cycles work again:
The Decision Pitch Meeting™ is how those priorities get chosen. It happens during the final week of each month, setting the agenda for the next Unbreakable Cycle. And it’s built to cut through the noise.
Every proposed idea must be backed by a Decision Pitch Worksheet (DPW) — submitted the day before the DPM™ so the team has time to review and come prepared.
1. What annual company goal does this support? Growth, Finance, or Operations. No alignment = no pitch.
2. What measurable impact will this create? Think revenue, efficiency, CX, or throughput. No ambiguity.
3. Who owns the execution? One domain. One accountable leader.
4. What will be true when it’s done? Not “we made progress.” What’s finished?
5. What objective data backs this up? If you’re asking for resources, you need evidence — or a plan to get it.
> 3 minutes to pitch.
You get three minutes, max. If it can’t be said clearly, it’s not ready.
> 7 minutes of team deliberation.
Feasibility, blockers, sequencing, priority.
> 1 minute to lock in.
The domain owner makes the final call. No CEO overrides. No endless debate. The pitch either moves forward, gets banked, or gets deleted.
a) Do It: Approved and scheduled for the next cycle.
b) Bank It: Valuable, but not right now. Logged for future review.
c) Delete It: Doesn’t meet the standard. Removed entirely.
Once a pitch is accepted, it becomes part of the next Unbreakable Cycle™. And once the cycle starts, execution is the only option.
You’ve sat in the long meetings. You’ve watched unclear ideas burn hours. You’ve seen good people try to execute vague goals and end up exhausted. This is how we lead better.
The Decision Pitch Meeting™ isn’t just a meeting — it’s a leadership tool. It creates space for strong thinking, shared responsibility, and focused execution. It doesn’t just prevent chaos. It models what accountable, prepared, mission driven leadership looks like.
So here’s the question: If your top priorities were submitted as a Decision Pitch today — would they make the cut?
First - is the goal clear?
Second - is the impact measurable?
Third - is the ownership defined?
If not, don’t guess. Refine it. Clarify it. Then bring the pitch. This is how we move from ideas... to outcomes.
There’s a growing pattern across leadership culture right now. It shows up in big companies and small teams alike. In nonprofits, tech startups, local trades, and remote-first creative shops.
Everyone has a lot going on — and very little is getting done. Projects are launched. Initiatives are announced. Ideas are pitched. But ask two people in the room who owns it, what the finish line is, or when it’s actually due — and things get fuzzy. This isn’t about laziness. And it’s not about hustle either. It’s about clarity, behavior, and follow-through.
In the March 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review, an article titled “Getting Big Things Done”
highlighted a core truth that applies far beyond government systems and public projects:
“The problem is not that people lack imagination or good intentions... it’s that the systems and structures we rely on often work against the completion of anything meaningful.” — Toby Lester, Harvard Business Review
We see this everywhere. Plans keep expanding. Priorities keep shifting. And complexity gets mistaken for progress. Meanwhile, the businesses that quietly outperform their peers? They do fewer things — and finish them.
Execution doesn’t collapse because people stop caring. It collapses because no one asks the hard question. That is, "Did we actually do what we said we would do?" If you're leading right now, that question needs to be front and center. Not just once a quarter. Every week. Every meeting. Every cycle.
The ones who win aren’t louder. They’re just more consistent. They don’t wait to feel ready. They finish the work.