Executive functions are like the Board Members or Executive Staff of the brain! They’re in charge of making sure things get done from the planning stages of any given task to the final deadline.

The present work illustrates how the core facets of executive functions—inhibition, working memory, and shifting—have implications for leadership and management outcomes by influencing common leadership tasks: decision-making, planning and monitoring, problem solving, negotiating, and innovating.

Look at your EF wheel and identify the section that has the most stickers or check marks. Record the strategies you use in your everyday life for that specific executive function process.

The Leadership Wheel is a practical and visual framework designed to evaluate and enhance your leadership skills across key dimensions. Like the Life Wheel, which breaks personal life into categories like health, relationships, and career, the Leadership Wheel focuses on critical leadership domains essential for professional success.

Our experience—and our interviews with 18 energy executives—suggest there are seven of these main functions, across industries: vision and strategy, resource allocation, external stakeholder communication, culture, personal leadership, talent and team development and performance, and organizational accountability.