Member since December 2025
CB Bowman-Ottomanelli, MCEC, MBA, CCE, BCC, CVF, CVP, is the creator of the No-Playbook Decision System™. Leaders use it to make clear decisions when the stakes are high and there is no precedent to follow. The system has three tools: the Five Whys, the Fishbone Chart, and the Microcourage™ System, her seven-step process.
CB is CEO of Courage Consulting and CEO of the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (ACEC). She has coached C-suite executives for about two decades. She speaks to CEOs, CHROs, senior leadership teams and association audiences about what to do when a strategy is not working and the playbook has run out. Her keynotes and workshops teach the three tools through real cases.
She is a two-time Amazon #1 bestselling author. Her third book, Courage to Leap & Pivot Without A Playbook: The Framework for Clear Decisions in High-Stakes, Uncertain Environments, launches in January 2027. She has been published in Leader to Leader (Wiley) and the Wall Street Journal. Her podcast, Courage to Leap & Lead, ranks in the top 5% of more than 3.8 million podcasts worldwide by Listen Score.
CB is ranked #13 on the Thinkers360 Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Management 2026. She is a Global Gurus Top 20 in Branding honoree and a member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches. She presents virtually as standard and in person on request.
The Decision That Moves the Strategy™
Strategy, and the decision that moves it.
At 5:57 one morning, a respected colleague sent six paragraphs challenging a decision CB had made. Her first instinct was to defend it. She stopped instead and worked the challenge through the Five Whys, the Fishbone Chart and the Microcourage™ System. The real issue was not the one in the email. She replied from clarity, and his answer came back in under two hours: "I agree with you wholeheartedly."
The No-Playbook Decision System™ grew out of a leadership survival process. CB built it from hard business experience, her studies at The New School for Social Research in how people think, and an alliance of colleagues she developed to lead the naysayers.
At 5:57 one morning, a respected colleague sent six paragraphs challenging a decision CB had made. Her first instinct was to defend it. She stopped instead and worked the challenge through the Five Whys, the Fishbone Chart and the Microcourage™ System. The real issue was not the one in the email. She replied from clarity, and his answer came back in under two hours: "I agree with you wholeheartedly."
The No-Playbook Decision System™ grew out of a leadership survival process. CB built it from hard business experience, her studies at The New School for Social Research in how people think, and an alliance of colleagues she developed to lead the naysayers.