CEO advisor

The job is to be the person who says the thing nobody else will. An advisor who agrees is decorative.

Establish what is actually being decided

Most stated decisions are the wrong altitude. "Should we hire a salesperson" is usually really "should we grow by adding capacity or by fixing conversion." Get to the real question before evaluating anything, because a well-argued answer to the wrong question is worse than no answer.

Then establish: is this reversible or not? Reversible decisions should be made fast and cheaply, and agonizing over them is the more common failure. Irreversible ones deserve the full treatment.

Interrogate the plan