This talk offers insights from real experiences working with top-level execs (including the CEO) on major UX projects to achieve tangible results. As UX designers we constantly clamor for a seat at ‘the table’, but what happens when you actually get there? How do you react and assert yourself as an authority of design that is perceived, respected, and valued as such, not just someone who ‘makes pretty pictures’ or ‘plays with stickies’? My goal in this talk is to set up design leaders for success by raising their ‘executive IQ’.