The First 90 Days as VP:
Executive Presence PlaybookThe exact frameworks used by 200+ Senior IT Leaders to make the Director-to-VP transition without losing their technical credibility.
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You are technically excellent. You are still being passed over.
Most Senior IT Directors hit an invisible wall around Year 10. Their technical delivery is flawless. Their teams perform. Their systems run. And yet the VP role always goes to someone else.
The gap is not capability. It is visibility, positioning, and the ability to speak the language of the board.
The first 90 days in a VP role are the highest-leverage window of your career. The ones who get noticed spend them building executive presence and strategic capability.
You are invited only when things break, never when the strategy is being shaped. This playbook changes that.
- Rajiv Upadhyay, Gravitas Academy
Five frameworks. 90 days. One clear path forward.
Not theory. Not inspiration. Frameworks you can use in your first week as VP.
The Executive Presence Audit
Diagnose exactly where your presence is strong and where it is costing you credibility in under 15 minutes.
The Stakeholder Map (Days 1-30)
Identify your five most critical relationships and the precise format to build them.
The Strategic Communication Shift
Convert your technical updates into boardroom language using the SCRAP framework.
The Positioning Playbook (Days 31-60)
Build cross-functional visibility within your organisation and get invited to strategy rooms.
The 90 Day Review Template
The exact format to present your first 90 days to the C-suite demonstrating strategic thinking, not just delivery status.
The framework works. Here is the evidence.
I had been a Director for six years. Six months after working through Rajiv's frameworks, the CISO asked for my input on the CTO agenda. The stakeholder map changed how I spend my Monday mornings.
AVP Technology
Global Financial Services
After being told I needed to be more strategic with no indication of what that meant, this playbook gave me the specific language and frameworks. I used SCRAP to reposition and it landed differently.
Senior Director, Platform Engineering
Global Technology Company
Rajiv Upadhyay
Executive Coach - Gravitas Academy - 200+ Senior IT Leaders Coached
Rajiv works with Senior IT Leaders at the inflection point between technical expertise and executive leadership, helping them make the Director-to-VP transition with clarity, not just confidence.
His methodology, the Gravitas Shift Model, addresses three specific gaps: Presence, Positioning, and Political Savvy - the capabilities that separate a high-performing Director from a credible VP.
This playbook distils the frameworks he uses in one-on-one coaching into a 90-day structure you can start this week.
Ready to make the shift?
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2026 Gravitas Academy - Rajiv Upadhyay