An esteemed colleague of equal or greater seniority whom you enlist to co-sign an untested theory, effectively halving your professional liability if things go wrong.
What they actually mean
"Please share the blame for this."
Heard in the wild
"I'd love to use you as a thought partner on this slide deck before we present to the board."
To place a placeholder event in a calendar with the tacit agreement that it will be immediately deleted the moment a more attractive or lucrative option presents itself.
"Let's pencil in a coffee next Thursday afternoon."
Translation
"I will cancel this on Thursday morning."
A governing body of senior executives assembled to receive highly polished slides, debate minor formatting choices, and dilute all operational accountability.
"We need to get sign-off from the SteerCo before we can progress to the implementation phase."
Translation
"A committee designed to ensure no single individual can be blamed when this goes wrong."
The delicate art of lowering a client's hopes to a level where meeting them requires only a fraction of the promised effort.
"I think we just need to manage expectations around what is achievable by Friday."
Translation
"We haven't started, and it will be late."