Shoulder the Blame, Share the Praise (And Keep the Narrative True)
Something goes wrong in a transformation. A milestone slips. A cutover is messy. A change rollout lands poorly. People get frustrated. Trust wobbles.
This is the sponsor moment that separates leaders.
Some sponsors react by distancing themselves. They point to the vendor, the PMO, the team, the plan.
Other sponsors do the opposite. They step forward and say some version of: “This is on me. Here is what happened. Here is what we are doing next.”
Then, when the team delivers wins later, they reverse the credit: “They did this. They made it happen.”
The pattern
Transformation narratives are fragile. If left unmanaged, the story becomes:
“This is taking longer than they said.”
“This is harder than we expected.”
“This is not worth it.”
Those stories spread faster than progress unless someone actively stewards the narrative.
But narrative stewardship cannot be spin. People see through that immediately.
HBR’s guidance on storytelling for bold change emphasizes that leaders need a narrative clear enough to harness energy and that it should be promoted consistently across forums, with rigor and optimism and with respect for what came before. Forbes similarly argues that storytelling helps leaders build trust and coherence during change, especially when uncertainty and anxiety are high.
Prosci’s research adds the operational edge: “active and visible” sponsorship is not just a communications activity, it is one of the strongest predictors of success.
The sponsor becomes the person “beating the drum” in a way that is genuine, real, and not cheesy, especially as the months wear on and the challenges pile up.
What excellent sponsors do differently
They absorb blame when things break. They take responsibility for the system, not as a scapegoat exercise aimed at individuals.
They share credit aggressively when things work. They make operators the heroes.
They keep the story grounded. They acknowledge pain, but they do not let pain become the entire story.
They institutionalize visibility. They do not rely on ad hoc updates. They set a cadence.
A practical sponsor move you can steal
Use a monthly cadence that forces truth, momentum, and recognition at the same time:
3 wins (business outcomes, not tasks)
1 miss (what did not work and what you learned)
1 next bet (what you are trying next)
1 shout-out (specific recognition of the team)
This is the opposite of spin. It is disciplined narrative stewardship.
The Takeaway
When transformation gets hard, credibility is currency. Great sponsors spend that currency by taking responsibility when things go wrong, and they rebuild it by giving credit away when things go right.
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