How to be an Excellent Executive Sponsor
Being an executive sponsor of large-scale transformation is a uniquely challenging role. Your contribution is critical to success, but you’re not in control of all the details.
Michael Daehne shares seven lessons to be an excellent executive sponsor based on over a decade of experience. We hope this (free!) practical advice is helpful in your transformation journey.
You’re embarking on a major transformation effort. Exciting!
But how do you exercise executive leadership, successfully lead through influence, and gain the results you’re hoping for?
Being an executive sponsor of major transformative efforts is no cakewalk.
That’s why our Founder and CEO, Michael Daehne, created these Executive Sponsor Field Notes. Our aim is to equip you to be an excellent executive sponsor, whether or not the FlexPoint team is involved.
The FlexPoint Consulting team works hard to help clients envision, plan, and deliver business transformation.
FlexPoint Field Notes provide a practical, candid, and — we hope — immediately actionable frame on a current business transformation topic. They go beyond a “behind-the-scenes” look: they include how our thinking has evolved as we’ve learned over time.
Think of Executive Sponsor Field Notes as a field manual for excelling as a C-Suite leader of large-scale transformation.
It includes our best thinking on how to navigate challenges well, and we hope it will spark creative thinking, questions, and things you’d like to experiment with going forward.
Click on the image to open the file (no email required — it’s yours to enjoy!)
Want a printed copy with room to jot down your own field notes?
Fill out this form and we’ll send you a copy, no charge.
Here are our top seven executive sponsor tips, if you want a sneak peek before digging in!
Transformations rarely fail because the initial strategy was wrong. They fail because no one protected the meaning once things got messy. Michael shares how strong sponsors keep the “why” intact long after kickoff.
Own the why, especially when it gets uncomfortable
In large-scale transformation, there is no substitute for showing up. But presence is not attendance. Michael shares how executive sponsors can be truly present, through attention, commitment, and the willingness to be in the mess with the team.
Show up and be fully present (not just visible)
Transformations fail slowly when tough decisions get deferred. Michael shares how great sponsors don’t just support the program: they decide when it matters, they take action, and they own the consequences.
Own tough decisions and take decisive action
Michael shares a critical lesson for executive sponsors: you cannot ask the organization to change faster than you are willing to change yourself. Adoption follows modeled behavior, not endorsed messaging.
Model the change before you ask for it
Michael explains that, in large-scale transformation, protecting the team doesn’t mean lowering the bar. He shares how to remove noise and force real tradeoffs so the work can succeed without burning people out.
Protect the team while holding the line
There is no single “right” leadership style for transformation. Michael explains how the best sponsors flex across paradoxes based on the moment, the phase, and the conditions, while keeping purpose stable.
Flex your style: paradoxical leadership in real life
When transformation gets hard, credibility is currency. Michael discusses how great sponsors spend that currency by taking responsibility when things go wrong, and they rebuild it by giving credit away when things go right.
Shoulder the blame, share the praise (and keep the narrative true)
If you’re navigating this journey and want to compare notes, our team at FlexPoint is always happy to share what we’re seeing in the trenches. Sometimes all it takes is a 30-minute conversation to sanity check the approach, talk through the tradeoffs, or pressure-test what “good sponsorship” looks like in your specific situation.
Set up time with a FlexPoint leader using this scheduling tool.