You’ve just been named the sponsor of an important change in your organisation.
That’s not a title. It’s a responsibility.
If the change succeeds, you can proudly put it on your resume. If it fails, it could set back your next career move.
Most sponsors know the change matters. They’re motivated. They care about the outcomes. And they want to do it well.
What they’re often less clear on is what good sponsorship actually looks like in practice.
I once ran a workshop with senior sponsors of a complex program. I was making the case for strong sponsorship when an executive stopped me and said “Yes Carly, I get that – but what do I actually do?”. A good question, and I felt his frustration. Luckily for me, it was up next on our agenda.
If you’re like that executive, you’re not alone. Prosci research found that 52% of sponsors did not have an adequate understanding of their role.
Why sponsorship is the make-or-break role
Active and visible executive sponsorship is the number one contributor to change success (Prosci research across 25 years).
Most organisational changes don’t fail because the solution is wrong. They fail because the sponsor didn’t lead the change and stay actively involved.
Not the business lead. Not the project manager. Not the change manager.
The sponsor. You.
When a sponsor leads clearly and consistently, people understand why the change matters, it remains a priority, and benefits are realised. When sponsorship is passive or inconsistent, momentum slows, resistance rises, and the change struggles to land.
People look to senior leadership for signals – spoken and unspoken – about how important this change really is and whether the organisation is truly committed to it. Strong sponsorship motivates people to move and drives the change forward.
That’s why strong leadership sits at the heart of the Pressure element in the ChangeEffect Model for successful change.
Common mistakes sponsors make
Most sponsors want the change to succeed. But when a sponsor doesn’t fully understand or embrace their role, they can inadvertently set the change up to fail. Here are the most common mistakes I’ve seen sponsors make.
1. Not setting the change up for success.
Taking a thoughtful, planned approach to establishing the right conditions – governance, resourcing, clarity of vision and the case for change – makes everything that follows easier. Skipping this step is one of the most common and costly mistakes a sponsor can make.
2. Assuming the project manager or change manager has it covered.
No one else can own this change for you. Project managers and change managers are essential – but they can’t sponsor the change on your behalf (I wrote about this trap in Don’t put the project manager in charge of your change!).
3. Creating distance – just in case it fails.
I’ve seen this a lot, and I get it. If the change is risky or unpopular, staying at arm’s length feels safer. But it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sponsors who hedge signal to everyone else that they should too.
4. Assuming people will get on-board because the change is necessary.
Logic isn’t enough. Telling people why the change matters for the organisation isn’t enough. Unless you’ve shown you understand where they’re at and what the change means for them personally, don’t expect them to be as enthusiastic as you are. Necessity is not a change strategy.
5. Avoiding the hard decisions.
There will be tough calls along the way – resource conflicts, inconvenient impacts, resistance, go-live readiness. You need to make these calls – decisively, transparently. Avoiding these makes your leadership look weak, and the change will stall.
6. Underestimating how much your involvement actually matters.
Sponsors often think their job is to approve things, remove blockers, and give a speech at the launch. That’s part of it – but it’s not enough. People take their cues from the top, and they’re watching more closely than most sponsors realise.
What good sponsorship actually looks like
Good sponsorship isn’t about being across every detail. It’s about leading the change – visibly, actively, and for the duration.
The CREATE Sponsor Model sets out the six responsibilities that define what this looks like in practice.
Champion
Sponsors lead by example. You visibly support and advocate for the change. You describe the vision and make the case clearly and publicly so people know this is real, it matters, and it isn’t going away. If you’re not talking about the change, others won’t either.
Resource
Sponsors authorise the change and provide the conditions for it to succeed. You ensure it’s funded, resourced, and good governance is in place. You make the hard calls – you protect team capacity, resolve priority conflicts, and are explicit about what can stop to make room for this.
Engage
Sponsors actively involve the people who matter – not once, but throughout. You ensure appropriate consultation, engagement, and communication. You directly engage and empower people leaders, stay visible with your people, and listen and respond to concerns. Your presence builds commitment.
Align
Sponsors ensure the change fits with strategy. You help people to see how this change fits with everything else going on, you connect the dots. You also make sure that existing systems, KPIs, and behaviours adjust to reinforce the change.
Troubleshoot
Every change hits friction. Sponsors step in to resolve and remove barriers. You liaise with other leaders on roadblocks and interdependencies, make decisive calls, and ensure rapid escalation paths. You have the back of your team and those impacted.
Embed
Go-live isn’t the finish line. Sponsors stay involved to make sure the new way of working sticks. You ensure the change is embedded into operations, people have genuinely adopted it, and that benefits are tracked and realised.
Put it into a plan
Knowing your responsibilities is one thing. Knowing when and how to act on them is another.
A sponsor plan turns the CREATE responsibilities into concrete actions across the lifecycle of your change, from initiation through to close. It gives you a practical guide to follow so nothing important gets missed – and so you can stay ahead of the change rather than reacting to it. Make sure you have one.
I’m building the ChangeEffect Sponsor Plan template as part of our toolkit, and I’ll be offering it for free. Join the waiting list here and I’ll let you know when it’s available.
You now know more than most sponsors do
Most people stepping into a sponsor role figure it out as they go. Some do it well intuitively. Many don’t. Not because they don’t care, but because no one ever told them what the role actually requires.
You now know what you’re accountable for. You know the mistakes to avoid and what good looks like in practice. That puts you ahead of the curve.
The rest comes down to one thing: making sure your actions match your intent. Now go lead the change.
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