What do we do when the change sponsor stops supporting your organizational change effort?
I have been asked this or a similar question many times.
If you’re an employee or manager attempting to implement that change, you are often left feeling frustrated and abandoned.
Maybe thinking: Why am I even trying to implement this?
This scenario reminds us that committed executive change leaders are essential throughout the transition.
You can take actions to keep your changes from stalling and to build and sustain the leadership needed throughout the change process.
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What Is a Change Sponsor?
Before discussing what you can do, let’s clarify what the terms “change sponsor” or “champion” mean.
In this context, the change sponsor is the person who decides and initiates the change. For example, it could be the CIO who recognizes that the data processing system is at risk and must be updated.
Or it could be the HR director who initiates a new performance management process.
Or the team leader who believes cross-training will benefit the team and the organization.
These are the sponsors.
Why Sponsors Stop Championing a Change
In my experience, most sponsors don’t intentionally stop championing or abandon the change initiative. And even when it happens, the sponsor often still believes they are supporting the change effort.
Sometimes, it happens because leaders think their work is done once they have made the decision and delegated the work of implementation to a team or their managers.
In other cases, their lack of involvement reflects a desire not to micromanage.
And sometimes, they believe the change is complete.
Regardless of the reason, once abandonment sets in, people start to doubt the leader’s commitment. They question how they can implement the change successfully, or even why they should continue when it seems the person who initiated it is no longer supporting it.
When this happens, both the specific change initiative and your organization’s success with future changes are at risk.
Stop Making Assumptions
The first and most important action is to stop making assumptions and judgments about what is happening and why. Only then can you assess the situation accurately.
If you’re not the sponsor, request or initiate a conversation with the sponsor. A conversation provides the best insight into what has occurred and why, from the change sponsor’s perspective.
If you are the executive leader responsible for the change, be receptive to the conversation. Better yet, initiate it so your team understands what is happening.
Skilled, committed leadership is irreplaceable during change.
Three Actions to Prevent Your Leaders and Managers from Feeling Abandoned
1. Get Crystal Clear on Roles and Expectations
Ensure every leader or manager helping enable change understands their role, expectations, and what they can expect from you.
It’s easy to believe your role is complete once you’ve decided to initiate change and delegated it to a project or change management team.
Your role becomes more critical once the change has been announced and you have engaged your leaders or a project or change management team to help people navigate their transition.
A skilled change management team helps, but it is not enough to enable successful, sustainable change.
You need to advocate, model, and ensure the organizational environment will support the changes needed to achieve your intended outcome.
2. Stay Connected to Your Organization’s Level of Readiness
Stay connected and in sync with your team, leaders, and employees’ readiness level and their perspective on the change.
Only then can you help your team make the necessary adjustments.
Remember, because you start your transition before anyone else, your level of readiness as a change sponsor will always be higher.
Don’t get lulled into the false belief that others will keep up or that they are done when you are—or when you think the change should be done.
I experienced this personally as an employee. I was in a management meeting when the senior leader, who was the change sponsor, congratulated everyone for completing a large organizational transformation.
Everyone in the room was puzzled by the declaration because we had only just scheduled our first planning meeting.
3. Account for Your Operational and External Environments
Actively recognize, account for, and communicate the impact your operational and external environments will have on every change initiative.
Every change initiative, and all the changes inherent in it, must be adopted within the context of your current operational environment.
You must continue to operate the business while implementing the necessary changes. Therefore, every change and your ability to support those changes will depend on your organization’s operational capacity.
Your operational capacity for change reflects your organization’s ability to implement transformations while maintaining daily operations and ensuring it can support future changes.
Low operational capacity can lead to employee burnout and a lack of sustainability.
Don’t Allow Change to Simply Languish
Finally, beware of changes that seem to languish. Those are the changes that never get fully adopted or seem to wither away, with no one really knowing what happened.
Letting change languish is more destructive than deliberately stopping it or consciously altering its course.
By failing to act, your organization gains a reputation for not following through on the changes it initiates, and employees learn to hold back.
They become reluctant to engage with new change initiatives. Your organization’s ability to handle future changes is reduced.
When an internal or external event affects a change initiative, affected people must understand the event’s impact on current and new change initiatives.
Launching and leading change is an essential leadership competency.
If you’re ready to build leadership that drives lasting change, let’s talk.
