Local Sponsor
One day I asked a bank manager what he did to make his branch such a successful one. “Well,” he replied, “I believe my primary job is to support my employees by finding resources and taking care of all the roadblocks that prevent them from doing their jobs well.”
Ask for help from first-line management. When your boss supports the tasks you are doing to introduce the new idea, you can be even more effective.
You are an Evangelist(144) trying to introduce a new idea into your organization.
You need attention and resources for the new idea.
Management support legitimizes things in the workplace. It’s hard to get some people involved in a new idea unless they think management is behind it.
Sponsorship is important. There must be a manager who believes that the change needs to happen, who understands the decisions that need to be made, and has the power to allocate the resources that will be needed during the transition. Site leadership can be critical. Experience suggests that an innovation will have broad impact in those settings where local management takes responsibility for it.
We have seen no examples where significant progress has been made without first-line management and many examples where sincerely committed Corporate Angels(123) alone have failed to generate any significant momentum. Managers have significant business responsibility and bottom-line focus. They head organizational units that are large enough to be meaningful microcosms of the larger organization, and yet they have enough autonomy to undertake meaningful change independent of the larger organization.
Therefore:
Find a first-line manager to support your new idea, ideally, your boss.
Use Tailor Made(234) to help managers understand how the new idea can help the organization. Offer to organize a Guru Review(161). Personally invite managers to attend events such as a Brown Bag(113) or Hometown Story(164). If a Big Jolt(107) visit is planned, offer the opportunity for a Royal Audience(210). Address any concerns with Whisper in the General’s Ear(248). Stay in Touch(221)—keep interested managers informed on a periodic basis.
Keep any manager’s part in the change initiative one of support. Similar to Jim Coplien’s Patron Role pattern, the manager should be encouraged to help find resources and remove barriers that hinder progress.
If you can enlist the backing of your boss, begin to think how you can ask for help to become a Dedicated Champion(129). A first-line manager may be your best hope for capturing the attention of a Corporate Angel(123).
Sponsorship should not come from just one person. Try to build support among all the managers who have the power to influence project adoption of the innovation.
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This pattern establishes first-line managerial support for your work in introducing a new idea. With this, you can get resources for the change initiative and capture the interest of those who look to management for guidance. You may even be able to become a Dedicated Champion(129).
But the wrong kind of sponsor can cause you to lose focus and direction. When you bring in management, you run the risk that they will push things in a direction that is different from yours. An overpowering one can even steal your ideas and take the credit. A manager who is overzealous can give the damaging impression that the new idea is being mandated. Look for respected sponsors who will help, not hurt, your good intentions.
Alex had three managers who were the backbone of all the activity surrounding the new idea at his company. Yes, he did the legwork. Yes, he wrote the articles. Yes, he devoted his time. But it was the encouragement, the unflagging support of these managers and their belief in him that made it happen.
In Amanda’s organization, the change initiative would not have started without the support of her manager. He gave her the budget line to support her time and fund the activities surrounding her efforts. Without these things, Amanda would not have been able to get things off the ground as quickly as she did.