“Without Executive Sponsorship, there can be no Relationship”

The probability of success of a relationship can be determined and relationships can be successfully managed by applying 6 Timeless Principles to the 6 key areas of every relationship. The Relationship Wheel allows this to be viewed as a whole and the status of each area seen individually. The first area is Executive Sponsorship. It has a binary “success” or “failure” aspect to it.

There can be only 1 Executive Sponsor for each entity involved in a relationship. It is typically a person. It is not always the CEO or President, but often that is the case in medium to small companies or organizations. It can sometimes be a committee or a board, particularly in government environments. Although many may be able to say “no” to a relationship, the key characteristic of the Executive Sponsor is that they alone are able to say “yes” to a relationship.

Once a relationship is begun, the role of the Executive Sponsor is to cast vision and get the organization over any speed bumps that the normal operational executives or leaders working within their boundaries of authority cannot overcome.

The Executive Sponsor has a name, not a title. If you do not know the name of the Executive Sponsor, it is highly unlikely you have identified the Executive Sponsor. If you are pursing a relationship without executive sponsorship you are pursuing a relationship at the risk of wasting all the time and resources you are investing.

In the blogs following this week we’ll explore Executive Sponsorship, some of the ways to ensure it is achieved and maintained, and some of the ways to identify potential problems in this area of relationship