Just Do It! 

The room was filled to capacity. The staff anxiously awaited the arrival of the EVP of Manufacturing Company ABC. The EVP's belief in and commitment to the initiative, coupled with the widespread respect he enjoyed from across the organization, made him the ideal executive sponsor. People trusted him and enjoyed working with him. He was an extremely effective communicator and motivator. This was the day he was going to kick off the enterprise change initiative — an initiative needed to transform the organization.

Along with excitement in the air, there was concern. Many staff members were worried about what such a significant change would mean to their own jobs, their staffs, and the general corporate culture.

The forum scheduled for the entire morning was designed to be an interactive session with staff. It would afford employees an opportunity to thoroughly understand the organization's strategy, goals, and objectives, and how this upcoming initiative would support the long term strategy. It was designed in a town meeting format to allow for extensive Q&A. The forum would indeed be interactive, but any major change needs a polished communicator to set the proverbial stage. To this end, RCR Associates and ABC's project manager met at length with the EVP, drafting, revising, and practicing his presentation.

At last, the moment had arrived. The EVP was introduced and after a quick welcome, he began his presentation with: JUST DO IT!  Then he walked off the stage and out of the room. The audience was dead silent. People stared at one another in disbelief. Mr. EVP, really? Your initiative deserves more than a dated Nike ad slogan! Despite fastidious preparation, the change leader had left the field before the opening kick-off. What a lost opportunity!

A Department of Defense study shows if a project is in trouble within the first 15 percent of implementation, the project will never recover and will stay in trouble through completion (from a DOD study of over 700 projects).

As the executive sponsor, the EVP severely jeopardized the success of the initiative with his brief, ineffective statement. In fact, his three words caused more harm than good. His actions made people uncomfortable, confused, and even angry. His brevity implied that the upcoming major change was not an important corporate initiative. The rumor mill went into overdrive!

As the executive sponsor, he should have hit the following marks:

1. Be the champion — Demonstrate your support of the project. You are the chief project cheerleader/advocate. Your role is to ensure project alignment with corporate goals and provide the link between the project team and the executive team.

2. Communicate — Clearly, concisely, and with appropriate detail and enthusiasm.

3. Support the project manager — Coach and mentor the project manager. Help him/her overcome obstacles and resistance, while ensuring the he/she has the resources needed for the project's success. When the project manager escalates issues to upper management, deal with the problems efficiently and effectively.

Foot Note: Several days after the disastrous "presentation," a new meeting was convened. First, the EVP apologized to the staff. He then presented his original presentation with enthusiasm and answered questions with the openness originally intended. Although the project got off to an extremely rough start, ultimately it delivered the intended business results.

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