How to be a Great Executive Sponsor

• Executives new to the Sponsorship role
• Business Unit Heads who oversee and support critical projects
• Program Managers who oversee and sponsor multiple projects
• Project Managers, software developers and others, who aspire to the Sponsorship role

At the end of this program, you will be able to:

• Define project success so everyone is “singing from the same sheet of music”
• Immediately apply the ten key attributes of a great sponsor on your project
• Recognize great sponsorship and determine if you’re the right fit for the role
• Practice Sponsorship over the course of the project life cycle by engaging in very specific actions and activities
• Be a better investment manager by analyzing the behaviors of successful activist investors

Getting Started

Foundation Concepts

• The quantifiable benefits of being an actively engaged Sponsor
• Sponsor defined
• Clarence Kelly Johnson and the SR-71 Blackbird: An example of the power of Sponsorship

Defining Project Success

• Project success: More than meeting the triple constraints
• Benefits management: The Sponsor’s focus
• The Investment – Life-cycle vs. the Project Life-cycle
• The three questions Sponsors need to ask to define project success

10 Key Attributes of a Great Sponsor

• 10 Key Attributes of a Great Sponsor

The Makings of a Great Sponsor

• The most important skills and competencies of an executive sponsor
• What great Sponsors do and when

Four Things a Great Sponsor Can Learn from an Activist Investor

• The story of Outerwall, Inc. and Glen Welling of Engaged Capital, LLC
• Sponsors and Activist Investors
• Sponsorship of the 2nd Avenue Subway in Manhattan: A classic textbook example

Summary and Next Steps