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Feature We have summarized many observations over several years of providing strategic consulting services to our clients. These observations have been categorized into five sets of characteristics that are typical of the most effective executive sponsors: communication style; leadership style; executive presence; accountability; and risk management—or C.L.E.A.R. Understanding these characteristics when selecting an executive sponsor can result in a high-performance, engaged project team, and strong cross-departmental collaboration, which is needed to help ensure a successful project outcome that supports the company's goals, vision, and mission. Communication Style T It's Crystal C.L.E.A.R. Executive sponsorship is a critical element in enhancing a business' outreach efforts, but sometimes the process is muddied by a lack of efficient communication. By Ferris Way, VP, PMO Group Manager, Lender Processing Services I n the mortgage industry, the continuous effort to meet regulatory requirements, provide excellent service to customers, offer competitive products and services, and be operationally efficient often requires investments in technology, people, and resources. These investments are made to achieve a specific impact—or set of impacts—for the company. But change initiatives can be made even more successful when there is an executive sponsor who has the necessary skills to act as a catalyst and a conduit for these important projects. There are many different types of executive sponsors, and we have seen the difference these executives can make. When they are fully engaged and clear about what they want to achieve—and their teams understand the need for the initiative and are engaged—it makes all the difference. Conversely, we have seen situations where executive sponsors are not as engaged and their teams are not fully aware of what is going on or perhaps don't understand why change is needed. In those cases, the initiative is more challenging for everyone involved, and the full benefits of the initiative are not realized. here are different kinds of communicators, and various styles can be appropriate depending on the specific circumstances. However, executive sponsors for change initiatives have very specific communication goals they must achieve. The first of these is for the executive sponsor to clearly understand and be able to succinctly articulate the goals of the company to the team, explain why they are important, and relate how the initiative directly supports those goals. As part of this communication, the executive sponsor has the opportunity to also convey what risks the company could face should it decide not to move forward with the planned initiative. Change can be difficult for any organization, but if those who are impacted by the project understand the purpose of the initiative and why it's important, it helps them to be more engaged and support the necessary changes more fully. It is also important the executive sponsor establish and communicate three to five guiding principles to serve as "guardrails" The M Report | 27