Matthew, thank you for your comment. I agree on two particular fronts:

1. There is too little sponsor training. Frequently, when i pitch it alongside PM training, the answer from HR leaders is that senior leaders won’t sit through training, workshops or any form of learning, or that they think they know all they need to know. At the few (enlightened) organisations where I have been commissioned to work with sponsors, the reception has been universally positive. I try to avoid lecturing them on responsibilities, and instead challenge them with high level thinking about decision making and oversight.

2. Not only can a big project radically change an organisation, but if you look at the project portfolio of many organisations, the expenditure represents a high proportion of its revenue. !0-30% is not untypical. So why aren’t senior leaders spending 10-30% of their time overseeing projects? Indeed, I could easily argue that it should be 20-50%, since projects carry more risk (due to unfamiliarity and external factors) than business-as-usual operations.