Change Activation
Senior/Executive Leader Buy-In and Alignment Through Transformations
Mar 4, 2026
Executive Summary
ECLC members convened to explore a central and recurring challenge: how to secure and sustain executive buy-in beyond initial launch and throughout the full lifecycle of transformation.
While most organizations are capable of generating early sponsorship for a major initiative, particularly one framed around a new system or digital capability, the difficulty emerges in maintaining leadership engagement once implementation begins. The roundtable discussion highlighted that sustained alignment requires far more than initial endorsement. It demands clarity of purpose, explicit behavioral expectations, visible accountability, and structured governance that extends well beyond technical deployment.
This roundtable was held on February 11, 2026.
Roundtable Participants
Led by Pamela Pauwels, Eastman - Commercial Transformation Leader
Adolfo Carreno, Citi - Vice President, Transformation Program Management
Andrew Spector, Paramount - Senior Director, Change Management
Anica Addison, Zelis - Vice President, Operational Excellence
Antoinette Roach Powell, Fannie Mae - Chief of Staff
Blake Bell, Manulife - Global Head of Change Enablement
Brian Quinn, London Stock Exchange - Head of DevOps Transformation
Brian Hricik, Sherwin-Williams - Change Management Lead
Caroline Kinkopf, BNY - Sr. Director, COO, Growth Ventures
Christy Didion, Crawford & Co - Organization Change Management and Transformation Lead
David Stein, VML - SVP, Performance Marketing Operations
Diane Cañate, Lululemon - VP, Technology Strategy & Operations
Eric Schantzenbach, ChristianaCare - Former Vice President Change Leadership
Evan Piekara, former Nestle - Director, Change Management
Evie Mroczek, Lincoln Financial - VP, Product Transformation
Hayk Grigoryan, Abbvie - AD - Factory of the Future of Transformation
Ian Brodie, John Hancock - Global Head of Retirement Transformation
Jackie Cazar, Moody's - SVP Process Excellence
Jacques McGregor, Marathon Petroleum Corporation - VP, Digital Transformation
Jenifer Spurgeon, GE Appliances - VP/Director Operations
Jessica Fine, Merck - Strategic & Financial Portfolio Management and Operational Enablement
John Nolan, City National Bank - SVP Strategic Change
Kendall Knight, Loomis - CIO
Kitty Deshmukh, Former Daimler Truck North America - Director of Continuous Improvement, PMO
Laurie Ditch, Owens Corning Composites - HR Director, Corporate Functions & Talent Management
Lindy Bartell, GlobalFoundries - Leader Communications, Transformation Enablement Office
Margi Moscoe, Fortitude Re - Vice President, Change Management
Matt Twitchell, Stryker - Sr Director, Manufacturing Operations & Business Excellence
Michael Goldman, Patterson Dental - Sr Director - Business Transformation
Natashe Barnard, Senior Director, Digital Transformation
Norma Mendez, Enbridge - Change Management Lead
Nupur Mishra, TTI - IT - PMO Manager
Rachael-Linn Spooner, Northwell Health - VP of Strategy and Business Development
Rodion Rogov, JLL - Global Center of Excellence Leader
Sarah Merriman, JLL - Change Management Director, COE
Shari Chernack, Isaacson, Miller - Chief People Officer
Stacy Jackson, Broadcom - Director, Business Operations
Tom Langemo, United Health Group - Senior Director, People M&A | Culture, Experience, & Measurement
Trina Chatterjee, CBRE - Senior Director - Strategy Execution
Tusar Dash, Synnergie - VP - Strategy & Transformation
Vanessa McDonald, WNS Global - SVP Change Management
Reframing Transformation: From Technical Rollout to Enterprise Change
A recurring pattern across organizations is the tendency to anchor transformation around a system implementation, an ERP upgrade, CRM deployment, AI capability, or new digital platform. While these efforts are often positioned as enterprise transformations, leaders frequently default to viewing them as technical projects.
This framing creates risk. Once the system goes live, executives may assume the work is complete, attention shifts elsewhere, and the deeper behavioral and operating model shifts never fully materialize.
Participants emphasized that real transformation requires reorientation at the outset. Technology must be positioned as an enabler, not the centerpiece. The core questions must instead focus on:
How decision rights will change
What operating model shifts are required
How roles and accountabilities will evolve
Which behaviors must be reinforced or discontinued
How success will be measured differently going forward
When leaders understand that the initiative is fundamentally about performance improvement, not system installation, they are more likely to remain engaged through adoption and optimization phases.
Several executives shared that sustained buy-in increases significantly when transformation outcomes are directly tied to business metrics that leaders already care about: revenue, cost efficiency, margin, retention, and strategic growth. Embedding transformation deliverables into executive performance objectives, incentives, and enterprise OKRs ensures continued attention.
The message was clear: alignment strengthens when transformation is inseparable from business performance.
The Human Dimension: Addressing Fear and Loss
A particularly resonant theme was the emotional undercurrent of executive resistance. What may appear as disengagement or lack of ownership is often rooted in perceived loss.
Transformation can trigger concerns about:
Loss of control over established processes
Loss of competence when new systems disrupt expertise
Loss of status or influence
Loss of career stability
Loss of trusted relationships
Senior leaders are not immune to these dynamics. In fact, they may experience them more acutely when changes alter power structures or redistribute authority.
A powerful insight shared during the session captured this dynamic succinctly: leaders often make decisions for deeply personal reasons, then justify them with business logic.
“Change is often a grieving process—even good change requires leaving something behind. Being transparent about that, and then helping people reframe, can be helpful.”
— Tom Langemo, United Health Group - Senior Director, People M&A | Culture, Experience, & Measurement
Understanding what sits beneath the surface enables more productive dialogue and prevents mislabeling misalignment as obstruction.
Sponsorship in Action: Moving from Title to Behavior
Another critical distinction emerged between nominal sponsorship and active sponsorship.
Many initiatives begin with executive endorsement, but visible leadership behaviors often diminish over time. The roundtable stressed that sponsorship must be defined in behavioral terms, not conceptual ones.
Effective sponsorship includes:
Regular and visible participation in governance forums
Reinforcing transformation priorities in business reviews
Communicating directly with impacted teams
Modeling the new behaviors expected of the organization
Addressing performance gaps tied to adoption
“What sponsorship looks like in actions and behaviors matters—people are always scanning and looking for the cues.”
— Jenifer Spurgeon, GE Appliances - VP/Director Operations
Several leaders emphasized the importance of embedding transformation metrics into standard executive dashboards and business rhythms. When adoption progress, behavioral shifts, and performance outcomes are reviewed alongside financial results, transformation remains visible and accountable.
Diagnosing Accountability Gaps
The discussion explored whether executive disengagement is always resistance. The consensus was that it rarely is.
More commonly, accountability gaps emerge due to:
Competing strategic priorities
Role changes during multi-year programs
Ambiguity around sponsorship expectations
Lack of clarity on the leader’s specific contribution
Initiative fatigue
Before escalating concerns, transformation leaders must diagnose root causes. Trusted executive relationships are essential here. In some cases, recalibrating expectations or redistributing sponsorship responsibilities may be necessary.
Participants also highlighted the value of documenting the “risk of not doing it” at the outset. Aligning leaders early on the strategic and financial consequences of inaction provides a reference point if attention wanes later. When leaders have explicitly committed to enterprise risks, accountability conversations become grounded in prior agreements rather than personal persuasion.
Driving Buy-In Across Functions
Transformations rarely remain confined to a single function. Yet buy-in often begins unevenly.
When only a subset of leaders are initially aligned, the challenge becomes expanding commitment across adjacent areas that may experience impact without feeling ownership.
The group emphasized several strategies:
First, enterprise framing matters. When transformation is positioned as a board-level or enterprise priority, silo-based disengagement becomes harder to justify.
Second, informal influence networks must be understood. Formal org charts rarely reflect true power dynamics. Mapping relationships, alliances, and “voices that matter” enables more strategic engagement and, when necessary, timely escalation.
Third, transparency reduces skepticism. Leaders who are not immediately involved still need visibility into progress, decision logic, and early outcomes. Secrecy breeds resistance; clarity builds anticipation.
From Implementation to Institutionalization
Perhaps the most pressing challenge discussed was the transition from launch to sustainment.
A common organizational mindset equates go-live with success. In reality, go-live marks the beginning of the hardest phase: behavioral adoption and performance realization.
Participants stressed that sustainment planning must begin at inception. Governance structures, ownership transfer, and post-launch metrics should be defined before implementation starts—not after.
One key insight was the distinction between “transformers” and “operators.” The leaders who thrive during early-stage change—vision-driven, disruptive, fast-moving—are not always the right leaders to institutionalize and scale new capabilities. Sustainment requires disciplined operators who can embed practices into daily management systems.
“To avoid the ‘project complete’ trap, the transformation initiative needs to be owned by the Business from the start—not by the Transformation Office. When the Business owns it, sustainment isn’t an afterthought.”
— Jackie Cazar, Moody's - SVP Process Excellence
Additionally, the narrative must continue beyond launch. Celebrating milestones, reinforcing progress, communicating course corrections, and recognizing behavioral wins all contribute to habit formation. When communication stops, engagement declines.
Transformation becomes durable only when new behaviors are repeatedly reinforced, measured, and normalized.
Key Takeaways
Executive buy-in is not secured at kickoff. It must be maintained through structured visibility, behavioral clarity, and performance alignment.
True transformation extends far beyond technical rollout. Operating model shifts and behavioral change must be explicitly defined and owned.
Resistance at the executive level often reflects perceived personal loss. Addressing the emotional dimension of change is essential.
Sponsorship must be observable. Leaders must demonstrate commitment through consistent actions, not just endorsement.
Accountability strengthens when transformation outcomes are embedded into performance objectives and enterprise metrics.
Influence mapping and trust-based engagement are as critical as formal governance structures.
Sustainment planning should begin at inception. Launch is the starting line, not the finish.
Transformation must transition from project mindset to capability-building discipline.
Alignment is not an event—it is an ongoing leadership practice that must be designed, reinforced, and modeled at every stage of the transformation journey.
The Executive Council for Leading Change
The Executive Council for Leading Change (ECLC) is a global organization that brings executives together to redefine the landscape of organizational change and transformation. Our council aims to advance strategic leadership expertise in the realm of corporate change by connecting visionary leaders. It's a place where leaders responsible for significant change initiatives can collaborate, plan, and create practical solutions for intricate challenges in leading large organizations through major shifts.
In a world where change is constant, we recognize its crucial role in driving business success. ECLC’s mission is to create a community where leaders can excel in guiding their organizations through these dynamic times.
