One of the great challenges of transformational change is that very often you are confronted with multiple sponsors who each bring their own vision, or "Frame of Reference," to the change. How do you "line up" these individuals so that you can harness the power and influence these authorizing sponsors can offer in a positive way, and overcome potential barriers to change that you may find in your organization-- for example, turf-guarding (hypothetically-speaking, of course....). 
Here are some of the lessons learned in our own change management consulting on transformational change that you may find useful:
Perhaps the most important lesson is that success depends on sponsors who are reinforced based on mutual success-- not on individual outcomes. A great example is in shared services implementations where sponsors from vertical silos are contributing resources to a new, centralized organization. These sponsors must be reinforced based on the results of the group of sponsors, not the individuals-- it's the recognition of mutual inter-dependence that matters. Here are some other important reminders:
1. Don't assume that authorizing sponsors (those leaders who legitimize the change and "sign the check" to provide the resources) all define the change in the same way. There may be significant variations on scope. For example, in shared services transformations, sponsors may not agree on exactly what's in, and what's out.
2. Don't bounce around from office to office trying to secure agreement. It's much more effective to get everyone in a room. For successful transformational change, you need sponsors who agree on both strategic priorities, and strategic intent and outcomes.
3. Do keep in mind that your authorizing sponsors may be at different levels in different parts of the organization. In fact, the AIM (Accelerating Implementation Methodology) principle says that it is better to only go as high as you need to for your sponsorship. Why? Because the lower you are, the fewer levels you are dealing with, and the faster you can go!
4. Do be aware that in complex transformational change you may have different sponsors in different phases of the change--and you will need different actions from these individuals.
5. Do keep in mind that not all sponsors at the same level are “created equal.”
6. Don't think that any Steering Committees that you've established for your transformational change can serve as a substitute for active sponsorship--sponsorship cascades through the existing management hierarchy. No Steering Committee has the positional relationship with the targets of the change to provide the requisite reinforcement.
These are important reminders for any organization attempting transformational change. Your ability to get sponsors aligned around a compelling definition of the change, aligned around the success metrics, aligned around prioritization, and aligned around the desired strategic outcomes is essential.
Transformational change doesn't just happen "out there"-- it's the actions of sponsors that drives the pace of the change. What are your sponsors expressing, modeling and reinforcing?
