Advising Upwards

While much has been written about leadership and team building, there are major gaps in thinking and research about how to ensure that senior stakeholders support the progress of the activities for which they are accountable as sponsors or senior executives. The central role of stakeholders in the successful delivery of organisational strategy is becoming increasingly recognised, as is the importance of developing a sponsor culture to support more collaborative practices within the organisation. Building, and managing, relationships with senior (upwards) stakeholders is essential for success. "Advising Upwards" makes a detailed examination of stakeholder relationship management. Senior managers usually move up through the organisation on the basis of command and control management; once in the executive ranks they must develop a more collaborative approach and adopt the principles of emotional intelligence (EQ). Awareness of difficulties that senior stakeholders may face provides teams with an understanding and drives effective approaches for communication between the team and sponsors about what they need management to do to enable the teams to be successful. Case studies and stories from experts illustrate practical, structured approaches that enables the teams to develop robust relationships with senior stakeholders and will result in their 'being heard' and 'being extraordinary'.