*Of course you can have a role as an intrapreneur, forthat see the earlier posts. You also have a critical role as a sponsor of other intrapreneurs. The key bottleneck in the intrapreneuring process is not the availability of ideas or even the much more valuable combination of ideas with passionate intrapreneurs yearning to turn them into realities. The primary choke point on the throughput of innovation is the availability of sponsors who protect, support and provide resources for and guide the intrapreneurs. No method for promoting innovation will workwellunless a core component of it is the relationship between sponsors and intrapreneurs. Managers are usuallyan early andcritical level of support for intrapreneurs and their new ideas. When it comes to innovation, managers get a bum rap. Eric Hoffer, the longshoreman philosopher and famous author, said, “Language is a game played by the upper classes and the lower classes over the heads of the middle classes who are busy studying grammar.” In corporate life too many believe that, “Innovation is a game played by the executives and the individual contributors over the heads of managerswho are busy getting today’s results and enforcing the rules.”This is only sometimes true, and besides,it is not manager’s fault. That is what you are asked to do. But itis not good enough for the Age of Disruption, when managers are desperately needed as part of the innovation process. What we need, of course, is a revision of KPIs so both you and your bosses are rewarded when your people are innovative and held back when they are not. That way your bosses will welcome your courage and initiative as supporters of your people when they have good innovative ideas. Until then you need either strong intrinsic desire to support your people or an informal deals with your bossand her/his boss that they will support you in supporting your people. You also need to help your intrapreneurs get sponsors for their projects outside your chain of command. Those sponsors can influence your bosses and protect not only the intrapreneurs,but also you. Why do this? Perhaps you will be rewarded if you play your cards right, but it only makes sense if there are powerful intrinsic rewardsfor you. There can bejoy in knowing you are part of making a difference in a direction that aligns with your sense of what really matters. There is also the deep fulfillment in knowing you have helped your people to reach their full potential. There is satisfaction in knowing you are helping your organization survive into the future in the Age of Disruption. And of course, let’s hope that the system will fast track you when they see you fostering innovation. What senior leadersneed is more managerswith the discretion to know which intrapreneursto back, the coaching ability to make them more effective,and the power,influence, and courageto support significant innovations. We are doing our best to educate the executives on the role of management sponsors. We hope your good work will be rewarded, butin any case there is intrinsic satisfaction to be had from helping intrapreneurs to succeed
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