The senior sponsor must begin to reward the desired behavior and question the status quo. During the initial stages of process definition and implementation, productivity can drop off, which will fuel the flame of resistance. One key is to reward process improvement-related behavior in the same way other work efforts are recognized. They're just changing channels, waiting for the sails to fill. They'll be changing channels, always will.
Sponsorship requires a combination of commitment and involvement.
What they need to commit is their time. It is difficult for them to commit their own time to get involved in the improvement efforts. If they do not get involved, they will have a committed boat but no wind to fill the sails. Our organization's headquarters showed its level of commitment to process improvement, causing our director to follow suit. Once we began meeting with him on a regular basis, he began to understand the issues and to address problems we were facing.