I believe there is a willingness and openness that the subject needs to display. However, it is incumbent upon the sponsor to work a program that adheres to AA's solution or the sponsee is getting cheated. Again, just my opinions based on experiences.
Ok, so you have outgrown your first sponsor. So did I. There came a point in my recovery where I saw that getting sober (steps 1-9) was a whole different ballgame than staying sober (steps 10-12).
However, that does not mean that your first sponsor was not "good enough" at the time. Good enough is like Einsteins law of relativity. It depends on the location of the observer.
