Greater accountability begins with influence. Empowerment makes it last.
As shared in Part 1, your peers aren’t looking to be “held accountable”—at least not in the traditional, top-down sense. In cross-functional settings, accountability is developed, not imposed. And it starts with earning the right to influence.
Once you’ve built that foundation, you’re ready to engage your colleagues in a way that empowers them—and invites shared ownership.
Here are 7 steps to engage and empower colleagues:
- Share your intentions.
Open with clarity and a signal of respect. Example: “I’d like to talk about our governance process.” - Validate their reality.
Acknowledge the experience they’re having. Example: “You and the team have a lot of deliverables and are obviously committed to excellence.” - Share your truth.
State what you’re observing and why it matters. Example: “And, if we not consistently following the process we agreed to, the results will suffer.” - Declare what’s important.
Center the discussion on the objective. Example: “It’s essential that we follow our governance process with excellence…” - Declare why the above is important.
Connect the objective to purpose. Example: “…so we can all trust we’re moving forward together.” - Ask a co-discover question.
Shift from directing to collaborating. Examples:a. “What are the challenges might your team be having with our governance process?”b. “What’s one thing we could do to support your team in executing the plan we created together?” -
Listen.
Stay open. Resist the temptation to persuade or fix. Example: “Please tell me more about…”
Collaborative leadership is not about getting others to execute your plan. (That’s called manipulative leadership). Collaborative leadership is the process of co-creating a path forward.
Then accountability stops being a chore—and becomes a shared commitment of excellence.
P.S. Cross-functional alignment is essential for project success. That’s why we’re hosting our next Activation Session on the 28th of April, Empowered Decision-Making: Trusting the Expertise of Cross-Functional Colleagues.
Click HERE to register.
