Imagine having to successfully deliver a strategic project for your company, mobilize a team of ten employees from different departments, meet tight deadlines… but without any hierarchical authority over these people. Welcome to the reality of cross-functional leadership, a skill that has become essential in our modern organizations. Whether you’re a project manager in a matrix organization, a product owner in an agile team, or leading a digital transformation, you need to master the art of influencing without authority. How do you motivate teams without the power to sanction or reward? How do you get buy-in for your vision without imposing your decisions? In this article, we share concrete strategies to succeed in cross-functional management and turn this challenge into a real leadership opportunity.
Cross-functional leadership isn’t just a trendy new term. It’s a pragmatic response to the evolution of organizations toward greater flexibility and collaboration.
Cross-functional leadership refers to the ability to influence, mobilize, and coordinate employees over whom you have no direct hierarchical authority. Unlike traditional management where authority flows from your position on the org chart, here your influence relies on other levers: your expertise, your network, your ability to build trust and inspire.
Cross-functional leadership can be defined as “an ongoing dialogue to persuade others over whom you have absolutely no direct control to join you in a common cause.” This definition captures the very essence of the challenge: persuade, don’t impose.
Traditional pyramidal structures are showing their limits when faced with increasingly complex projects. In Switzerland, many SMEs and large companies have adopted matrix organizations where employees report to both a functional manager and a project manager. This dual reporting naturally creates situations where you need to manage without hierarchical authority.
Modern organizations need responsiveness, innovation, and to break down silos. Cross-functional leadership enables exactly that: breaking down silos, circulating information horizontally, and quickly mobilizing the right skills for the right projects. This management style values competencies and fosters innovation by removing organizational barriers.
Without a visible “boss” badge, how do you establish your authority? The answer comes down to one word: legitimacy. But be careful, we’re not talking about formal legitimacy that comes from your title, but legitimacy that you must build and earn every day.
1. Expert legitimacy: You must be recognized for your technical skills or deep domain knowledge. An IT project manager will gain credibility if they truly understand technology challenges, even without being a developer themselves.
2. Relational legitimacy: Your ability to forge authentic connections with your stakeholders. In the Swiss context where professional relationships often favor discretion and quality interactions, this dimension is crucial.
3. Results legitimacy: Your track record speaks for you. If you’ve already successfully led similar projects, people will naturally trust you more.
4. Positional legitimacy: Even without direct authority, having a visible sponsor (a senior leader who publicly supports your project) significantly strengthens your position.
In the absence of formal power, trust becomes your primary lever of action. But trust can’t be decreed, it must be patiently built. Cross-functional leadership fundamentally relies on the ability to influence through trust, not authority.
How do you develop this trust? Three essential levers:
Now that the foundations are laid, let’s move on to operational techniques that actually work in the field.
Psychologist Robert Cialdini identified six universal principles of persuasion that are remarkably effective in the context of influence leadership.
Reciprocity is perhaps the most powerful. The idea? Create a “bank of organizational favors.” Help a colleague in marketing with their project, even if it doesn’t directly concern you. Share your expertise generously. When the time comes that you need them, they’ll naturally feel inclined to return the favor. In Swiss organizations where relationships are built over time, this strategy proves particularly effective.
Commitment and consistency: Involve your team members from the very beginning of the project. Ask for their input, co-create objectives together. Once they’ve publicly committed, they’ll tend to remain consistent with that initial commitment. This is far more effective than showing up with a ready-made plan.
Social proof: Show that others are already doing what you’re proposing. “The production team has already tested this approach successfully” will be more convincing than a long theoretical speech.
According to OpenAct, there are two main families of influence strategies: “push” strategies (persuasion, argumentation) and “pull” strategies (inspiration, consultation).
Push strategies involve arguing rationally, presenting compelling data, and structuring an airtight case. They work well for technical decisions where the facts speak for themselves. For example, if you need to convince stakeholders to migrate to a new technology, a quantified benchmark with ROI will be your best ally.
Pull strategies rely on inspiration and co-creation. Instead of imposing your vision, you ask powerful questions that lead your stakeholders to discover it themselves. “How could we improve the customer experience on this journey?” engages much more than “Here’s what we need to do.” Storytelling also falls into this category: telling a concrete story about a frustrated customer will resonate more than cold statistics.
The art of the cross-functional leader is knowing how to alternate between these approaches depending on situations and stakeholders.
Let’s be frank: political intelligence isn’t a dirty word. It’s simply the ability to understand power dynamics in your organization and navigate them intelligently.
Start by mapping your stakeholders. Who are the real influencers? Not necessarily those with the most impressive titles. In an SME, the employee who’s been there for 20 years and knows all the inner workings will often have more influence than the newly arrived director.
Next, build your influence network methodically. Identify your natural allies those who share your vision. Cultivate these relationships before you need them. Grab coffee with someone, have lunch with another, participate in informal events. This relationship network will be your safety net when you need to push through difficult decisions.
Theory is great, but how does this translate into day-to-day practice?
One of the main sources of friction in cross-functional management comes from role ambiguity. Who decides what? Who does what? And who needs to be informed? Without clarification, chaos is guaranteed.
The RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) is your best friend. Take the time at the project’s outset to clearly define who’s responsible for execution, who’s accountable for results, who needs to be consulted, and who simply needs to be informed. This clarity prevents 80% of future conflicts.
Don’t forget to also negotiate available time with your team members’ line managers. If Marie from marketing needs to dedicate 50% of her time to your project, her direct manager must know and accept this. Without this alignment, you create unnecessary tensions.
How do you motivate people when you have no leverage through promotions or compensation? By activating the true drivers of human motivation. Motivation levers in a cross-functional context fundamentally differ from those in traditional hierarchical management.
Give purpose to every task. Connect daily work to the end goal and the impact on the company or customers. “This data analysis will improve the experience for 5,000 customers” motivates more than “Get this analysis done by tomorrow.”
Practice recognition generously. Without being able to distribute bonuses, you still have social recognition. Publicly acknowledge contributions during team meetings, mention successes in your communications to management, celebrate small wins. In Swiss culture where verbal recognition can sometimes be rarer, these gestures count enormously.
What do you do when a team member systematically blocks your initiatives or when two team members are in open conflict? Without disciplinary power, you need to be creative.
For resistance, first seek to understand before convincing. Often, opposition hides a legitimate fear or an unspoken need. Take time for a one-on-one conversation to dig into the real reasons. “I sense this project makes you uncomfortable, what exactly concerns you?” generally opens more doors than direct confrontation.
For conflicts, position yourself as a neutral mediator. Facilitate dialogue between parties, help them express their respective needs, and seek win-win solutions. And if the situation is truly stuck, don’t hesitate to escalate to your sponsor or the relevant line managers. Knowing when to ask for help isn’t a weakness, it’s a skill of a savvy leader.
Beyond soft skills, you need structured tools to lead effectively.
Create a power/interest matrix to visualize your different stakeholders. On the x-axis: their level of interest in your project. On the y-axis: their power to influence. This allows you to quickly identify who to manage closely (high power + high interest), who to keep informed (high power + low interest), who to monitor (low power + high interest), and who to simply inform minimally (low power + low interest).
In a context where your team members are geographically dispersed and don’t report to you hierarchically, digital tools become crucial. Using online project management tools is essential to ensure effective communication in a cross-functional approach.
Tools like Jira for task tracking, Slack or Teams for asynchronous communication, and Miro for remote collaborative workshops help maintain alignment without multiplying physical meetings. Choose them based on your context, but make sure everyone actually adopts them.
Without the regular interactions that a traditional hierarchical team provides, you must create rituals that maintain cohesion. A 30-minute weekly video check-in, a monthly retrospective to identify improvements, a biweekly project newsletter… These rituals create a reassuring framework and maintain engagement over time.
Cross-functional leadership isn’t innate it’s cultivated. What skills should you prioritize developing?
Adaptive communication tops the list. Knowing how to adjust your message whether you’re speaking to a finance person, an IT professional, or a marketer. Mastering both the 2-minute pitch and the 30-minute presentation. This communication agility is learned through practice and observation.
Emotional intelligence comes next. Understanding your own emotions and those of others, managing your stress in uncertainty, showing empathy even when you disagree.
Finally, solid knowledge of agile methodologies and project management tools will give you the necessary technical credibility. You don’t need to become an expert, but understanding the principles of Scrum, Kanban, or Lean will help you speak the same language as your teams.
Cross-functional leadership isn’t a watered-down version of traditional management it’s a discipline in its own right that requires specific skills. In the Swiss professional world where organizations are becoming increasingly matrix-based and agile, mastering the art of influencing without authority is becoming a major strategic asset for your career.
The keys to success? Build your legitimacy on expertise and results, cultivate trust as your most precious asset, master ethical influence techniques, clarify roles and responsibilities from the start, give purpose and recognize generously, and invest continuously in your personal development.
Remember: formal authority can force compliance, but only authentic influence generates true buy-in. And it’s precisely this buy-in that makes the difference between a project that survives and one that thrives. So, are you ready to take on the challenge of cross-functional leadership?
What’s the difference between cross-functional leadership and cross-functional management?
Cross-functional management refers to the organizational function (managing projects in a matrix structure), while cross-functional leadership emphasizes the ability to influence and the human dimension. You can be a cross-functional manager by role but excellent or mediocre in leadership depending on your relational skills.
How do you handle a team member who flatly refuses to contribute to your cross-functional project?
Start with a one-on-one conversation to understand the reasons for resistance (workload, disagreement, personal conflict). Depending on the cause, negotiate with their line manager or adjust your approach. If nothing changes, escalate to your sponsor with specific facts.
Does cross-functional leadership work in all corporate cultures?
No, some very hierarchical organizations are poorly suited to this approach. However, even in these rigid contexts, you can gradually influence the culture by demonstrating the benefits of horizontal collaboration, with patience and well-placed allies.
How long does it take to build enough legitimacy and influence in a cross-functional context?
Count on 3 to 6 months to establish baseline credibility, and 12 to 18 months for solid, lasting influence. The trick: create early “quick wins” (fast, visible successes) to accelerate the process and let your reputation work for you.
What are the most common mistakes that sabotage cross-functional leadership?
Neglecting the relational dimension in favor of tasks, not clarifying roles from the start, trying to impose instead of convincing, and underestimating the importance of having a visible and committed sponsor. Without this support, your legitimacy remains fragile when facing line managers.
ITTA is the leader in IT training and project management solutions and services in French-speaking Switzerland.
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