---
id: "action-align-ecosystem-stakeholders"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["¶2"]
tags: ["ecosystem-management", "stakeholder-alignment"]
related: ["framework-abcs-leadership", "concept-ecosystem-acceleration"]
speakers: ["Linda A. Hill"]
role: "Catalyst"
action: "Align diverse, cross-boundary stakeholders around shared ambitions to accelerate ecosystem-wide co-creation."
outcome: "Accelerated, large-scale innovation driven by a unified ecosystem rather than isolated actors."
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-125-innovative-leader"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/05/what-makes-an-innovative-leader"
sourceTitle: "What Makes an Innovative Leader?"
---
# Catalyze Ecosystem Alignment

> **Role:** Catalyst (the **C** of [[framework-abcs-leadership|the ABCs]])
> **Action:** Align diverse, cross-boundary stakeholders around shared ambitions to accelerate ecosystem-wide co-creation.
> **Outcome:** Accelerated, large-scale innovation driven by a unified ecosystem rather than isolated actors.

Once partnerships are forged ([[action-forge-external-partnerships]]), leaders must act as **catalysts** to synchronize the efforts of diverse stakeholders. This requires articulating shared ambitions that *transcend individual organizational goals*, creating a unified direction for the broader ecosystem to co-create solutions rapidly. It is the operational expression of [[concept-ecosystem-acceleration]].

Because direct authority is usually absent across an ecosystem, execution depends on influence, shared vision, and mutual benefit rather than command.