Leading a successful organization puts an equal amount of power in your hands and pressure to perform on your shoulders. However, the difficulty is that success is not solely your responsibility; it’s shared by your entire team.

So how can you get the most out of your employees? By empowering them within their environment. Read on to discover four ways you can create ownership while motivating others within your workplace.

1. The ownership conversation. If you want your employees to feel empowered, then you’ve got to bestow upon them a sense of ownership. The best way to do this is to address your desire for change in an open conversation. Ask employees: If this were your office, what changes would you want to see made?

Evaluate the responses you receive, especially those that address workplace flow (such as outdated procedures and the reality of your current workplace policies). If you can make reasonable accommodations and changes, then do it; employees will be inspired when they see that their voices and opinions really do count. If possible, empower employees to make those changes themselves and watch their confidence and willingness to perform improve.

2. Proactive makes perfect. A conversation like the one described above can be a catalyst to a more active and involved workplace. Encourage employees to check in with you regularly by establishing an open door policy and committing your attention to the topics they want to address. It is their workplace, so get employees involved in the introspective act of seeking improvements and brainstorming solutions.

If you continue to approach change proactively, employees will feel comfortable and confident enough to speak up. Unfortunately, as much as you may try, your eyes and ears can’t be everywhere, always. By proving to employees that you take their input to heart with real action and humble conversations, you’ll encourage them to act as individual owners—caring for the workplace as if it were solely theirs.

3. Be ready and willing for failure. Despite how encouraging you are, if (and when) certain changes fail, a bad attitude and temper will undo all of your hard work. Lose your temper with an employee who was unable to make a difference, and you can guarantee that he’ll never again attempt to take ownership of a workplace initiative.

Instead, plan for and discuss the potential for failure. Comfort and empower employees while proactively discussing other potential courses of action. Remain calm when things don’t go as planned. More important than making changes, effective problem solving and flexibility during the transitional steps will instill a sense of confidence in everyone involved.

4. Test transparency. This last step is not about trying to motivate your employees to try something; it’s about embracing the concept of change yourself. If you instill a sense of transparent leadership (share plans and motivations without being asked), employees will better understand your passions and underlying goals. This sense of awareness will empower employees to make real-time decisions on their own.

A transparent approach somewhat levels the playing field between leader and employees: Everyone is on the same page, and everyone is working toward a mutual goal. Empower employees by instilling a sense of ownership within the workplace, and cultivate a team in which everyone’s eyes are on the bigger picture.

In what other ways can you empower your workplace?