When authority doesn't align with the org chart

Transforming a company is never just about implementing a new method, switching tools, or reshuffling teams. It’s a complex process that affects strategy, culture, and most importantly, internal power dynamics. Whether it's a commercial, marketing, HR, digital, or industrial transformation, one truth remains: real power doesn't always follow formal hierarchy. This disconnect between the official org chart and how things truly operate is one of the main pitfalls of transformation projects. It helps explain why some initiatives stall or fail, even when they are perfectly aligned with company strategy.

In this article, I explore this idea through the lens of commercial and marketing transformation, offering a quick analysis of the human dynamics inside organizations. My aim is to give leaders, managers, and transformation professionals practical insights to better understand what truly drives successful change.

The org chart: helpful, but never the whole picture

Org charts are essential tools. They define reporting lines, roles, responsibilities, and decision-making structures. They bring clarity and are critical for managing teams.

But they say very little about human relationships. They don’t reflect loyalty, influence, tension, or the real decision-making dynamics. Sociologist Max Weber, one of the early theorists of modern bureaucracy, saw hierarchical structure as a rational and legitimate way to organize power. This view still shapes how many organizations are designed. But it doesn’t reflect how people actually behave in a group.

Informal power: the hidden driver or hidden blocker

In any company, you’ll find leaders without titles, influencers without formal authority, and managers with little real impact. This isn’t an anomaly. It’s standard.

Informal power flows through seniority, expertise, trust, and the ability to build internal alliances. A marketing director may struggle to influence sales without a strong relationship with the field team. A digital project lead may push a bold strategy that gets blocked without support from informal allies. That’s why informal power is often either the hidden engine of transformation or its most serious obstacle.

Why it matters in sales and marketing transformation

Transforming a sales or marketing function goes far beyond adopting a new tool or rewriting a pitch. It changes how people collaborate, shifts unspoken role boundaries, and challenges how individuals see their place in the organization. Take the common effort to align sales and marketing. On paper, it seems obvious: shared goals, unified messaging, improved coordination. But in practice, it often runs into longstanding tensions, differing customer perspectives, and deeply rooted habits. What slows progress isn’t the strategy itself. It’s how that strategy disrupts an existing, though often unspoken, balance.

Reading the hidden org chart: a strategic necessity

Before any transformation, you need to understand the informal organization. It’s not written anywhere, but it’s revealed in how people interact, who gets consulted, and whose opinions carry weight, regardless of title. This requires listening, observing, asking open questions. You need to notice who is heard even when they speak quietly, and who is always asked before a decision gets made, even if they don’t sign off officially.

Sociologists Michel Crozier and Erhard Friedberg described how individuals create influence within the gaps of formal systems. These grey zones, where people retain flexibility, are where real power often lives.

Act without naivety, but with method

So what can you do? A few guiding principles:

1. Don’t confuse structure with influence. A title doesn’t guarantee authority or followership.

2. Identify informal authority figures. They often shape team sentiment, fear, or momentum.

3. Build smart coalitions. Involve key people early, and give them real input.

4. Lead change like a negotiation. You’re not just rolling out a plan — you’re shifting internal balance.

5. Acknowledge the politics. Transformation is inherently political, but that can be an opportunity if approached openly.

In conclusion

It’s often said that projects fail due to lack of buy-in. But buy-in doesn’t happen in a dashboard. It happens in conversations, dynamics, and people’s perception of what’s really at stake. To transform an organization, you must first change the way you see it. That starts by accepting one core idea: power isn’t always where the org chart says it is.