Joris Merks-Benjaminsen is a leadership trainer and author of “Managing Without Power”. He is also the former head of Google Digital Academy, a team that trained marketers across EMEA.
Marketing is an attractive career choice because it is all about solving problems – but what happens when your working environment becomes the problem?
During my early years in the industry, personal power plays and office politics were a universally accepted part of the culture. The bigger the organisation, the worse it seemed.
Twenty years later, how much has changed? According to a recent Gallup poll, a staggering 85% of employees are disengaged and unhappy at work, while only three in 10 managers feel involved and enthusiastic.
Top-down leadership results in teams operating in silos
This isn’t just a problem — it’s a crisis. It starts with a deeply ingrained, top-down leadership model, where managers are more interested in hitting KPIs and impressing those above them than empowering their teams and serving their customers. This stifles creativity, discourages bold thinking, and hinders innovation, at a time when the industry needs new ideas.
To thrive in today’s fast-changing marketing landscape, we need a new approach: one that enables teams, fosters collaboration, and prioritises genuine care over control.
The problem with power
My first manager at Google created a humane, supportive environment, which was very different from the somewhat self centric style of management I experienced in previous companies. Her leadership style allowed us to focus on meaningful work and building a strong team culture to deliver better results.
But such managers are few and far between. As a leadership consultant, I see how hard it is for organisations to root out the traditional command-and-control style. Too many managers, in my experience, see their position as just a stepping stone in their careers.
I often encounter businesses where dysfunction is palpable and leaders lament the slow pace of digital transformation. Yet, when a solution is presented that requires them to invest more time and attention in their team, they baulk. “I don’t have that kind of time,” they say. “I have leadership meetings to attend.” They fear that switching to a less hierarchical structure could make them appear “soft” on their employees, leading to a drop in performance.
What are the costs of not acting? Employees, feeling constrained and unable to explore new ideas, become disengaged. Managers feel disempowered and frustrated. And what grows is not a thriving team but a culture of fear and compliance, ultimately resulting in missed opportunities and an inability to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the customer.
That is particularly detrimental in a fast-evolving, customer-centric industry like marketing, where agility and collaboration are paramount.
Three steps to managing without power
If power is the problem, what’s the solution? The short answer is that we must find a new balance — one where humanness and accountability coexist and where a focus on performance doesn’t come at the cost of culture and genuine care. That’s why I developed the concept of “managing without power” to help companies build high-performance teams and organisations the human way. It starts with three steps.
1. Lead with empathy, not authority
Leaders must consciously give up the traditional trappings of power in favour of a more collaborative and empathetic approach. That may sound hard, but it begins with simple things.
The subtle power dynamics at play in the workplace can seem innocuous.
A manager may show up late to meetings with juniors but be perfectly punctual for those with seniors. Or they may habitually send late-night emails to subordinate team members, suggesting an equal need to be always-on. Such behaviour projects an asymmetry that can eat away at employee buy-in.
Think about the signal your behaviour gives to your team, and its wider consequences.
2. Share the accountability
Regular, structured feedback from team members to their managers is crucial for building trust and accountability. But, when you become a manager, there are certain things people no longer tell you.
At Google, we used a manager feedback survey that provided actionable insights every six months. Unlike traditional reviews, which often focus on feedback from peers and superiors, this tool specifically empowered employees to provide direct feedback to their managers, creating a sense of shared accountability and mutual respect.
Whatever the mechanism, discover the different things that people need from you, and flex your management style accordingly. Acting on feedback is also one of the most powerful ways to build trust — your team will thrive as a result.
3. Take a holistic approach
Managers must approach leadership holistically.
Take the practice of setting goals and expectations with frameworks such as OKRs. So often, these become a box-ticking exercise, allowing managers to exert authority without fostering genuine buy-in.
When OKRs are rooted in a clear mission and long-term strategy, cascaded from company to team to individual (and vice versa), it becomes a powerful tool for alignment.
When people understand the “why” behind their work, they feel a sense of ownership and shared purpose.
That clarity increases psychological safety between team members and creates a clear framework for reward and progression.
Back to basics
Make no mistake, adopting these changes takes time and dedication. It’s a long-term process, not an overnight fix. But it’s too important to ignore.
The clock is ticking. A new generation is now entering the workforce that simply will not stand for these outdated power structures anymore. Gen Z, poised to comprise 27% of the global workforce by 2025, is a generation that values authenticity and connection over the old-fashioned notion that success requires suffering.
By managing without power, I believe we can build a more humane, effective, and sustainable workplace for everyone. The future of work belongs to those who understand that true leadership lies not in wielding power but in fostering trust, collaboration, and humanity, while still holding people accountable.
