The Managerless Company
If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
Will companies of the future have managers?
The concept of a managerless company has been debated for years. Companies like Morningstar, Valve, and even Medium have experimented with doing away with traditional manager titles and roles, opting instead for a flatter, more employee-driven structure.
The idea sounds radical, but it’s gaining traction as organizations seek ways to cut bureaucracy, speed up decision-making, and create workplaces where people feel genuinely empowered.
Why Go Managerless?
Managers aren’t always leaders. Too often, they get bogged down in task assignments, approvals, and people management instead of focusing on the higher calling of leadership: setting vision, inspiring teams, and creating alignment.
By stripping away layers of management, managerless companies redistribute authority, giving employees more control over their own work and careers. That way, there’s less red tape and more room for leaders to actually lead.
How Managerless Companies Operate
A managerless company doesn’t mean chaos — it means shifting how responsibilities are handled:
- Work ownership: Instead of being assigned tasks, employees choose projects that match their skills and interests.
- Career paths: Growth isn’t about climbing a corporate ladder. Employees work with coaches and mentors to craft their own unique journey.
- Leadership: The company’s direction isn’t dictated from the top. It’s driven by employees collectively, ensuring buy-in and distributed accountability.
- Compensation: Promotions and titles don’t define success. Pay raises and bonuses are often decided collectively or transparently, emphasizing fairness over hierarchy.
- Problem-solving: When issues arise, employees resolve them directly instead of “escalating up the chain.”
This creates an environment where decision-making is faster, ownership is stronger, and people feel more invested in both their work and the company’s mission.
The Pros and Cons
Like any organizational model, the managerless approach has both strengths and challenges.
Advantages:
- Greater autonomy and empowerment for employees.
- Faster decision-making without layers of approval.
- Stronger collaboration and ownership across teams.
- Leadership focused on vision and inspiration, not micromanagement.
Challenges:
- Not all employees thrive in a high-autonomy environment.
- Risk of uneven accountability if responsibilities aren’t clearly defined.
- Compensation and conflict-resolution processes can become messy without structure.
- Scaling becomes harder as companies grow larger and more complex.
Some companies like Morningstar (a tomato processing giant) have thrived with this model for decades. Others, like Zappos, experimented with “Holacracy” but struggled to make it sustainable at scale. Managerless doesn’t mean leaderless. It requires cultural alignment, trust, and the right systems to support it.
Is the Future Really Managerless?
Not every company can — or should — become fully managerless. But many organizations are borrowing elements of the model: giving employees more voice, flattening hierarchies, and rethinking the role of managers.
By focusing on empowerment, coaching, and collaboration rather than titles and control, companies can move closer to a future where employees want — not need — to show up to work.
The important nuance here is that the idea of “managerless” is less about eliminating managers altogether and more about redefining management. Yes, you will still have leaders, but their role will evolve from one of control and oversight to one of guidance, support, and vision.
Managers who can transition into true leaders — mentors, coaches, and culture builders — will remain indispensable. Those who cling to outdated notions of authority and hierarchy will find themselves quickly replaced by systems, technology, or new ways of working that make them irrelevant.
The real question isn’t whether the manager will disappear, but whether organizations will have the courage to redefine management into something more meaningful: leadership that inspires, empowers, and drives progress.
What do you think — will the future of work be managerless?
If you’re a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.
