The Skills That Make ‘Zero Distance’ Possible

Daniel Goleman is author of the international best-seller Emotional Intelligence and Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day. He is a regular contributor to Korn Ferry. 

Haier has held the title of the world's largest major appliance maker for over a decade. Their success is, in many ways, connected to their innovative organizational structure. The Chinese company—which houses brands such as GE Appliances, CANDY, and Fisher & Paykel—began reducing hierarchical layers in 2005 by introducing the RenDanHeYi model. The goal was to achieve "zero distance to the customer" by replacing the traditional corporate pyramid with self-managed teams. Under the leadership of CEO Zhang Ruimin, Haier transformed thousands of middle managers into entrepreneurs leading small, autonomous business units. By 2021, the company reduced management layers from 12 to three across all subsidiaries. They eventually achieved a 67% faster decision-making cycle.

The business case for removing management layers is compelling: Research has shown that reducing hierarchy can lead to more satisfied employees and speedier decision-making, while flat structures bring benefits such as agility, speed of learning, and resilience.

But here’s the counterintuitive reality: The fewer managers there are, the more everyone needs sophisticated human skills. Companies pursuing zero distance eliminate traditional hierarchies in favor of networks of autonomous teams that operate without managers, bureaucracy, or rigid chains of command. Instead of relying on positional authority, they depend entirely on what we might call “emotional entrepreneurship.”

Consider the challenge: In a zero-distance organization, you can’t rely on your boss to resolve conflicts, create accountability, or provide direction. Instead, you must lead without authority, give feedback without hierarchy, and collaborate without the safety net of formal roles. These aren’t just new skills—they’re a fundamental rewiring of how we relate to work and each other.

Research from MIT’s Bill Fischer, who has studied these organizations extensively, shows that autonomy without the right emotional intelligence skills is like installing new apps on an outdated operating system. The structure may look revolutionary, but without upgrading the human capabilities, the system fails.

What exactly are the emotional intelligence skills that make zero distance possible? They connect with five core competencies that show up consistently across successful autonomous organizations:

Leading without being "the boss."

This requires exceptional self-awareness and influence skills. In zero-distance organizations, individuals must know when their expertise is genuinely needed, communicate their vision compellingly enough for others to follow voluntarily, and step back when someone else is better suited to lead. Traditional authority comes from position; zero-distance authority must come from authentic competence and emotional presence.

Creating accountability without hierarchy.

This demands empathy combined with the confidence that comes from knowing your strengths. Zero-distance companies rely on peer review and peer accountability systems. This only works when team members can read emotional cues, understand others' motivations, and have difficult conversations with genuine care rather than judgment.

Giving feedback peer-to-peer.

This requires sophisticated social awareness and communication skills. Without the buffer of formal performance reviews or manager mediation, feedback becomes constant and immediate. Successful autonomous organizations develop leaders who can coach—who master the art of feedback that empowers rather than threatens. They learn to read timing, frame observations in ways that motivate, and create psychological safety even while raising challenging issues.

Resolving conflicts without escalation.

Accomplishing this calls for emotional regulation and relationship management at an advanced level. When there's no HR department or boss to appeal to, conflicts must be resolved between the parties involved. In fluid organizational communities where people move between different roles and responsibilities, constant micro-negotiations are required. People must manage their own emotional reactions while helping others do the same.

Avoiding becoming a bottleneck.

This involves systems thinking—organizational awareness—combined with emotional agility. In flat structures, individual bottlenecks can paralyze entire networks. People must be constantly aware of their impact on others and agile enough to adapt their working style in real time. This requires letting go of attachment to particular ways of doing things—a fundamentally emotional challenge.

From a neuroscience perspective, these competencies activate different brain systems than traditional hierarchical work does. Zero-distance structures engage the brain's reward circuitry more directly—when you succeed, you feel it immediately. But they also require the prefrontal cortex to work harder, constantly managing social complexity without the simplifying structure of formal roles.

This explains why many companies pursuing zero distance invest so heavily in what they call "human operating system upgrades." They run intensive, training programs that develop these emotional competencies through practice rather than theory. Traditional leadership development focuses on managing others; zero-distance development focuses on managing yourself in relation to others.

The implications for leaders are significant. Whether your organization is ready for full zero distance or not, these emotional skills are becoming essential for anyone working in flatter, more collaborative, more networked environments. The future of work isn't just about new organizational structures—it's about developing the emotional sophistication to thrive in them.

The organizations getting zero distance right understand that removing external structure means building internal capability. They're discovering that the most sophisticated technology of all might be human emotional intelligence, properly developed and applied.

Co-written by Elizabeth Solomon

Click here to learn more about Daniel Goleman's Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence.