Can you imagine a company where no one is in charge? Where employees decide for themselves where and when they work. Where you can determine your own salary. Sounds bizarre, right? And yet it exists. Ricardo Semler, the Brazilian owner of the company Semco, has a very special view on leadership and corporate culture. His company is known for its unique and radical form of corporate democracy. What can we learn from Semler's revolutionary approach?

Motivated employees are the key to success

A life that is not dominated by your work? Want to work at a company that tailors everything, even the salary, to your preferences? Would that motivate you? Ricardo Semler swears by it. He lets his employees work from home if they want, or at local branches of the organization if they are closer to home, all to motivate his staff. Semler indicates that people should work because they enjoy it and because it makes them feel good. This view is shared by another world-renowned leader, Richard Branson. He says: 'I have always believed that the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers'. In other words: if you motivate your employees, they will also motivate your customers. Employees who feel at home in your company are therefore indirectly the key to the success of your organization.

Democracy at all levels of your organization

In Semler's companies, democracy is implemented in an extreme form. For example, he works with committees without managers with representatives from all business units. These committees determine all aspects of production and sales. Within his vision, no CEO is needed. The organization is extremely flat. There isn't even an organizational chart. Although Semco may be an extreme example, you also see this pattern in other markets. Marketing and internet agencies in particular often work with customer teams in which all specialists are equal. So there is no longer a clear hierarchical structure. Everyone works together with everyone and has his/her own specialty that is crucial in production.

Another striking and interesting lesson from Semler's approach is the way managers are appointed. Although there is no real hierarchy, his companies do have managers. These managers are active across units, or at strategic level. However, they are not superior to other employees. Managers within Semco are appointed by the staff themselves. They select and elect the managers of their own department. So there is no room for the type who tries to work his way up through political convolutions. Everything is completely transparent and democratic. Employees will therefore not easily complain about management, since they choose this themselves.

Flexible remuneration leads to lower costs or higher revenues

Another special feature of Semler's unique approach is the reward structure. Employees determine their own salary. Here too, the responsibility of adults is explicitly called upon. Naturally, this model can only work if the salaries are also completely transparent internally and therefore self-correcting. Salaries are also variable, with an additional portion that can be earned through profit. In addition, the organization has no privileges based on status. No private parking spaces, workplaces or secretaries.

The interesting thing is that such a reward structure can lead to smaller income differences between employees and lower costs for the company. People often behave more self-confident and responsible when they are allowed to choose than when they are rewarded according to traditional models. The fact that all rewards are transparent ensures leveling.

This model is used more often in the world of workshops, speakers and trainers. More and more speakers do not ask their clients a fixed rate, but are paid based on results. They ask their clients what they thought the session was worth and then invoice that amount instead of a fixed fee. This prevents the well-known price discussions, but in reality it often results in higher rewards than the fixed rate that would otherwise be charged.

Get inspired

The approach of leaders like Semler is extreme and very revolutionary. No one expects you as a manager or director to adopt their methods. However, there are certainly lessons to be learned that we can implement in our own practice. Therefore, let yourself be motivated and inspired, so that your team can also find the key to success. For more inspiration, take a look at TedX lecture from Semler.