Tuff Leadership Training: Pioneering Decentralized, Customer-Centric Workplaces
The RenDanHeYi model, developed by Haier Group CEO Zhang Ruimin in 2005, is revolutionary management philosophy aimed at transforming traditional hierarchical corporate structures into highly adaptive, customer-centric ecosystems. Rooted in the belief that employees (Ren) and their entrepreneurial capabilities should align with customer needs (Dan) to create value, the model emphasizes individual accountability and dynamic organizational roles (HeYi). By dismantling conventional silos, the RenDanHeYi model fosters a network of autonomous micro-enterprises within the larger corporate entity, transforming the organization into a nimble startup factory.
To develop and share the idea of Zero Distance and its broader management philosophy of RenDanHeYi, Haier hosts an annual forum to celebrate the world's most progressive organizations. This September marks the 8th edition of the forum, taking place in Haier’s hometown, Qingdao, on September 20. Working with the Business Ecosystem Alliance and the Management Lab, the Haier Model Institute will release the inaugural listing of the progressive companies which are putting Zero Distance and related ideas into practice.
These organizations are characterized by:
Zero Distance to customer | Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace
Autonomy | Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution
Shared Rewards | Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success
For the 2024 inaugural ZeroDX awards, Haier approached us to list 50 self-managed organizations that showcase the principles of RenDanHeYi in how they organise their work. Tuff Leadership is one of the 50 organisations we listed this year.
Introducing Tuff Leadership
Founded over two decades ago, Tuff Leadership Training has emerged as a trailblazer in the realm of leadership development, offering innovative training programs aimed at transforming organizational cultures. With a focus on creating more human and impactful workplaces, Tuff operates in multiple industries, providing leadership training and consulting services across more than 20 countries. Their core mission is to empower leaders and teams to adopt a mindset that embraces involvement, co-leadership, and the full potential of their employees.
Karin Tenelius, Tuff’s co-founder, was one of the early pioneers of coaching in Sweden, in particular a method of coaching which focuses on mindset and ways of being as the key levers for personal empowerment and transformation. Her experiments from the nineties onwards with self-managing organizations (detailed in the book ‘Moose Heads on the Table: Stories About Self-Managing Organizations from Sweden’) led to her founding Tuff in order to train managers and employees alike in an ‘adult-to-adult’, empowering way of being which supports less hierarchical teams.
Today Tuff spans a team of over 20 people in seven countries and their approach has earned them undisputed recognition, with over 5,000 participants consistently rating their training as some of the best they’ve experienced, reflecting the company’s commitment to making a tangible impact in the workplace.
Tuff Leadership is an outstanding example of RenDanHeYi principles not only because the company embodies both decentralized authority and autonomy that enables customer driven solutions, but even more so because the work of Tuff Leadership has enable numerous companies to build the soft skill mussels of their organizations to enable them to thrive in a self-managed way of work.
Organizational Structure and Decentralization
Tuff Leadership Training stands out due to its commitment to decentralization and self-management, allowing teams within the organization to operate with a high degree of autonomy. Their organizational structure is notably flat, minimizing hierarchical layers and fostering a culture where decision-making is distributed across the organization. This structure supports the company’s belief in the power of collective leadership, where employees at all levels are encouraged to take initiative and lead within their roles. This approach not only enhances agility and responsiveness but also aligns with Tuff's broader mission to cultivate environments where leadership is shared and every individual’s contributions are valued.
Tuff's approach to remuneration is varied and flexible. In Sweden, where business has been long-established, trainers are remunerated on the basis of how many programmes they choose to lead, which they can scale up and down depending on their level of chosen engagement. In other countries where Tuff is more in a startup phase, individuals' salaries are agreed upon with the person whose role encompasses financial responsibilities based on their needs and what they contribute to Tuff. All finances are transparent and accessible via an open books software system. When Tuff is profitable, the owners do not draw dividends (they have never done this, in fact). The team generally decides to reinvest the surplus in developing the company, or at other times, employees might decide to increase their fees or distribute the surplus equitably as a bonus.
Zero Distance to Customers
Tuff’s decentralized structure plays a crucial role in its customer-centric approach. By empowering teams to make decisions independently, Tuff ensures that customer needs are met with greater speed and accuracy. But more than this, because all trainers are trained in Tuff’s own ‘sales approach’, customer relationships are built on radical trust and openness. This means that Tuff is able to listen deeply to customers, sometimes even ‘scaring them away’ if Tuff is not a good match because the prerequisites for impact are not present in the customer’s organization. Customers praise Tuff for its partnership mentality, that Tuff trainers are deeply committed to the transformation processes which means regular conversations about what’s needed and what’s missing, sometimes involving frank feedback.
Rather than offering solutions or interfering with their customers’ businesses, Tuff acts as a coach, sensing together with the customer what is needed, whether that is training, Collaboration Coaching (where Tuff supports teams to shift their working climate), or individual coaching. It also means that although Tuff’s core methodology remains the same, Tuff is able to make lasting impact in traditionally structured organizations – like the Swedish Tax Authority, interested in having a trust-based culture – to next-stage organizations, such as self-managing organizations like Schuberg Philis in the Netherlands, who seek out Tuff for their expertise in the cultural and inner development (rather than structural) aspects of new ways of working.
Company Culture
Tuff Leadership Training has a company culture centered around personal growth and transformation. To become a Tuff trainer is not about mastering the content of its programs but rather developing the ability to sense ways of being, distinguish what is happening ‘under the surface’ in groups, and being able to give powerful feedback and coaching. For this reason, trainers aren’t recruited based on work experience or qualifications, but rather on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and commitment to continuous development. All trainers, whether they have been in the company for 15 years or two months, train together for half a day once a month (‘Dev Days’) and twice a year in person at ‘boot camps’. It takes, on average, two years for a Tuff trainer to be certified in the Tuff methodology which focuses on mindset and ways of being.
With a fluid organizational structure and a focus on development, this also means that Tuff employees are able to grow into and create roles that best suit their passions and talents. Each individual’s career trajectory is completely different and evolves through coaching conversations with their mentor (which rotates every six months) and the trainer development team, as well as regular self-inquiry. For example, in 2023, all employees went through The Human Element personal transformation program together.
Important decisions are made together using Concordance, and other decisions left to the individuals and teams with agreed decision authorities. It is an organization run on trust and maintaining healthy relationships, something which is achieved through rituals such as ‘Pebbles Conversations’ (where two individuals can bring up microtensions) and ‘Moose Heads’ (a metaphor for an ‘infected’ issue that anyone can bring up, at the start of a meeting for example, if they feel it is threatening the working climate of the group).
Conclusion
In summary, Tuff Leadership’s unique approach to decentralization built on trust and customer-centricity, combined with its commitment to a culture of continuous development, positions it as a leader in modern organizational development. Their continued success in transforming workplaces globally is a testament to the effectiveness of their innovative strategies and their unwavering commitment to empowering individuals and teams alike.
