When control feels safe, trust can outperform

When control feels safe, trust can outperform

Imagine you are running a large organisation. Highly regulated. Highly visible. Billions at stake.

The instinct is predictable. Tighten control. Add targets. Standardise decisions. Protect the centre.

And then you encounter something that challenges that reflex.

At Handelsbanken, the branch is the bank. Not a sales outlet. Not an execution arm. The bank itself. Local managers decide who to hire, what to lend, and how to build relationships. Head office does not command. It serves.

This is not chaos. It is disciplined trust.

What is surprising is not that this model works in a regulated environment. It is that it consistently outperforms more control-heavy peers on stability, cost, and customer satisfaction.

Different contexts, same underlying logic

A similar pattern appears in a very different setting.

At Unilever, one Central European business had stalled for years. Targets were met. Budgets were defended. Growth remained flat.

Leadership made a deliberate shift. They loosened rigid budgeting and trusted cross-functional teams to generate ideas. Investment followed evidence rather than hierarchy. Momentum changed quickly. Over the next few years, the business grew steadily without drama.

No heroics.
No slogans.
Just better conditions for better decisions.

A small moment that reveals the system

Sometimes a single moment says everything.

In a recent conversation I recorded with Steve Morlidge, former Financial Controller at Unilever, for Ways of Working, he shared a story from a brand team reviewing investment proposals.

After comparing their own idea with another team’s, they paused and said:

“Actually, their idea is stronger. The money should go there.”

No politics.
No defending territory.
Just judgement in service of the whole.

That behaviour does not emerge by accident.

It only shows up in systems where people feel trusted. Where performance is defined as collective success rather than personal survival. Where judgement is rewarded more than control.

Why control often creates fragility

Here is the uncomfortable truth.

Control feels safe.
Trust feels risky.

But the real risk often sits with control.

When judgement is centralised, learning slows.
When systems optimise for compliance, adaptability suffers.
When people cannot act, organisations become fragile.

As Steve put it:

“Performance doesn’t come from pushing people harder. It comes from designing systems where people can perform.”

This is not about being nice.
And it is not about letting go without intent.

It is about organisational design.

It is about deciding what kind of leader you want to be.
The one who tries to control complexity.
Or the one who builds organisations capable of handling it.

Because moments like that Unilever decision do not just reveal good people.

They reveal good systems.

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