“We need leadership buy-in for our agile transformation to succeed.”

“There’s no point changing teams if the wider culture doesn’t change.”

Both statements are familiar — and both contain truth.

But they also hide an uncomfortable blind spot.

In this talk, Geoff Watts argues that many change initiatives fail not because leaders are obstructive or disinterested, but because they are misread. Expectations are projected onto leadership without a real understanding of the pressures, constraints, and risks they are navigating.

Drawing on years of experience coaching leaders and teams at different levels of organisations, Geoff invites audiences to adopt a more nuanced — and more effective — stance: one rooted in empathy rather than frustration.

This isn’t about excusing poor leadership.

It’s about recognising that sustainable change requires influence upwards as well as downwards — and that influence starts with understanding.

A reflective, challenging session for anyone involved in transformation who wants to increase their impact without becoming cynical, naïve, or burned out.

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