CIPD Festival of Work: Leaders must tackle complacent workplace habits to drive transformation, says Osagie

Organisations cannot achieve meaningful transformation through strategy alone and must instead focus on changing the habits that drive everyday behaviour, according to leadership coach, author and former headteacher Diana Osagie, speaking during a keynote address at the CIPD Festival of Work 2026.

Addressing delegates on the second day of the event, Osagie argued that many leaders focus too heavily on processes and performance while overlooking the routines that shape organisational culture.

She said: “Transformation comes by changing what people do without thinking.

“How deep is your understanding of the habits that drive your people in your organisation?”

Drawing on her experience as a school leader, Osagie said habits often become more powerful than an organisation’s vision or policies.

She explained: “On an organisational level, there are keystone habits. They are more powerful than your vision. More powerful than your processes.

“Your understanding of the habits of your people is central to transformation and then success.”

She encouraged leaders to identify the routines that emerge automatically when employees face pressure or uncertainty, arguing that these behaviours reveal how organisations really operate.