FLINTA*: Leading With Trust: Rewriting The Playbook

For too long, 'leadership' in games has meant one inherited model. The people running studios and leading product vision have too often had to prove they belonged in it before trust was extended to them on their own terms. Competence proven once doesn't stay proven; it has to be re-earned at every next level, in the boardroom, in due diligence and in the studio.

This session brings together five leaders rewriting that playbook from the inside — building businesses, teams and creative visions around a different model of trust altogether, one where compassionate, values-driven leadership isn't a liability to manage around, but a strategy with proven business returns. Panelists will share what it took to stop waiting for permission, how they built organizations that reflect their own values, and what it means to extend that same trust to the next generation of leaders now finding their own way into the industry.

Expect a candid, business-first conversation about the trust leaders are still asked to earn twice over — and what it looks like to lead differently, including with a rising generation of developers who are rethinking what leadership itself should look like.