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A practical psychodynamic understanding of how professionals experience and perform through the uncertainties of innovation may help organisational development practitioners better support executives navigating this specific leadership situation. This article presents observations from a novel leadership development approach building on the previously developed “innovation leadership map” theoretical model as a comparative method of evaluating good and bad leadership experiences with structured psychodynamic interpretations. Action research with over 500 professionals suggests positive professional and personal outcomes with this approach. Observed across participants was that the framework and comparative method provided: i) rarely accessed experiential self-analysis of their response range when operating in emotionally charged environments of innovation; ii) relatable language to insightfully describe and discuss the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of leadership that influence outcomes; and iii) a way for individuals to access evidence-based underlying psychodynamic imprints influencing how they work with or destructively become overwhelmed by innovation's emotional dynamics. While every innovation leadership situation is unique, the mechanism of “emotional gearing” featuring centred, surging, and stuck positions is proposed as a practice for how leaders can work with and be mindful of strong emotions within themselves, their team, and/or the organisation.