HR and L&D leaders
How do you keep a leadership framework alive after the launch enthusiasm fades?
Build it into things that already happen. A framework that requires new activity to stay alive will be deprioritised the moment the business gets busy — which is always. The ones that survive are the ones that get embedded in the conversations, processes, and rhythms that were already there.
Framework: Brian Hartzer’s Leadership Star · Practices: All five practices
Embed it in performance conversations
The most durable thing you can do is build the framework into how performance is assessed and discussed. At Westpac and at Quantium, we built the company values into the performance review process. That meant every manager, every year, had a structured reason to think about how their people were showing up against each practice. The framework didn’t need its own meeting. It was already in the meeting that was happening.
Make it part of how leaders talk about their work
When the senior leaders in an organisation regularly use the framework’s language in normal conversation — in team meetings, in one-on-ones, in feedback — it becomes the default vocabulary for talking about leadership. That’s different from training. Training creates knowledge. Language creates culture.
Recognise examples of the framework in action
When someone demonstrates one of the practices well, name it. “That’s a great example of Clearing the Way.” This does two things: it reinforces the behaviour, and it makes the framework visible as something real and operational — an actual management tool, not a launch artefact.
Review it periodically at the senior level
Once a year, the leadership team should spend time honestly assessing where they’re strong and where they’re not on each practice. This is different from a refresh or relaunch. It’s an honest audit. Which of the five practices are we actually doing well? Which ones have faded? Where is the gap between how we describe ourselves and what our people would say?
Where judgment matters
A framework that’s been running for several years will inevitably feel familiar to the people who’ve been there longest. That familiarity is a feature, not a bug — it’s what culture actually looks like. The risk is when it becomes rote rather than genuine. The antidote is the audit: honest, regular, and senior-led.
If you asked your frontline managers to name your organisation’s leadership framework without prompting, what proportion do you think could do it?
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