How to use this toolkit

1

Start with the Diagnostic

Tab 2 assesses your organisation's risk profile against the 5 implementation traps. This shapes which phases need most attention.

2

Work through each Phase tab

Each phase has practical actions, good practice guidance, facilitator prompts, and a readiness gate before progressing.

3

Log adaptations as you go

Phases 2 and 3 include an Adaptation & Fidelity Log. Track every change and the core element it preserves.

4

Generate your summary plan

The My Plan tab consolidates all your inputs into a printable summary for stakeholders and governance review.

Your Initiative Details

These are your initial working assumptions about how this initiative might run. Enter what you know now — you don’t need certainty at this stage. The SIMoLDI process itself, particularly Phases 1 and 2, will surface the information needed to confirm or revise these details.

📝 These details are saved automatically and appear on your My Plan summary.

Organisation Name

Program / Initiative Name

Lead Practitioner

Program Start Date

Number of Planned Cohorts

Approximate Participant Numbers

Delivery Method

Planning Date

ⓘ SIMoLDI is an implementation framework — with an important qualification

SIMoLDI does not prescribe a specific theory of leadership or mandate a particular program. In that sense it is content-flexible — it can guide the implementation of any leadership development approach, regardless of its theoretical orientation. Organisations are encouraged to prioritise programs with robust evidential foundations, but SIMoLDI applies whether or not the chosen program has a strong evidence base.

However, this is not a clean separation. The identity gap analysis at the heart of Phase 2 (Identity Alignment) is specifically designed to help organisations identify which approaches best fit their aspirational identity and context. SIMoLDI does not make that selection for you — but it provides the structured process through which that selection should be made. Choosing a program before completing Phase 2 is one of the most common sources of implementation failure.

If a program has already been selected, SIMoLDI remains fully applicable: Phases 1 and 2 then focus on activating identity alignment around that program and ensuring it is adapted to fit the organisation’s specific identity context.

Source: McMillan, B., Haslam, S. A., Mitchell, T., Steffens, N. K., & Peters, K. Academy of Management Learning & Education

The Four Implementation Phases

The CARE Identity Leadership Framework

C

Creating 'us'

Identity Entrepreneurship

Unite diverse teams around a shared group identity — clarifying values and norms that increase cohesion

A

Advancing 'us'

Identity Advancement

Champion the group's collective goals — prioritise group success over personal gain

R

Representing 'us'

Identity Prototypicality

Embody the group's positive and distinctive identity — be a genuine role model for group values

E

Embedding 'us'

Identity Impresarioship

Build structures and events that make the group's work tangible and lasting — turning aspiration into reality

0%

Overall Implementation Progress

0 of 45 practical actions completed.

Navigate each phase tab to work through checklists, facilitator prompts, adaptation logs, and phase gates.

🏫 Using this toolkit in teaching or research ▾

This toolkit was designed primarily for HR and OD practitioners implementing leadership development. It is also suitable for teaching and research use. Three contexts are described below.

🏫 Classroom and course use

Use the Context Assessment as a readiness exercise. Assign students to map a real or hypothetical organisation against the four phases. The Implementation Traps Diagnostic works well as a group discussion activity before introducing the SIMoLDI framework. Teaching notes with full discussion questions, exercises, and a sample assessment task are available separately.

🔍 Research and theory application

The four phases and six propositions (P1–P6) provide a theoretical lens for analysing existing case studies and empirical research on leadership development implementation. The assessment questions map directly to the manuscript’s boundary conditions, making them useful as structured data collection prompts in qualitative research.

👥 Consultant and advisory use

Consultants and OD advisors can use the Context and Readiness Assessment as a structured diagnostic when scoping a new engagement. The four domains surface the boundary conditions most likely to affect implementation before planning begins — and the Readiness Summary provides a structured basis for early conversations with commissioning stakeholders about where preparatory work may be needed.

Pre-Planning Diagnostic

Before working through the four phases, assess your risk profile against the five implementation challenges that most commonly derail leadership development programs. Based on the five implementation assumptions identified in McMillan et al. (AMLE).

For each trap below, rate your organisation's current risk. Be honest — the purpose is to identify which SIMoLDI phases deserve most attention in your specific context.

Feedback Loops & Boundary Conditions

SIMoLDI is not strictly linear. Two adaptive mechanisms allow organisations to respond to emerging challenges while maintaining identity coherence. Good monitoring systems make these loops routine rather than reactive.

↻

Identity ReactivationFeedback LoopReturns to Phase 1 when the aspirational identity itself needs to be fundamentally reconsidered — not just refined. Triggered by major strategic shifts or restructuring.

Triggered by: Major strategic shifts, mergers, significant restructuring, or when the aspirational identity itself has become unfit for purpose

Identity Reactivation is required when the organisational context has changed so significantly that the aspirational identity established in Phase 1 needs to be fundamentally reconsidered — not just refined. This is a return to foundational questions before continuing development activities. It is not a failure: it is appropriate responsiveness to organisational reality.

Indicators — When to use

◦A major strategic pivot has significantly altered organisational direction or identity

◦Merger, acquisition, or restructuring has changed the organisational landscape materially

◦Market or environmental changes have made the current aspirational identity obsolete

◦Fundamental misalignment has emerged between development goals and organisational strategy

◦Participant engagement has significantly and persistently declined

Actions — What to do

→Pause active delivery to revisit foundational identity questions — a deliberate, bounded pause, not an abandonment

→Reconvene broad stakeholder dialogue to re-examine 'Who do we want to be?' in the new context

→Reassess both aspirational identities with genuine new stakeholder input

→Document specifically how the changed context has altered identity requirements

→Return to Phase 1 (Activation) — but carry forward accumulated learning

⇄

Identity RealignmentFeedback LoopA more focused adaptation — returns to Phase 2 to address specific misalignments without requiring full reactivation. Good monitoring makes this routine.

Triggered by: Specific misalignments between program delivery and organisational realities, identified through monitoring

Identity Realignment is a more focused adaptation process. When monitoring reveals specific elements of the program are misaligned with organisational realities — without the whole aspirational direction needing to change — this loop enables targeted adjustments while maintaining core identity commitments and program fidelity. Good monitoring systems make Realignment routine rather than reactive.

Indicators — When to use

◦Specific program elements consistently fail to resonate with particular groups

◦Transfer of learning to workplace practice is substantially lower than expected

◦Participant feedback identifies a persistent disconnect between content and organisational reality

◦Delivery approaches are creating unintended barriers for specific groups

◦New subgroups or identity dynamics have emerged that weren't accounted for

Actions — What to do

→Identify the specific source of misalignment through targeted stakeholder dialogue

→Make focused adaptations to delivery methods, framing, or materials

→Preserve evidence-based core program elements while adjusting contextual application

→Document all adaptations in the adaptation log to maintain fidelity transparency

→Return to Phase 2 (Alignment) processes specifically for the identified area of misalignment

Boundary Conditions

These organisational factors interact with all four phases and shape what is realistically achievable. Understanding them enables realistic planning and identifies where preparatory work may be needed before implementation begins.

Market DynamicsBoundary ConditionsCompetitive pressures, industry norms, and stakeholder expectations that create boundaries around which identity aspirations are realistic.

Competitive pressures, industry norms, and stakeholder expectations create boundaries around which identity aspirations are realistic. Organisations sometimes feel compelled to adopt popular programs to maintain industry legitimacy — even when these don't fit their specific identity aspirations.

Organisational CultureBoundary ConditionsCultural values, norms, and the organisation's history with previous development initiatives that shape what approaches will be credible.

Cultural values, norms, and the organisation's history with previous development initiatives shape what approaches will be credible versus dismissed. Prior failures create 'learning anxiety' that can be deeply embedded in organisational memory and stories.

Leader BeliefsBoundary ConditionsPre-existing beliefs about leadership — often reinforced by positional success — that can enable or impede development effectiveness.

Senior leaders' pre-existing beliefs about leadership — often reinforced by positional success — can significantly impede effectiveness. Leaders who view their position as validation of their current approach may resist development as a concept. Address this explicitly.

Team FactorsBoundary ConditionsTeam diversity, psychological safety, and team identification, which moderate implementation effectiveness across all four phases.

Team diversity, psychological safety, and team identification all moderate implementation effectiveness across all four phases. Teams with low psychological safety will struggle to engage authentically with the identity work that SIMoLDI requires.

Boundary condition notes for your context

Implementation Plan Summary

Consolidated record of your SIMoLDI planning — ready to print or share with stakeholders.

Glossary of Terms

Plain-English definitions for all specialist terms used in this toolkit. Terms marked with a dotted underline throughout the tool show this definition on hover.

SIMoLDI Practitioner Toolkit