Mid-Year Momentum

As we reach the end of the financial year and the midpoint of the calendar year, HR leaders have a unique opportunity not just to review people’s performance, but to ask a deeper question:

Are we truly developing leaders who create momentum, drive commercial value, and foster cultural change?

This is the time to pause with purpose. To not just look back, but to look beneath. Beyond engagement scores and program attendance to impact. Because leadership development must now be a strategic lever, not a support function, more than ever.

And it begins with three powerful steps: Reflect. Reset. Refocus.

Reflect: Are We Building Leaders Who Make a Tangible Difference?

Now is the time to go beyond completion rates and competency matrices. Ask yourself:

• Have we deepened our leadership bench strength this year?
• Are we preparing leaders not just to manage, but to accelerate strategic initiatives?
• Have our leadership programs led to behavioural shifts, not just better self-awareness?
• Are our leaders demonstrating commercial savviness in how they think, lead, and prioritise?
• Can we point to examples of leaders who have saved the company money, generated revenue, or increased productivity through the practical application of what they’ve learned?

If these answers aren’t clear or consistent, then now is the right time to recalibrate how you define leadership success.

Reset: Move From Learning to Commercial Application

Leadership development should never be an academic exercise. It should be a commercial one.

To elevate impact, consider these reset questions:

• Are our leadership development programs aligned with real business challenges?
• Have we embedded pilot projects or business cases as part of our development pathways?
• Are our high-potential leaders contributing to cross-functional innovations or initiatives that solve real-world problems inside the business?
• Do our leaders feel empowered and equipped to take smart risks that contribute to business growth?

When learning is directly linked to real-world work, outcomes become measurable, and momentum becomes visible.

Refocus: Build a Culture of Unstoppable Leadership

To drive Unstoppable Velocity in your organisation, you need leaders who are:

• Clear on how they want to lead
• Focused on what matters most
• Accountable for the outcomes they influence
• Energised by contribution, not just control

The HOW Formula is a tool I use with leaders and leadership teams to sharpen their self-leadership and focus. You can embed this into your programs as a reflective framework:

1. How do you want to feel as a leader in the next 90 days?
   
   (Confident? Purposeful? Calm? Commercially focused?)
2. What is one leadership goal that will create that feeling?
   
   (Be specific; vague goals create vague outcomes.)
3. Why is that goal critical for your growth and the business?
   
   (List five reasons to connect head, heart, and commercial purpose.)
4. Who can assist you?
   
   (Mentor, peer, project sponsor, internal coach.)
5. What are the next 3 best steps to start now?
   
   (Action builds belief. Belief builds velocity.)

Leadership Development Review Questions for HR Leaders

Use the following prompts to assess and elevate your leadership programs heading into the next fiscal or calendar cycle:

1. How are we identifying and developing future leaders across business units?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
2. Are we building a deep enough internal talent pool to sustain succession plans?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
3. How commercial are our current and emerging leaders? Are they thinking like business owners?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
4. Are leadership programs tied to real business projects with measurable impact?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
5. Have we established clear expectations and provided support for participants to apply what they have learned?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
6. Are we recognising and rewarding leaders who innovate, improve, or increase productivity?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________
7. What programs, coaches, or speakers have sparked meaningful mindset or behaviour change?
   
   ✎ _______________________________________

Leadership Development Program Results Obtained by Keith

Full Case Studies are available on request … **@**************om.au

Final Thought: Learning Without Application is a Lost Opportunity

You don’t build capability through content alone; you create it through application, accountability, and alignment. Leadership development done well doesn’t just change people. It changes results.

If your goal is to close the second half of 2025 with momentum, purpose, and performance, then now is the time to invest in leadership experiences that challenge, inspire, and activate.

I’d love to support you and your leaders through keynote presentations, targeted development experiences, or the GoalDriver™ Framework, designed to help leaders lead themselves, their teams and the business more effectively.

Let’s Talk About Developing Leaders Who Deliver Results

If you’re planning a leadership masterclass, designing the next phase of your leadership development curriculum, or want to increase the commercial impact of your programs, I can help.

Email: **@**********am.com

Website: www.keithabraham.com

Tool: Discover how the GoalDriver™ Diagnostic builds more self-aware, accountable leaders from day one.