DOBCEL Leadership Competency Framework
Why do we need a Leadership Competency Framework?
The Leadership Competency Framework exists to:
- Provide a common language for leadership across DOBCEL
- Support personal development, reflection and professional growth
- Assists in embedding Catholic ethos and identity within our behaviours and expectations.
- Aligns and supports the DOBCEL Strategy 2035 pillars and professional standards.
- Emphasises leadership at all levels – Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading Schools.
What the Leadership Competency Framework is — and is not
The Leadership Competency Framework describes observable leadership behaviours that support effective practice and can be developed over time.
The framework:
- Applies across roles and contexts
- Focuses on behaviours rather than personality, style or position
- Supports reflection, learning, and growth
- Complements professional standards by describing how effective practice is enacted
The framework is not:
- A checklist to be completed once
- Limited to formal leadership positions
- Prescriptive in how it should be used
- A performance rating or appraisal tool. It may be used, where helpful, to support reflective conversations about setting expectations, goal setting or growth or development, but it does not determine ratings or outcomes and does not replace existing review processes.
Leadership development is ongoing and contextual. Individuals may demonstrate different competencies at different times and in different contexts.
How the framework is structured
The DOBCEL Leadership Competency Framework is made up of two key elements:
Seven core leadership competencies
These competencies describe leadership behaviours that apply to everyone, regardless of role, setting, or level of responsibility.
Domain-specific behaviours
These describe how leadership is expressed across different domains, including:
- Leading Self
- Leading Others
- Leading Schools
Together, the core competencies and domains recognise that leadership is shared, contextual, and expressed in different ways across the system.
Leadership at DOBCEL
How can I use the Leadership Competency Framework?
For individuals
For leaders
How the Leadership Competency Framework is used across DOBCEL
The Framework is designed to be practical and lived. Grounded in our Catholic faith and aligned with the DOBCEL Strategy and professional standards, the Framework’s overarching purpose is to build leadership capacity and a strong pipeline of ready-now leaders across the system.
The Framework plays a key role in guiding how we attract, develop, and retain great people by providing a consistent foundation for leadership growth and development.
The Framework supports DOBCEL by:
- Providing a shared understanding of the leadership behaviours and actions expected at DOBCEL.
- Guiding the selection of career pathways or professional learning suited to career stage and experience.
- Supporting the performance, growth and development review processes.
- Supporting professional growth and career conversations.
- Informing the design of professional learning programs.
- Informing job design and recruitment processes.
The framework provides a foundation for ongoing learning and shared understanding, rather than a fixed endpoint.
Resources and tools
Tools and resources to be added soon –
- Self-reflection tool
- Career Conversation Tool
Leadership drop-in sessions -
Want to know more about how to use this tool? Drop into one of the following MS teams session designed to give you practical tips on using the framework in your context –
Got questions or feedback?
Please contact Fiona Murphy
Frequently Asked Questions – For Individuals
No.
The Leadership Competency Framework is not a performance appraisal or rating tool.
The framework is designed to support reflection, professional growth, and shared understanding of leadership behaviours. It may be used, where helpful, to support reflective conversations about setting expectations, goal setting or growth or development, but it does not determine ratings or outcomes and does not replace existing review processes.
No.
The Leadership Competency Framework is intended to be embedded into existing practice, not added on as another task.
It works best when used to support conversations, reflection, or professional learning that is already happening, rather than creating new processes or requirements.
Yes.
Leadership at DOBCEL is not defined by role or title. The framework applies to everyone, recognising that leadership is expressed through everyday behaviours in how we work with others in all professional settings.
Professional standards describe what effective practice looks like.
The Leadership Competency Framework describes how that practice is enacted through observable leadership behaviours.
The framework complements professional standards by helping translate them into everyday leadership practice.
The framework is not used to assess or evaluate performance.
It may be used, where helpful, to support reflective conversations about setting expectations, goal setting or growth or development, but it does not determine ratings or outcomes and does not replace existing review processes.
Leaders may use the framework to:
- Support coaching and mentoring conversations
- Strengthen shared understanding of leadership behaviours
- Guide leadership development and succession planning
- Embed leadership growth into existing professional learning
The framework is intended to support leadership practice, not create additional compliance.
No.
The framework is not designed to be used all at once.
You may choose to focus on one competency, one domain, or one behaviour that is most meaningful for you at a particular time.
Start small and keep it simple.
You don’t need to work through the whole framework. Many people begin by:
- Reading through the core competencies to get a sense of the shared language
- Choosing one behaviour that feels most relevant to your current role or context
- Reflecting on where that behaviour is already part of your practice, and where you might strengthen it
- Looking at the resource page
You might use the framework to:
- Support personal reflection
- Prepare for a professional conversation
- Identify an area for professional learning or development
The framework is designed to be flexible and supportive, not something to complete or “get through.”
If it helps you think more clearly about your practice or have a more meaningful conversation, you’ve started in exactly the right place.
Resources are available on this page and include:
- The full Leadership Competency Framework document
- Self-reflection and development tools
- Short explainer resources
- Leadership development programs aligned to the framework
Resources will continue to grow over time.
The framework exists to support growth, clarity, and consistency in leadership practice across DOBCEL.
If it helps make leadership conversations more meaningful, reflective, or shared, it is being used exactly as intended.
Frequently Asked Questions – For Leaders
No.
There is no prescribed way to implement or roll out the Leadership Competency Framework. The framework is most effective when used to support consistency in expectations of existing practices.
You are not required to complete every part of the framework. Many people choose to engage with one or two behaviours that are most relevant to their current role or context.
Use the framework purposefully to enhance existing practices and create consistency in expectations.
The Leadership Competency Framework is most effective when used to:
- Frame reflective or coaching conversations
- Support leadership growth over time
- Support goal setting
- Provide shared language for leadership behaviours
There is no expectation to apply the framework in full or to introduce new processes. Leaders are encouraged to use the framework where it adds clarity or value, rather than as a checklist or reporting tool.
The framework is not a performance rating tool. However, it may be used to support reflective professional conversations, particularly around leadership behaviours, strengths, and development goals — where this is helpful and appropriate.
When used in this way, the focus should remain on growth and learning, not evaluation.
Consistency comes from shared understanding and modelling the behaviours.
Rather than mandating use, leaders can:
- Reference common language from the framework in conversations
- Model behaviours described in the framework
- Use selected competencies as reflective prompts in leadership teams
This approach supports coherence while respecting context and autonomy.
The framework provides a shared reference point for identifying and developing leadership capability over time.
Leaders may use it to:
- Support aspiring leaders
- Guide leadership development pathways
- Inform mentoring and coaching conversations
- Strengthen leadership continuity and readiness
This supports sustainable leadership growth across the system.
Reassure staff that:
- It is designed to support reflection and growth, not judgment
- The framework is not an appraisal or performance rating tool, but a tool to aid development to support coaching, mentoring, professional conversations, and leadership development, where appropriate.
- Provide consistency in expectations
Leaders play an important role in reinforcing trust through how the framework is spoken about and modelled.
Good use of the framework is:
- Light-touch and intentional
- Embedded into existing conversations
- Focused on behaviours and growth
- Responsive to context
If the framework helps make leadership conversations clearer, more reflective, or more consistent, it is being used as intended.
Start by using the framework with yourself first, then introduce it gradually into existing conversations.
Many leaders begin by:
- Reviewing the core competencies and domains to become familiar with the shared language
- Selecting one or two leadership behaviours that are most relevant to their current priorities
- Reflecting on how those behaviours are already visible in their leadership practice
- Looking at the resources page
Once comfortable, leaders may:
- Reference selected behaviours in coaching or mentoring conversations
- Use the framework as a reflective prompt in leadership team discussions
- Embed it into existing processes such as professional learning, goal-setting, or development conversations
If the framework helps support clearer, more reflective leadership conversations, you’ve started in the right place.