Achieving lasting and deep-seated change in schools through the embedding of a new set of practices with associated values is a familiar goal. This paper draws upon interviews with school coordinators and head teachers participating in the Learning How to Learn Project to explore the nature of embedding and the related challenges for leadership. Conceptions of embedding may be divided broadly into those which refer to structure, often epitomized by procedural mechanisms, and those which proceed from a belief in a more gradualistic infusion of change through a shift in culture. We discuss a number of approaches to embedding practice, finding that cultural and structural elements are often closely interrelated, although schools place differing emphases on one or the other. The challenges for leadership include resolving the tension between "bottom-up" growth, and "top-down" mandated change, and addressing seven conditions for embedding which appear to be pertinent.