Table 2 Implicit leadership behaviors organized into six broad categories exerted from focus groups and semistructured interviews (phases 1 and 2)

Demonstrating knowledge

1. Formally demonstrate a new intervention with a client in front of staff.

2. “Jump in” to a session and take over for staff to show them how to implement a new intervention.

3. At a staff meeting, bring in a client who benefited from receiving a new intervention to talk about their experience, explain how it helped them in their recovery.

4. Record sessions or groups where staff deliver a new intervention, then review recording during supervision or group discussion in order to coach staff.

Proactively facilitating implementation

5. Formally train staff about a new intervention and why it works.

6. Ask staff about challenges they face when working with clients (e.g., poor attendance at groups, difficulty managing cravings) and then teach staff how new interventions will help address these challenges.

7. Give staff tools to track client programs during the course of a new intervention to prove that it works (e.g., for an intervention to increase group attendance, give staff a chart to track how often clients show up).

8. Tell staff organizational leadership is invested in implementing a new practice

Proactively creating a climate conducive to implementation

9. Hire staff who are receptive to change and a good fit for the organization.

10. Fire staff who do not implement change or threaten discipline if changes are not implemented.

11. Designate a staff member who is well-suited to implement a new practice as a “champion” for change.

12. Inform staff that changes need to be made since they are being mandated by outside funders.

Supporting change through individualized connections

13. Talk to staff about how you were “once in their shoes” and how you have done the work you are asking them to do; empathetically explain you know how challenging it can be.

14. Have an “open door” policy and always be available for staff if they have questions or concerns about a new intervention.

15. Ask staff what help or support they need to deliver a new intervention.

16. Assist staff with other duties (e.g., paperwork) while they adjust to delivering a new intervention.

17. Encourage staff self-care (e.g., tell them to take a vacation day) so they feel refreshed when implementing a new intervention.

Supporting change through transactions

18. Give staff small gifts (trinkets, stationary) as reward for implementing a new practice.

19. Give staff large gifts (jewelry, a trip) as reward for implementing a new practice.

20. Give staff promotions or salary increases as reward for implementing a new practice.

21. Praise staff for implementing a new practice.

22. Chastise or discipline staff who do not implement a new practice.

Perseverance through problem-solving

23. Talk to staff to identify reasons for resistance and reframe implementation of new practices (e.g., tell them a new practice is not a “change in how we do things” but “adding something new to the services we offer.”).

24. After teaching staff about a new intervention, elicit feedback on how intervention can be improved, use this information to adjust intervention.

25. Encourage staff to adapt new interventions to fit within the work they are already doing with clients.

26. Use alternative funding sources (grants, donations) to implement new practices.

27. Use flexible funding sources to support the implementation of new practices.

28. Collaborate with outside agencies and have them deliver new practices instead of in-house staff.