Table 5 Glossary of leadership constructs

First-level leadership [8,9,10, 18]

A process of intentional efforts, by an individual who directly supervises frontline employees who do not manage others, to motivate, influence, and enable a person or group of people with the aim of impacting group or organizational outcomes

Transformational leadership [41]

Inspiring and motivating employees to perform beyond expectations

 Inspirational motivation

Possessing a shared vision and high expectations that inspire and motivate others

 Idealized influence

Embodying the values and behaviors to fulfill this vision

 Intellectual stimulation

Challenging others to rethink ways they perform their duties and soliciting their ideas

 Individualized consideration

Attending to the individual needs and feelings of employees

Transactional leadership [41]

Relying on reinforcement and exchanges to promote performance on tasks that are part of one’s role

 Contingent reward

Assigning and setting reward contingencies for fulfilling tasks

 Management by exception–active

Actively identifying and addressing employee mistakes or performance shortcomings

Passive-avoidant leadership [42]

Avoiding making decisions and/or managing employees

 Management by exception–passive

Passively waiting for errors and issues and then addressing them

 Laissez-faire

Taking a “hands off” approach by altogether avoiding making decisions or managing employees

Implementation leadership [20]

Leading in ways that are intended to promote the implementation of EBP

 Proactive

Anticipating and addressing implementation challenges

 Knowledgeable

Possessing a deep understanding of EBP implementation

 Perseverant

Being consistent, resolute, and responsive to EBP implementation

 Supportive

Supporting providers’ EBP adoption and use

EBP champion [64]

Convincing others to accept the innovation through educating, advocating, building relationships and navigating boundaries

Effective organization

Coordinating employees and tasks to efficiently accomplish goals

Managing team relationships

Promoting group cohesion by attending to social dynamics between employees

Equitably distributing work

Dividing work tasks in a fair manner

Managing competing priorities

Attending to implementation tasks among competing priorities and workloads

Facilitating communication

Ensuring information is communicated across varying levels of an organization

EBP buy-in

Agreeing with or supporting an EBP and its implementation