Coaching leadership as a link between individual- and team-level strength use at work

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ sociodemographic characteristics (n = 40)

Profession	(licensed) practical nurse	16
	registered nurse	6
	supervisor	14
	line manager	3
	other	1
Type of work unit	home care services	15
	long-term care facility	13
	institutional services (hospital ward)	11
	home care, assisted living facilities	1
Gender	female	39
	male	1
Work experience (years)	under one year	1
	1–4 years	5
	5–9 years	5
	10–15 years	7
	16–20 years	5
	more than 20 years	16
	unknown	1

Table 2. Template analysis

Coaching leadership and strength use on the individual level
1. Interest of the leader
1.1. Importance of leader’s personal knowledge of subordinate
1.1.1. Creating opportunities to get to know employees
1.1.2. Daily leadership
1.2. Individual strengths tied to personal growth
1.3. Negative consequences of leader’s lack of interest in subordinates
1.3.1. Limited opportunities to use strengths
1.3.2. Reflection of low trust in subordinates
1.3.3. Professional self-esteem and perception of poor competence and strengths
2. Individual consideration
2.1. Identification and support of new strengths
2.1.1. Remodeling of work tasks
2.1.2. Consent of work group to individually modified tasks
2.2. Proactive role of leader in enabling strength use
2.2.1. Suggestions for possible professional development routes
2.2.2. Importance of providing autonomy and building trust
2.2.3. Providing training opportunities
3. Identification of each employee’s strengths
3.1. Accessibility of leader for open dialogue with subordinates
3.1.1. Engaging in dialogue about professional possibilities and interests
3.1.2. Importance of being seen as open and reliable
Coaching leadership and strength use on the team level
1. Knowledge of each employee’s strengths
1.1. From team-level identification to team-level use
1.1.1. Fair distribution of opportunities to use strengths
1.2. Diversity in strength use
1.2.1 Diversity creates tension?
1.2.2. Enabling the strength use of new employees
1.3. Creating a psychologically safe environment
1.3.1. Supporting a culture of strength use and openness
1.3.2. Subordinates can create their own methods for team-level strength use
1.3.3. Strong individuals take charge behind the leader’s back.
2. Coordination of formal share of tasks
2.1. Each team member should be able to use their strength in some area of their work
2.2. Allocating team-level tasks on the basis of individual strengths
2.3. Perception of team members’ strengths
3. Support of shared coordination of individuals’ strength use at team level
3.1. Recognizing team members’ professionalism
3.2. Providing team-level autonomy for strength use

Figure 1. Coaching leadership on individual and team levels.