An individual or group of individuals with executive authority and capacity to create organizational and management change, mobilize resources, and act in alignment with the implementation team (and other important teams) in support of the innovation. Active implementation leaders use adaptive and technical leadership skills (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997) to manage complex and technical problems associated with implementation. Active implementation attends to these “drivers” within one of the five active implementation frameworks described by NIRN (e.g., Leadership drivers). 

Heifetz R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 124–134.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10174450/

https://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/module-1/implementation-drivers/leadership-drivers