Building the capacity for evidence-based clinical nursing leadership: the role of executive co-coaching and group clinical supervision for quality patient services Aim The general aims of this article were to facilitate primary care nurses (District Nurse Team Leaders) to link management and leadership theories with clinical practice and to improve the quality of the service provided to their patients. The specific aim was to identify, create and evaluate effective processes for collaborative working so that the nursesÕ capacity for clinical decision-making could be improved. Background This article, part of a doctoral study on Clinical Leadership in Nursing, has wider application in the workplace of the future where professional standards based on collaboration will be more critical in a world of work that will be increasingly complex and uncertain. This article heralds the type of research and development activities that the nursing and midwifery professions should give premier attention to, particularly given the recent developments within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The implications of: Agenda for Change, the Knowledge and Skills Framework, ÔOur Health, Our Care, Our SayÕ and the recent proposals from the article Modernising Nursing Career, to name but a few, are the key influences impacting on and demanding new ways of clinical supervision for nurses and midwives to improve the quality of patient management and services. Method The overall approach was based on an action research using a collaborative enquiry within a case study. This was facilitated by a process of executive co-coaching for focused group clinical supervision sessions involving six district nurses as co-researchers and two professional doctoral candidates as the main researchers. The enquiry conducted over a period of two and a half years used evidence-based management and leadership interventions to assist the participants to develop Ôactionable knowledgeÕ. Group clinical supervision was not practised in this study as a form of ÔtherapyÕ but as a focus for the development of actionable knowledge, knowledge needed for effective clinical management and leadership in the workplace. Findings • Management and leadership interventions and approaches have significantly influenced the participantsÕ capacity to improve the quality of services provided to their patients.