Wise Leadership for Virtual Team Learning: The Mediating Role of Organisational Storytelling within Educational Organisations

Abstract

The increasing reliance on virtual teams has transformed organisational learning from an individual activity into a collective capability that depends heavily on effective leadership and knowledge-sharing practices. Despite extensive research on leadership and team learning, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how Wise Leadership (WL) promotes Virtual Team Learning (VTL) through Organisational Storytelling (OS), particularly within educational organisations. Addressing this gap, the present study develops and empirically tests an integrated conceptual model examining the direct and indirect relationships among WL, OS, and VTL in the Representative Offices of the Iraqi Ministry of Education operating in the Kurdistan Region. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to employees and team leaders working in virtual teams. The proposed model was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to assess both the measurement and structural models. The findings demonstrate that WL exerts a significant positive influence on OS and VTL. Furthermore, OS significantly enhances VTL and partially mediates the relationship between WL and VTL, indicating that leaders who effectively communicate organisational experiences through meaningful narratives substantially strengthen collaborative learning processes. The study contributes to the leadership, knowledge management, and organisational learning literature by introducing one of the first empirical models integrating WL, OS, and VTL within a single framework. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of developing leaders' practical wisdom and storytelling capabilities to improve knowledge sharing, collaboration, and continuous learning in virtual educational environments.