Global conditions are significant factors that impact the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and daily decisions of individuals, societies, institutions, and nations in attaining the set target. For instance, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted all sectors of economies and individuals, without exception, of schools and industries (Hashim et al., 2024; Irby et al., 2023). The global pandemic necessitated a significant shift in conventional leadership practices and other human engagement to virtual platforms (Cox & Mullen, 2022; Hashim et al., 2024; Irby et al., 2023; Yoshizawa, 2025). Notwithstanding, the gradual patronage of modern leaders in using virtual platforms for other purposes, it was not until the emergence of the pandemic that school leaders significantly transformed to virtual sites, hence contributing to the substantial acceptance of virtual leadership coaching (VLC) in schools (Hashim et al., 2024; Irby et al., 2023; Yurkofsky, 2021). VLC is an innovative approach to deepening learning, reinforcing skills and capabilities, and supporting current leaders to transition and undertake their tasks with clarity, dignity and accountability through virtual platforms (Cox & Mullen, 2022; Hashim et al., 2024; Irby et al., 2023; Yoshizawa, 2025). This led to the heightening integration of technologies in educational leadership, and it continues to shape how professional learning and instructional support are conveyed in diverse settings. This approach therefore reflects the relevance of emerging VLC described in this research as the progressive, structured and technology-mediated coaching furnished by modern schools to leaders and educators with the specific purpose of enhancing instructional practice and learners' learning outcomes. This definition suggests that the present landscape of leadership development is unrestricted by location, such as the USA, Europe or Sub-Saharan African countries, conference rooms, and schedules, furnishing flexibility and adaptability in leadership practices (Cox & Mullen, 2022; Hashim et al., 2024; Irby et al., 2023; Yoshizawa, 2025). Notwithstanding the significant challenge associated with the contemporary virtual learning landscape, which is inaccessibility, exploring the depth of this novel system of leadership practices to improve information delivery and dissemination is relevant ( Kenneth Leithwood, 1995).

The main purpose of this qualitative research is to investigate school leaders' lived experiences of VLC and explore how VLC impacts self-awareness, leadership expansion, and their professional conduct. This research is anchored on three significant research questions: (1) How do school leaders engaged in the school enhancement (SE) project recount their experiences of participating in the VLC? (2) What factors of VLC do school leaders discern as most influential in their growth as leaders? (3) How do school leaders explain the shift in their leadership perspectives, behaviors, and identity anchored on the virtual coaching?    

This research is grounded in instructional leadership theory (ILT), transformational leadership theory (TLT), and adult learning theory (ALT) (Munna, 2021; Schunk, 2012; Stone-Johnson et al., 2023; Taylor & Hamdy, 2013).

ILT suggests that strong and effective school leaders exhibit direct influence on their students' learning outcomes by redirecting learning and teaching via professional enhancement, feedback and vision-setting (K. Leithwood et al., 2019; Munna, 2021). TLT furnishes a conceptual idea of comprehending leadership growth as a systematic process encompassing heightened relational influence, self-awareness, and value alignment. ALT portrays leaders as adult learners who essentially benefit from professional learning that is relevant, collaborative, self-directed, and problem-solving oriented (Mukhalalati & Taylor, 2019; Taylor & Hamdy, 2013).

Through the evaluation of the VLC, this research provides insight into the after-pandemic educational realities, through the increasing trajectory in hybrid and remote leadership practices. The present research supports bridging the critical gap in educational leadership studies through an empirical analysis of how leadership practices offered via virtual platforms corroborate instructional enhancements and student academic success.

The present research utilized a qualitative phenomenology research design to investigate and understand the lived experiences of school leaders who participated in the school enhancement project VLC interview. Using phenomenology strategies for understanding the lived experiences of the participants is appropriate for this study because it supports capturing the meanings the participants attribute to the issues underlying this study (Bach, 2024; Halliwell et al., 2023; Hwang et al., 2023; Passarelli et al., 2023). This research design connects with earlier research exploring the lived experiences of participants and supports an in-depth evaluation of how leaders' experiences shape coaching in virtual platforms (Groenewald, 2018; Halliwell et al., 2023; Shorey & Ng, 2022; Turesky et al., 2020). This study utilized interviews as a suitable approach for methodical compilation of perceptual datasets from school leaders across districts in Alabama. The population for this research is K-12 school leaders who took part in the VLC interviews provided by a team of SE project coordinators and administrators in the fall semester through a purposive sampling approach. This research will employ diverse data sources such as coaching documents on school leadership, semi-structured interviews and observations as triangulation to assess their impact on the participants throughout the analytical process. These gathered datasets will be coded to determine the respective themes and patterns connected to the school leaders' capacity building, collaboration and leadership learning. These approaches are also relevant to determine emergent insights and reflexive conditions connected to the researchers’ positionalities and assumptions. Data analysis will follow the step-by-step process comprising initial coding, identification of patterns, and developing organized themes. The themes and codes will entirely focus on the participants' experiences and accounts through a constant comparison. Data enhancement and transparency in the analytical process will be revealed by employing qualitative data analysis software (Nvivo). In ensuring trustworthiness in this research, several approaches would be considered in this study. For example, the authors will ensure credibility via participants' review and confirmation of their interpretations, and member checking of the interview data. Also, dependability and reflexivity would be highly maintained throughout the research process to ensure accuracy and control of potential biases. Moreover, through the institutional review board (IRB) process of ethical considerations, this study will give the participants an informed consent form to fill out, and confidentiality and voluntary participation statements will also be indicated with their accompanying pseudonyms of participants' personal data.

The present research seeks to provide an in-depth understanding and insights into how school leaders experience VLC and their perceptions on influencing their leadership growth. Based on the initial coding of the transcribed data, the findings of this study demonstrate a significant shift in leadership practice and identity, building trust in virtual environments, reflective learning processes, and acknowledging coaches in the schools (Alexander et al., 2025). The outcome of this research is targeted at informing the relevance of leadership coaching practices and novel school leadership development programs available to support leaders and teachers to improve student achievement in the Alabama school districts. The contributions of this research are in three-fold: (1) this research contributes to the scant qualitative research on VLC; (2) this research contributes to and extends the relevance of adult learning theory and transformational leadership theories through virtual coaching environments; and (3) this research will serve as a foundation for building theory into practice through a rigorous research on VLC based on phenomenology. The research is solely qualitative; hence, further research will focus on mixed methods, where quantitative and qualitative datasets will be analyzed to address the inherent limitations of this research.

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