The increasing prevalence of remote and hybrid work environments has reshaped how they interact with their employees, requiring new strategies to adapt their management style to maintain team cohesion, engagement, and performance. Emotional intelligence (EI) has received extra attention as a critical leadership competency in virtual settings, influencing how leaders manage relationships, communicate effectively, and foster collaborative team culture. One key outcome of EI leadership is its impact on virtual organizational citizenship behaviors (VOCB), voluntary, discretionary behaviors that enhance team performance and organizational effectiveness. However, there is a need for a systematic evaluation of how EI-driven leadership affects OCB in virtual teams, given the unique challenges in remote work environments.

This study examines the relationship between emotional intelligence in leadership and employees' organizational citizenship behaviors in virtual team contexts by exploring key dimensions of EI and how these leadership attributes shape OCB behaviors specifically in distributed teams. Grounded in leader–member exchange (LMX) with OCB theory, and the EI model, this study conceptualizes how emotionally intelligent leaders develop high-quality relationships with team members, fostering trust, motivation, and discretionary effort, even in remote settings where face-to-face interactions are limited.

A critical aspect of this research is virtual team evaluation, specifically the methods used to assess the effectiveness of EI leadership in fostering OCB. Of various evaluation techniques, this study will highlight virtual team sentiment analysis to offer insights into how EI-driven leadership influences OCB in distributed teams and measure the perceived impact of emotionally intelligent leadership on team morale and voluntary behaviors.

The findings of this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of how EI-based leadership development program can enhance OCB in virtual teams. By systematically investigating the relationship between EI and VOCB, this research provides actionable insights for human resource development (HRD) practitioners, team leaders, and organizations aiming to optimize leadership strategies for remote work environments.

Future research directions include investigating various virtual team evaluation techniques to assess the impact of EI leadership on VOCB and assessing the long-term effects of EI leadership training on distributed workforce performance. As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of remote and hybrid work, understanding the relationship between emotional intelligence, leadership, and employees’ virtual organizational citizenship behaviors is essential for fostering high-performing, adaptive, and resilient virtual teams.