BMAL 727 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY Wk 7 Literature Review - Situational Leadership 2025.docx

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Situational Leadership Addressing Virtual Team Retention in Mayo Clinic

Alejandro Cuervo

Department of Business, Liberty University

BMAL 727: Leading Effective Teams (D03)

Dr. Clifton Thacker

December 07, 2025

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Abstract

This literature review explores the implementation and absence of situational leadership in

improving virtual team retention at Mayo Clinic. The emergence of remote positions within the

healthcare sector necessitates adept leadership to sustain retention of staff and mitigate

turnover rates. The study elucidates the complexities encountered by virtual teams,

encompassing obstacles in communication and the imperative for fostering credibility within

members of the team. Situational leadership is presented as a flexible approach that adapts to

the varying needs and competencies of team members. The Bible does not specifically reference

"situational leadership"; however, it exemplifies what it means through multiple figures who

adjust their approaches to suit differing contexts. The passages in Luke 6:12-16 and 1

Corinthians 9:19-23, exemplify the concept of situational leadership, highlighting the necessity

of adjusting one's methods in accordance with the needs and preparedness of others. These

verses underscore the importance of thoughtful discernment and adaptability in positions of

leadership. Through the implementation of adaptable managerial strategies, those at the helm

of healthcare organizations can cultivate an environment that nurtures emotional investment

and fulfillment among their workforces.

Keywords: Coaching, guidance, encouragement, communication, leadership

Situational Leadership Addressing Virtual Team Retention in Mayo Clinic

The problem of retention in healthcare has only become increasingly pertinent over the

last few years, particularly with the emergence of virtual teams. The Midwestern private

hospitals are under increased stress to hold a steady staffing level, sponsor care teams, and

curtail burnout. The Mayo Clinic, a major healthcare institution in the area, has been using

hybrid and virtual workplaces progressively to facilitate both clinical and nonclinical activities.

This change has generated an emergency requirement in leadership forms that can enhance

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interaction, transparency, and flexibility among distant workers. Situational leadership with the

focus on modifying leader behavior to the preparedness of followers has proven to be a potent

method of mitigating turnover and enhancing retention in the long term in virtual care settings.

This literature review aims to determine the correlation between situational leadership, virtual

team functionality, and retention outcomes in the Midwestern private hospitals and in the case

Mayo Clinic, the organizational context.

The Challenges of Virtual Team Retention in Healthcare

The fast development of virtual and hybrid work-based models within healthcare has

transformed the nature of the team, expectations in operations, and the stability of the

workforce. Hospitals that previously depended on face-to-face clinical and administrative work

are now providing the support of large groups of remote workers, such as telehealth nurses,

clinical research workers, billings workers, coders, customer service workers, and digital health

experts. Even though virtual work enhances flexibility and expands the staffing capacity, it

presents new challenges to retention. Medical institutions are now forced to maintain contact,

safeguard the health of their workers, and provide clarity to the teams that do not often have a

common workplace (Miller, 2024a). The challenges of retention are compounded by the failure

of the leadership practice to align with the needs of the remote or the failure of the

organization’s

systems to support the distributed teams.

The obstacles are especially apparent in the Midwestern private hospitals, which already

face the problem of workforce shortages and high turnover rates that put pressure on the

continuity of patient care. Since the Mayo Clinic, as well as other large organizations, is going to

keep expanding its virtual operations, it is necessary to learn about the specific challenges

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remote employees encounter to maintain the performance of the organizations (Stephenson,

2025a). These challenges are addressed in the subsequent subsections, with particular

attention to the structural, psychological, and operational aspects of the issues that impede

long-term retention in healthcare virtual teams.

Changing Workforce Expectations in Healthcare

The healthcare workers have witnessed a significant cultural shift in terms of the way

they believe they should work and interact with leaders. Flexibility has become the norm of

virtual and hybrid models, and now most employees are demanding a clear communication

hierarchy, certain leaders, and a stable digital infrastructure (Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016).

Technology is essential to remote teams, as they can only communicate with team mates and

execute their duties via technology, and therefore, organizational success is tied to effective

systems and practices in leadership.

The virtual healthcare workers anticipate leaders to be available and listening. The

communication can be inconvenient, delayed, or unclear; in this situation, employees will feel

disconnected or undervalued. A high level of transparency is also demanded in the

decisionmaking by remote staff. Rumors are spread quickly in a virtual setting, and

misinformation may enhance anxiety. In the absence of effective leadership communication,

employees can make the worst assumptions as they become more stressed and less committed

(Malone, 2025a). These changes anticipated needs demand leaders to take the initiative in

ensuring clarity, consistency, and support in a manner that is way beyond a conventional

supervisory role.

Burnout and Emotional Fatigue in Virtual Healthcare roles

The problem of burnout is one of the leading factors of turnover in healthcare, and the

virtual environment presents other stress factors that increase the effect of emotional

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exhaustion. Working remotely, employees are usually pressured to be in constant contact,

respond fast to online notifications, and have to meet strict deadlines. This immediacy may

erase the workpersonal life boundaries (Campa, 2025a). In the case of the clinical staff operating

in the telehealth environment, the emotional burden of attending to patients remotely,

consistently having to work with complicated medical issues, and not physically being close to

them may

cause compassion fatigue.

A lot of virtual healthcare positions are repetitive, and they have high documentation

demands. Medical coders, transcriptionists, and billing specialists might have a high production

quota, which results in stress. In the absence of physical social interactions and emotional

support systems, remote workers would feel isolated, and their morale would be low, as they

might feel they are not seen or heard in the organization. Leadership is also extremely

important in terms of understanding the symptoms of burnout and workload issues and making

sure that remote employees feel noticed and valued (Merida, 2015). Turnover is nearly

inevitable when leaders are ignorant of the issues of emotional fatigue.

Communication Barriers in Distributed Healthcare Teams

The key to successful work within virtual team is communication, which is the most

difficult part of remote activities. Online communication cannot provide the nonverbal

communication, spontaneous exchange of information, and emotional understanding that are

present in the real world. Misinterpretation multiply in instances where messages are

ambiguous, incomplete, or have different interpretations (Curd, 2025). Healthcare work is highly

detailed and time-sensitive; thus, a communication failure may cause serious issues in the

working

schedule.

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Workers working remotely tend to use various communication tools, each of which has

its own demands and standards. In the absence of a system of communication, the employees

will not be able to know when to escalate issues, how fast to react to messages, or who is in a

position of authority in such ambiguous cases. Uncontrolled virtual meetings may also be

overwhelming and cause digital fatigue (Tang et al., 2023). Such impediments destabilize the

team spirit, frustrate, and diminish the feeling of affiliation among employees with the leaders

and peers. In the long run, poor communication structures emerge as one of the key

contributors to lack of interest and voluntary turnover.

Role Ambiguity and Structural Support

Healthcare organisations rely on clear roles, standard procedures, and clear

expectations. When the work gets virtual, the frameworks, which provided clarity can be

undermined. Remote workers might lack access to colleagues who can respond promptly to

urgent questions, and poor workflow can result in mistakes (Othman & Khrais, 2022). Unless

leadership gives specific guidance and constant clarity, the employees will experience a feeling

of confusion in their

responsibilities, performance criteria, or priorities.

Frustration and job satisfaction have a close relationship with the role of ambiguity.

Uncertain employees who are working remotely and do not know what to do or get conflicting

information can start to question their abilities. This may swiftly develop into a lack of interest.

In an environment with a weak structure, in terms of structured onboarding, electronic

documentation, and description of the job, virtual team members stand a higher chance of

quitting their jobs (Wild, 2022b). Leaders should make sure that structural clarity

counterbalances the absence of physical contact, or the employees will be subjected to the

sense of constant uncertainty that negatively affects retention.

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Unfair Allocation of Work

Leaders can no longer easily identify patterns in workloads in virtual environments.

Other employees might silently accept more duties, and other might not perform their duties

intentionally because of miscommunication or poor specifications (Hassan et al., 2025). Unless

workload disparities are monitored regularly, they may arise. Employees who are overworked

suffer burnout, and those who are not overworked feel unappreciated or unsure of their input.

Whenever workload management is concerned, health care organizations can find it

especially hard with remote teams, since workload is not always of the same status, urgency, or

technical specifications. Inability to allocate the jobs fairly will lead to resentment, stress, and

distrust. Workers with no support and overwhelmed members have a high chance of seeking

employment options (Kiplimo, 2023). Leaders should also put in monitoring systems that will

enable them to detect the workload imbalances earlier so they can redistribute the assignments

before employees reach breaking points.

Mental Detachment and Loss of Sense of Belonging

This sense of belonging is a very important retention factor. When employees are

associated with a team they belong to and when they are aligned with organizational values,

they are not likely to quit their jobs. Virtual environments, in their turn, create psychological

distance, which may undermine the team identity. Remote workers might also become invisible,

feel excluded or not a part of the decision-making process, or experience a lack of connection

with the organization culture (Likoum, 2021b). There is a possibility that they will not be able to

build relationships with coworkers or will not feel connected with the mission of the hospital.

Engagement is jeopardized in healthcare, and low belonging may be detrimental in the

context of a healthcare environment, where teamwork and collaboration are paramount to the

quality of care. Workers working remotely have to depend on digital platforms to connect, but

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technology cannot bring true relational connections (Kimura, 2024). The leadership should be

keen on including and in such a way that there is a sense of belonging through inclusive

communication, recognition, team-building strategies, and visible support. Psychological

disconnection develops, and the turnover escalates without any deliberate effort on the part of

the leaders.

Poor Professional Development Prospects

Some of the remote healthcare workers fear that there is less access to career

advancement in a virtual environment. They might also feel intimidated by not being promoted

or getting a chance to develop professionally because of their decreased physical presence.

Managers who fail to invest in remote personnel deliberately endanger the motivation and

future commitment (Stephenson, 2025b). In cases where employees feel that they have

minimal growth

prospects, they tend to find jobs in institutions that have better avenues of growth.

The members of the virtual team also need training in order to adjust to digital systems,

new technologies, and changing processes. In cases where the organizations do not support

employees, they might find it difficult to deliver according to expectations (Reinhold, 2024a).

Lack of training is a cause of stress, errors, and dissatisfaction, which affect retention.

Situational Leadership as a Framework for Virtual Team Management

The styles of situational leadership are developed on four main styles, namely directing,

coaching, supporting, and delegating. Individual styles are associated with the level of

development of an employee, which integrates his/her task skills and dedication (Wild, 2022c).

This model enables the leaders to align their behavior to the individual needs of a task or

employee.

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The directing style offers high levels of structure and direction, which is essential to the

new remote employees who might get lost in digital systems. Coaching is a high structure

coupled with relationship support, and it is applied to employees who are increasingly

competent but lack consistent motivation. The supportive style focuses on encouraging and

decision-making with others and empowers employees who are efficient yet can lose

confidence. By delegating, employees who are highly capable and self-motivated are given

autonomy, which fosters trust and eliminates needless supervision (Redmond, 2021a). This

flexibility is such that the virtual employees get the appropriate form of guidance and

encouragement when they need it. When the employees are remote or uncertain, situational

leadership will offer the structure and still allow

flexibility.

Improving Remote Work Communication

Successful virtual team management is achieved by effective communication. Situational

leadership helps a leader to customize the communication according to the level of readiness

and complexity of the task. Leaders might have to talk to their new employees often and

describe how to do things thoroughly and step-by-step to remote workers who are hired (Miller,

2024b). Leaders can make the transition to more conversation and even give autonomy when

needed as

the employee gets more relaxed.

This would reduce the confusion and misunderstanding that always occur in online

communication. Frustration is also minimized, and trust is developed through structured

communication practices. When employees feels listened to, understood, and informed, they

are more engaged and have a higher likelihood of staying within the organization (Wheelan et

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al., 2025). Situational leadership makes sure that communication is not fixed or ineffective as

compared to that of employees.

Digital Competence and Leadership Behaviors

The remote healthcare employees are diverse in terms of their technological comfort.

There are those who are well acquainted with electronic platforms, and there are those who

might have a hard time. Situational leadership enables leadership to facilitate employees based

on their digital competence. Directing styles can be required in terms of employees learning

new systems, which will be instructed in detail, regularly check in, and demonstrated (Merida,

2015). A delegating style will provide employees with autonomy and lessen micromanagement

when

these employees have good technical skills and confidence.

An individualized approach allows for avoiding frustration and makes employees feel

neither overwhelmed nor neglected (Curd, 2025). Situational leadership can enhance the

efficiency of workflow and create more satisfaction in remote employees, as the behavior of a

leader is adjusted to the digital readiness.

Enhancing Motivation and Emotional Involvement

Virtual teams may experience a high level of motivation at some times and fall short of

this level at others with respect to workload, emotional state, and quality leadership support.

The situational leadership places a great deal of emphasis on the identification of differences in

motivations and the way this is addressed. It is possible that employees who lack confidence or

are disconnected employees have a greater need for relational support, positive feedback, and

recognition (Malone, 2025b). The supporting style, or coaching style, enables leaders to

establish emotional interest through the validation of the employee's concerns and appreciation

of the employee's contributions.

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Remote workers are highly motivated when they are given freedom and room to develop

by their leaders. Delegating style is favorable to intrinsic motivation because it gives employees

room to own their work (Campa, 2025b). This fosters a sense of competency and identification

that has a direct effect on retention.

Encouraging Role Explicitness with Flexible Direction

Situational leadership assists in minimizing role ambiguity since it ensures the employees

get the right degree of guidance. Leaders with directing or coaching styles may help such

remote workers whose expectations are not clearly defined with structure, written guidelines,

and clear instructions (Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016). As remote employees are confident,

leaders become less directive in their actions and engage employees in the decision-making

processes. This dynamism reflects the developmental process through which remote workers

undergo in the process of adapting to their jobs. Clarity in leadership eliminates uncertainties,

increases the accuracy of the tasks, and results in fewer errors. Due to the higher role clarity,

employees experience a sense of confidence and commitment to their jobs, which enhances

retention in the long term.

Developing Trust and Psychological Safety

Virtual teams must contain trust since the employees are unable to base their judgment

of the leader’s credibility using physical interactions. Trust is enhanced through situational

leadership because it enhances responsiveness, consistency, and fairness. Leaders put into

practice behaviors that demonstrate to employees that they are appreciated, supported, and

comprehended (Tang et al., 2023b). Coaching and supporting behaviors can be used to make

the

employees feel free to discuss issues without the fear of being judged whenever errors are

made.

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Remote healthcare teams, especially those dealing with sensitive patient records or

complicated clinical activities, need psychological safety. A flexible leadership style between

support and structure, depending on the needs of the employees, promotes a situation in which

employees feel free to request assistance, provide feedback, and give solutions (Othman &

Khrais, 2022). When employees believe in their leaders, their job satisfaction levels increase,

and they have less turnover intention.

Improving Performance and Accountability

Situational leadership promotes accountability through ensuring there is a clear display

of expectations, a definition of responsibilities, and the provision of employees with proper

supervision. The coaching and directing styles enable remote employees to know how to

perform and acquire skills needed to be successful (Caputo et al., 2023). The supporting and

delegating

style encourages ownership and accountability as the employees grow.

This flexible solution is necessary in virtual settings, where leaders cannot see the

employees directly, and thus, the sense of accountability will not be harsh or inconsistent.

Employees are not micromanaged, and they are conscious of what they are supposed to do

(Likoum, 2021d). Shared responsibility enhances equality and better performance, both of

which foster retention in the long term.

Nourishing Equity and Equitability in the Division of Labor

In virtual teams, the proportion of work distribution is essential. Situation-based

leadership assists leaders in evaluating the preparedness of the employees and allocating

responsibilities depending on their abilities. Those staff members requiring further assistance

are assigned fewer challenging duties with proper supervision, whereas those who are well

prepared may be assigned more demanding duties (Hassan et al., 2025). This brings equality

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and minimizes bitterness. Trust and turnover reduce when employees realize that leaders do

not give responsibilities to one without a purpose.

Establishing Growth Opportunities in Virtual Teams

A significant area that has a high impact on retention in the healthcare field is

professional development. Situational leadership helps in the growth since it understands when

the employees are prepared to handle a new task. Leaders have the ability to transition styles to

offer mentoring, skill building, or greater autonomy. When employees have a feeling that they

can advance in the organization, they are likely to stay. Situational leadership can also ensure

that growth is not contingent on physical visibility of the worker, particularly given that remote

workers are considered remote workers (Kiplimo, 2023). Rather, it is associated with readiness

and performance, which gives remote workers an opportunity to flourish and feel appreciated.

Situational Leadership and Virtual Team Retention Retention Issues Unique to Virtual

Healthcare

Healthcare is a multifaceted, emotionally charged, and task-oriented sphere, requiring

specific attention to every detail of tasks. These demands are increased by virtual work. Remote

healthcare workers tend to wander through web spaces, changing documentation demands,

excessive communication burdens, and fluctuating patient expectations. The absence of

personal communication presents an additional complication to clinical personnel who work in

telehealth, remote triage, or digital assistance (Kimura, 2024). Administrative staff who perform

billing, coding, scheduling, or data management responsibilities also have performance

pressures that

can be worsened by isolation or communication delays.

Such aspects often cause disengagement or burnout when leadership support is not

sufficient. The retention process is put at risk when workers experience feeling overloaded,

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unnoticed, or disinterested in organizational purpose (Wild, 2022d). The issue of this situation

can be addressed with the help of situational leadership, which offers individual advice to help

employees through the challenges that arise in the digital environment.

Changing Leadership Style to Improve Retention

There are four behavioral leadership styles that are included in situational leadership,

and they are directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. All styles are associated with the

willingness of an employee, which is an idea of his/her competency and assurance in

performing a duty. Preparedness in virtual environments of the health care system varies

depending on the level of exposure to digital technologies, exposure to remote processes, and

personal emotional stability (Miller, 2024c). Adequately adjusted leaders make their style trust-

centered, clear, and

stable.

Directing style would suit the newly recruited remote workers or employees whose job is

unknown to them. Leaders give clear instructions, guidelines, and tight control, which minimize

misunderstandings and foster early trust. Coaching helps employees who know how things are

done but require reinforcement, motivation, and development of skills. Supporting is

appropriate among competent employees who enjoy working together and making joint

decisions (Zhong et al., 2023). Outsourcing to really good workers who perform well under

independent and trust initiatives. Leaders can do it by changing behaviors and making

employees feel directed instead of being neglected and strong instead of feeling overpowered.

This has a direct impact on strengthening retention.

Improving Leader-Employee Alignment in Virtual Team

Among the highest risks of virtual teams, there is the misalignment of the expectations

of a leader and the experience of an employee. Lack of physical proximity can lead to an

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overestimation of an employee by the leader or failure to notice when they seem to be

frustrated. The situational leadership minimizes this mismatch as it demands that the leaders

constantly evaluate the performance of their employees, their confidence, and their emotional

condition

(Stephenson, 2025c). Rather than making assumptions about the competency, leaders consider

certain signs, including the communication patterns, accuracy of the tasks performed, the

response time, and the expressed concerns.

This continuous diagnostic process enables the leaders to switch their actions swiftly in

instances where the employees are exhibiting signs of stress or disengagement. As an

illustration, when an involved coder suddenly starts making more mistakes, the leader may

switch to a delegating style and change it to a supporting or coaching style, providing additional

support until the problem stabilizes (Reinhold, 2024b). This flexibility guarantees that the

employees will never feel shunned, which will enhance the level of loyalty and lower the

chances of turnover.

Creating Affinity via Individualized Support

Research has found employee engagement to be a significant predictor of retention, and

situational leadership enhances employee engagement by acknowledging the fact that every

employee is not motivated in the same way. In virtual environments, leaders have to be more

mindful of learning about these motivations (Redmond, 2021b). One employee who appreciates

autonomy might react well to delegation, whereas another who has issues with isolation might

appreciate regular check-ins and interactions with colleagues.

Situational leadership asks the leaders to monitor such preferences and change their

strategy. This will make sure that the employees have the feeling that they fit with their needs

and leadership behavior (Wheelan et al., 2025). When the members of the team feel that they

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are understood and supported, they actually become more committed to their duties and tend

to remain on a long-term basis.

Leadership in Response to Burnout

One of the gravest threats to the retention of virtual teams is burnout. Remote medical

labor may be emotionally exhausting, particularly when the workers feel out of place among

their colleagues or are not aware of their results (Curd, 2025). By inducing emotional support

according to levels of readiness, situational leadership directly fights burnout.

Stressed or fatigued employees may be in need of more supportive actions such as

empathy, encouragement, and joint problem-solving. In situations where activities are

overwhelming, a leader can go back to using the directing or coaching style, where he or she

can inject clarity and organization again (Malone, 2025c). The dynamic approach enables the

employees to cope with stress better and avoids the burnout developing into a disengagement

or turnover.

Ensuring Psychological Safety on Remote Teams

The environments with serious consequences of the mistake require psychological

safety. The leaders must create an atmosphere of trust, free communication, and non-

judgmental conversation among virtual healthcare workers. Psychological safety is facilitated in

situational leadership through being responsive, fair, and clear in expectations. Employees who

feel secure in asking questions or reporting any difficulties are more resilient, more precise in

their work, and more devoted to their team (Merida, 2015). Leaders make it a habit to align

support with employee preparedness so as to strengthen an environment where individuals are

made to feel appreciated and ready to make contributions without fear.

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Enforcing Responsibility by Adaptive Supervision

A virtual environment does not allow accountability since leaders cannot see work

firsthand. Situational leadership assists the leaders in developing equitable accountability

frameworks depending on the preparedness of the employees. A directing style makes the

inexperienced employees understand, whereas the delegating style conveys trust to the highly

skilled workers (Campa, 2025c). Employees know the expectations and feel that they can

perform to the expectations. Shared responsibility makes them feel more satisfied, as the tasks

will seem reasonable, and employees will feel that they are capable of doing their job. This

transparency and equity assist in retention in the long term.

Promoting Career Growth and Development

Perceived career advancement is important in retention. Telecommuters are usually

fearful of being neglected due to their absence. Situational leadership provides solutions to this

challenge through the assistance of leaders to recognize readiness and offer customized

development opportunities. Coaching provides skill development and mentoring. Supporting

promotes involvement in the decision-making (Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016). Delegation

enables the high performers to exercise leadership skills. Whenever employees believe that they

are developing professionally, they have a much better chance of staying with the organization.

Application of Situational Leadership in Mayo Clinic Virtual Teams

The Mayo Clinic has traditionally been known to have a team-based and integrated

model of patient care, and its propensity towards innovation has made it a pioneer in digital

transformation. Over the past years, the organization has broadened its virtual and hybrid work

application in various departments, such as telehealth services, clinical research coordination,

medical coding, digital imaging review, patient scheduling, administrative support, and care

management (Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016). This change was brought about by technological

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development and the need to operate, which brought new opportunities and new challenges.

Making sure that leaders are prepared to assist those employees who work remotely or in a

distributed environment is one of the most important challenges.

This is a more complex workforce, and situational leadership offers a practical approach

to managing this workforce. The flexible approach of the model, paired with a personalized

approach and being guidance-ready, is more aligned with the necessity of the Mayo Clinic to

maintain the high rates of quality, safety, and employee involvement in various positions, which

are implied by the virtual work (Tang et al., 2023c). Changing the leadership behaviors based on

the competence and confidence of each team member, the leaders of Mayo Clinic will be able

to foster an environment in which virtual employees will feel supported and committed to the

organization.

Multidisciplinary Virtual Healthcare Teams

The virtual teams at Mayo Clinic consist of people with a vast diversity of professional

backgrounds, various skills, experiences, and independent levels. The telehealth nurses work

directly with the patient via video conferencing, the clinical documentation is deciphered by

medical coders, the schedulers work to coordinate high-volume traffic in each department, and

the research coordinators arrange remote data gathering and communication with the

participants (Othman & Khrais, 2022). The different roles have a wide variation of cognitive load,

emotional

demands, and technological complexity.

Situational leadership helps to accommodate such diversity by enabling leaders to be

flexible to suit the needs of every professional group. New virtual healthcare workers can also

need a directing style, as leaders offer extremely regulated instructions and visit them regularly.

An example is that a new telehealth nurse can require explicit instructions regarding

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documentation processes, triage escalation procedures, patient confidentiality policies, and

digital communication guidelines (Wild, 2022e). A directing style will give the nurse the

substantive transparency necessary to work safely and confidently in a remote setting.

More seasoned team members, including research coordinators or more complicated

telehealth providers, might not need as much organization. These workers are provided with a

supporting or delegating style, whereby the leaders have confidence in their competence and

give them freedom when it comes to making decisions (Caputo et al., 2023).

Situational leadership will ensure that leaders do not follow a blanket approach but

rather take into consideration the professional background of every employee, the complexity

of tasks, and digital readiness, and subsequently change their behavior.

Improving Clinical Performance in Virtual Care

The virtual clinical staff encounters special challenges. Zoonoses providers have to

diagnose symptoms without examining their patients, establish rapport via a screen, and

address urgent patient issues on the spur of the moment (Kiplimo, 2023). They need to find the

balance between the large numbers of patients and the emotional needs of distance care.

Leadership

support is required due to these complexities.

Situational leadership helps leaders to provide the right kind of leadership at the right

time. Directive leadership can be required to ensure that patient safety and minimizing the risk

of errors are observed by early-stage virtual clinicians (Hassan et al., 2025). Leaders can

progressively transition to coaching or supporting behaviors as they learn the ropes, which

include requesting clinicians to contribute to the case review, engaging them in the virtual

workflow refinement, and emotionally supporting them during challenging times.

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Burnout reduced, and confidence increased when leaders correctly aligned their style

with the readiness of the clinicians (Likoum, 2021d). Supported virtual clinicians have higher

chances of staying in their positions and thus reducing turnover and continuity of care.

Enhancing Workflow in Remote Administrative Teams

The Mayo Clinic administration is highly digital, where the work of schedulers, coders,

billing staff, and call center representatives is characterized by high productivity standards, many

digital workloads, and strict timeframes (Kimura, 2024). These departments have to deal with

fast communication and accuracy and work on several software systems at a time. Situational

leadership is critical towards maintaining these teams' stability.

New administrative staff might fail to manage the level of tasks and changing demands.

A directing style assists in setting the groundwork of skills, being able to use electronic health

records, meeting documentation standards, and handling protocols of communicating with

patients (Wheelan et al., 2025). The leaders switch to a coaching style or supporting style that

allows them to solve problems on their own and work on the improvement of processes as

employees demonstrate a competent level of work.

In the case of the experienced personnel who are consistently able to deliver on

productivity expectations, delegation sends a positive aspect of trust and recognition of their

professionalism. This freedom creates satisfaction and retention in the long run. Micromanaged

remote administrative workers can turn to positions with more freedom, and abandoned ones

will become overwhelmed (Miller, 2024d). Situational leadership also averts both extremes, as it

involves tailoring the involvement of the leader to the individual's readiness.

Supporting Organizational Culture in the Virtual World

The Mayo Clinic has a solid value-based culture based on the needs of patients,

teamwork, integrity, and continual improvement. Virtual work can undermine cultural

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alignment when the employees are not connected to the mission of the organization (Zhong et

al., 2023). Situational leadership aids in the maintenance of culture, as it enhances consistency

communication and practices that are in line with Mayo values.

Leaders who exercise situational leadership strategically reinforce the cultural

expectations by taking up actions, feedback, and recognition, which address the needs of every

employee. Certain virtual employees might need to be reminded more often about the culture

since they are lonely. Other individuals can absorb the culture by default and just require

reinforcement occasionally. Such adjustments in behaviors by leaders enhance continuity of

cultures and prevent distraction of remote workers from the mission at large (Redmond, 2021c).

The culture of Mayo Clinic can flourish well when leaders remain visible, consistent, and fair.

Situational leadership gives leaders a guideline to do this, irrespective of the geographical

distance.

Enhancing Trust and Psychological Safety

Leaders and employees must trust each other, and it is critical in the virtual

environment, where an incorrect message or the lack of trust can destroy confident within a

relatively short period (Reinhold, 2024c). The situational leadership boosts trust, as it

encourages leaders to align their style with those of employees and show empathy, consistency,

and responsibility. When leaders respond appropriately to issues and are responsive, remote

workers perceive them as trustworthy. This creates psychological safety, which generates an

invitation to the team members to express their concerns, clarify the situation, and confess their

mistakes without fear

of being judged (Stephenson, 2025d).

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 22

Safety issue escalation is important in the healthcare system, where clinical and

administrative errors have severe consequences. Collaboration is also promoted by

psychological safety. When virtual employees believe their leaders, it is easier to actively

participate in team meetings, provide their innovative ideas, and take part in the constant

improvement processes

(Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016). This enhances the performance of the virtual teams of Mayo

Clinic in general and minimizes turnover.

Ensuring the Virtual Growth of Professional

Retention is mainly about career development. The fact that remote employees cannot

be physically seen makes them fearful of being forgotten, which results in their disengagement

or even their leaving (Merida, 2015). Situational leadership will also make its leader aware that

they are ready to grow and offer them customized development opportunities. Leaders may

apply the delegating style to provide advanced roles, leadership duties on any project to

workers who

demonstrate high competence and motivation levels, or options to mentor new workers.

Leaders can use the coaching style to develop confidence and promote skills among

employees who have not yet achieved confidence. When employees are not clear, then a

directing style may be required to divide tasks into easy steps and create clear expectations.

Such flexible development assistance will assist employees in having a long-term view of staying

at the Mayo Clinic (Curd, 2025). When team members of the virtual team feel encouraged in

their career aspirations, chances are high that they will remain in the business and help it to

succeed further.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 23

Improving Decision-Making in Virtual Spaces

Remote working makes the process of decision-making more difficult because there is a

delay in communications, missing nonverbal elements, and digital workflows are more complex

(Malone, 2025d). Situational leadership offers leaders the capability to engage their employees

the decision-making processes depending on the readiness of the employees.

Good workers can be offered to be involved in the decision-making about the workflow

improvement, patient communication plan, or process redesign. The less experienced

employees might need mentorship until they gain confidence. Balancing structure and

empowerment, leaders will develop an environment in which virtual employees feel

empowered and able. The retention is achieved through effective decision-making as it

empowers the ownership of employees (Campa, 2025d). Team members become more loyal to

the organization when they

understand that their voices are heard.

Establishing Coherence in Dispersed Teams

Healthcare delivery requires consistency, no matter the type of work teams do, whether

remotely or in person. The situational leadership approach helps leaders to be as consistent as

they can as they assess the level of readiness and provide each member of the virtual team with

the necessary degree of support (Jennings & Stahl-Wert, 2016). Leaders are able to detect the

disruptions, like the bottlenecks in the workflow, errors in documentation, or ineffective

communication, and change their style in order to stabilize the team. It creates the feeling of

reliability and predictability, which minimizes stress and enhances retention (Tang et al., 2023c).

Virtual employees who undergo disorganized or unstable leadership are likely to get disengaged

or pursue jobs elsewhere with a more stable support structure.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 24

Leadership Behavior Supporting Virtual Team Retention

Good virtual team retention is rooted in effective communication. Working remotely

eliminates the flow of the real-life hallway talk and the quick clarification; as a result,

misunderstanding is easily attained. Nevertheless, leaders should embrace structured,

intentional, and discussion-based communication practices, which are simple to adhere to

(Caputo et al., 2023). This involves the development of frequent check-ins, setting standards for

the response time, and explaining what channels should be used for inquiries and updates. The

leadership behaviors that facilitate retention are well-delivered instructions and feedback, and

communication should never be vague. When employees always receive information on what is

expected and the impact of decisions on their work, the chances of leaving are minimal.

Connection is also reinforced by regular communication, anxiety is minimized, and remote staff

are made to feel that their efforts are important (Kiplimo, 2023). Ineffective or inconsistent

communication, conversely, causes confusion, delay, and frustration, and these factors drive

employees to turnover.

Giving Emotional Support and Strengthening Psychological Safety

One of the most predictive variables of retention in virtual teams in the long term is

psychological safety. In the absence of physical presence, the employees might be reluctant to

voice their opinions, share their mistakes, and express their concerns. The leaders should thus

provide a space where remote workers feel safe in giving feedback or admitting difficulties

(Othman & Khrais, 2022). The leadership behaviors that would promote psychological safety are

active listening, validating the experiences of employees, responding with empathy, and making

sure that, after an error is made, it is treated as a learning experience and not a failure.

Working in virtual healthcare is an emotional one. Telehealth nurses deal with sensitive

patient matters without verbal cues. Without the social setup of an office, the administrative

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 25

staff has to cope with the heavy workloads. The research employees might be out of touch with

the consequences of their labor. Understanding, patience, and emotional presence can be

applied in leadership behaviors that can make remote employees feel visible and respected

(Kimura, 2024). When workers feel that their leaders are keen on their welfare, their loyalty

towards the organization also increases greatly.

Assuring Balance Workload Distributions

Poor allocation of work among members of virtual healthcare teams is a key cause of

burnout. Since leaders cannot physically view the workflow, there is a risk that some of the

employees will silently accept excessive work and others will accidentally accept less (Likoum,

2021a). Examples of leadership practices that will encourage fairness are observing the pattern

of assignments, frequently inquiring about employees' workload pressure, and modifying duties

when an imbalance is observed.

By delegating tasks based on skill level, readiness, and availability, leaders can eliminate

the chronic stress that is causing turnover. The employees who constantly receive excessive

workloads without any assistance tend to lose interest and quit. On the other hand, employees

with balanced workloads will feel respected and appreciated, which will enhance their

organizational commitment (Wild, 2022a). Workload equity conveys fair play, which is a

component of a high-retention environment that is critical.

Providing Growth, Development, and Autonomy

Workers who have to work remotely tend to fear that they might be denied

opportunities to get promotions or even professional development due to the fact that they are

not present physically. Any countering leadership behavior that reduces this fear plays a vital

role in retention (Hassan et al., 2025). Leaders have to make a deliberate effort to identify high

performance, provide training opportunities, and provide avenues of growth that are open to

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 26

virtual team members.

Giving autonomy is also a key source of retention. Trust and confidence are strengthened

by the leaders who assign meaningful roles to the employees once they have proven their

competence. Autonomy makes employees develop a sense of ownership of their work, which

makes them even more motivated and loyal in the long term. The following leadership practices

will enable autonomy: allowing the freedom of the employee to make decisions, offering them

to lead small projects, and appreciating the outcomes of the work done independently

(Wheelan et al., 2025). Employees will be much more willing to stay in the organization when

they realize that remote work is not a hindrance to their career growth.

Strengthening Organizational Purpose and Team Identity

Evading a mission serves as a significant factor in retention motivation. The use of

healthcare workers to stay in their positions is common, as workers find that their work adds

value to the lives of patients and the community in general. In a virtual setting, however, the

employees might not become connected to the mission of the organization (Stephenson, 2025).

Reaffirming purpose through leadership behaviors can overcome this loss of touch.

The leaders may boost the purpose by talking about the outcomes of the teamwork and

linking the personal work to that of the institutions and how remote work benefits patients and

organizational achievement (Miller, 2024e). Employees will be motivated, and the risk of

turnover reduced when they know the importance of their job. In the same manner, team

identity should be strengthened. Managers who appreciate success, foster teamwork, and

enable virtual teams to form a sense of belonging. This team identity forms the retention

emotional base.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 27

Earning Trust by Being Reliable and Transparent

Virtual teams must have trust since, in this context, employees are unable to use physical

interaction to determine the intentions and credibility of the leaders (Zhong et al., 2023). Some

of the leadership actions that create trust are the ability to stick to commitments, openness

when it comes to organizational changes, and the ability to respond to issues. Open

communication eliminates gossip and panic. Integrity is demonstrated in reliability. Trust is

enhanced through fairness in decision-making. Consistent and ethical actions by leaders make

the employees feel safe in their positions and less attracted to potential alternative positions

(Redmond, 2021d). The retention in virtual environments is supported by trust, and leadership

is a key factor in

developing it.

Gap in the Literature

A substantial corpus of research exists concerning situational leadership within both the

business sector and traditional healthcare settings. There has been a paucity of research

elucidating the direct application of situational leadership principles to remote healthcare

practitioners. The dominant body of research is in face-to-face clinical teams or overall

administration, which creates a gap in the knowledge of how situational leadership applies in

telehealth practice, virtual administration, or remote research coordination (Reinhold, 2024d).

Such environments are unique and can change the way leadership styles are implemented.

Additional studies are required to test the direct effects of situational leadership on retention in

these specialized settings.

Lack of Specialization in Regional Variations, especially in the Midwest

The majority of leadership and retention research is performed in big cities, coastal

areas, or countrywide. There are very few studies focusing on the particular retention issues of

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 28

Midwest private hospitals. It also experiences special challenges of workforce shortages,

population distribution, and economic patterns that have particular effects on employee

stability as compared to other regions (Campa, 2025e). Specifically, rural locations find it difficult

to fill recruitment funnels and might have to depend more on virtual labor. The insufficiency of

the research focused on the region will restrict the capabilities of the Midwestern institutions to

create retention strategies that are specific to the region.

Longitudinal Studies to Measure Leadership Impact over Time

Most of the available research considers the effectiveness or retention rate of leadership

at a point in time. The virtual healthcare setting constantly evolves, and the level of readiness

among the employees improves as well since they grow accustomed to online tools and

business requirements. Longitudinal studies would give a better understanding of the impacts of

the leadership intervention on the retention month by month or year by year (Jennings & Stahl-

Wert, 2016). This research may indicate whether situational leadership can lead to a long-term

effect or if its effect wears off with the absence of reinforcement.

Minor Analysis of Digital Competence as a Leadership Strategy

Remote healthcare workers have a wide range of technological confidence and skills.

However, very little research examines the ways leadership ought to be modified to

accommodate low-digital-preparedness employees. It is important to understand the concept of

digital competence since technical frustration may cause disengagement (Curd, 2025). The

leadership strategies might need to be customized not only based on their task competence but

also on the level of digital skills. This is a weakness that prevents the accuracy of existing

leadership models from being applied to virtual healthcare teams.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MAYO CLINIC 29

Conclusion

Situational leadership provides a responsive, flexible, and individualized strategy for

managing virtual healthcare teams. Its flexibility to meet the preparedness of the employees

and ability to help them in building their emotional health, as well as enhancing

communication, make it an effective retention strategy. In the case of organizations such as the

Mayo Clinic that are dependent on distributed workforces, situational leadership will maintain

performance, strengthen culture, and minimize turnover. Though the literature on this subject is

increasing, a lot of gaps still exist, especially in regional study, long-term retention evaluation,

and virtualspecific leadership dynamics. Since healthcare has been gradually turning digital in its

operations, situational leadership becomes more and more necessary to maintain the stability

of the workforce and organizational success.

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