The growth in virtual work is reshaping how leaders interface with their followers: Face-to-face interactions are increasingly being supplanted by virtual exchanges. To advance understanding of the implications of leading in this changing environment, we apply functional leadership theory to synthesize the findings of the virtual leadership research that has been conducted across different leadership perspectives and levels of analysis. We identify four traditional leadership functions that empirical research suggests have a stronger effect on follower need satisfaction in virtual settings and highlight a new function—facilitate the use of technology—as particularly germane to virtual leadership. Our review reveals several promising future research directions, including the need to examine the effects of leadership along the full spectrum of virtuality and to consider the unique challenges that leaders may encounter in hybrid work environments. We also outline important practical implications for organizations, leaders, and their followers.

中文翻译：

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 虚拟领先


虚拟工作的增长正在重塑领导者与追随者的互动方式：面对面的互动正越来越多地被虚拟交流所取代。为了更好地理解在这种不断变化的环境中领导的影响，我们应用功能领导理论来综合在不同领导视角和分析层次下进行的虚拟领导力研究的结果。我们确定了实证研究表明，在虚拟环境中，这四种传统领导功能对追随者的需求满意度有更强的影响，并强调了一项新功能——促进技术的使用——与虚拟领导特别密切相关。我们的综述揭示了几个有前途的未来研究方向，包括需要检查领导力对整个虚拟领域的影响，并考虑领导者在混合工作环境中可能遇到的独特挑战。我们还概述了对组织、领导者及其追随者的重要实际影响。