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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虚拟领导

虚拟工作的增长正在重塑领导者与追随者的互动方式：面对面的互动越来越多地被虚拟交流所取代。为了加深对在这个不断变化的环境中领导的影响的理解，我们应用职能领导理论来综合跨不同领导视角和分析水平进行的虚拟领导力研究的结果。我们确定了四种传统的领导职能，实证研究表明这些职能对虚拟环境中的追随者需求满足有更强的影响，并强调了一项新职能——促进技术的使用——与虚拟领导力特别密切。我们的评论揭示了几个有前途的未来研究方向，包括需要检查领导力在整个虚拟环境中的影响，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意义。