E-Leadership: Virtual Leaders and Virtual Followership

Although the use of appropriate managerial controls has always been critical, this has never been more the case than in the new global economy, where commerce takes place 24/7: e-leaders are affected by time, distance, and cultural considerations in how they actively shape their followers, customers and societys views and use of [Advanced Information Technology] AIT, and potentially the context that embeds them (Avolio, et al., 2014, p.106). On one hand, it might be assumed that a virtual leader has a degree of distance from the subordinates that would make management difficult. On the other hand, virtual communication permits a degree of consistent communication and reinforcement that can be very useful for a team.

Avolio (et al., 2014) also suggests that ethical and character-based leadership is facilitated by AI. The features of virtual technology permit greater information sharing and personalization of communication than was previously typical of the past, and millennials expect and are willing to accept a more permeable work-life barrier, in exchange for...

Virtual interactions can foster so-called social contagioni.e., when one influential person feels positive, that can spread to another person, not simply through the immediate social reinforcement of a meeting, as is typical of most interactions, but with the more consistent feedback of virtual connections such as...…offers a counterweighing potential of spreading negative attitudes and social dysfunction (Avolio, et al., 2014). If not appropriately used, particularly in a multicultural setting, there is the potential for miscommunication to result between organizational members. In leadership exchange theory, this means that high-quality exchanges between leaders and members are characterized by mutual trust, respect, liking, and reciprocal influence, versus technology creating a false perception that relationships and actions are being fostered that are not actually being followed through, but merely being recorded on a virtual calendar (Avolio, et al., 2014, p.110). E-leadership can be highly effective during times of change, if the change is monitored and feedback is consistently offered to subordinates, but the ways in which…