Paradoxical Virtual Leadership: Reconsidering Virtuality Through a Paradox Lens

This conceptual article moves the conversation about virtual leadership forward by blending extant knowledge on virtuality and on leadership. Drawing on paradox theory, we show that virtuality is a paradox; therefore, virtual leadership’s core function is to deal with paradox. Our paradoxical virtual leadership model introduces three distinct leadership styles: synergistic, selective, and stagnant. Synergistic leaders view virtuality through a both–and cognitive framework, integrate divergent forces into synergistic solutions, and engage in varied, even opposing, behaviors to synergize virtuality’s paradoxical tensions and leverage the power of paradox. In contrast, selective leaders view virtuality through an either–or framework, and attempt to either manage virtuality’s challenges, or to capitalize on its opportunities, thus failing to balance paradoxical tensions. Finally, stagnant leaders adopt an avoidant framework, ignoring or avoiding virtuality’s paradoxes, and fail to lead effective virtual teams. The practical implications of this model—especially as they relate to how virtual leaders can synergize paradoxical tensions—are discussed.

The Role of Feeling Known for Team Member Outcomes in Project Teams

This research introduces the concept of feeling known—or the belief that others have developed accurate opinions of one’s traits and characteristics—to the team literature. Various theoretical streams posit that acquiring a sense of being known and understood is a central human motivation that leads to positive outcomes for individuals. The present research links team member’s sense of feeling known with team member’s reports of interpersonal trust, personal learning, and project satisfaction in a large sample of project teams. Using a longitudinal study design, this research finds that feeling known is indeed a strong predictor of proximal and distal team member outcomes. Additional analyses reveal that team members’ sense of feeling known plays a role in predicting outcomes for both face-to-face and virtual team members, despite the fact that virtual team members report feeling less known than face-to-face team members. The practical significance of these results is discussed.