OTTRS Speaker Series: “Reimagining leadership: Evolving prototypes in virtual work”
Abstract:
Virtual work—defined as work interactions using technology tools and not conducted in person (face-to-face)—has steadily increased in recent decades and is now a prominent feature of the contemporary workplace. Virtual work arrangements, such as virtual teams and remote work, present unique challenges, which place new demands on leaders to help followers work effectively in a virtual context. These changing leadership requirements may modify individuals’ preconceived ideas or cognitive structures about the characteristics they associate with leaders—known as leadership prototypes. Understanding these cognitive structures is crucial, as individuals are more likely to be perceived as leaders when their characteristics align with these prototypes, resulting in more positive evaluations of their leadership potential and effectiveness. I will present an overview of my research stream focused on virtual leadership, including two working papers. Findings from the first paper confirm that virtual work contexts modify leadership prototypes. The second paper provides evidence that the shift in leadership prototypes reduces their masculinity in virtual (compared to traditional face-to-face settings), mitigating bias against women leaders.
Bio:
Dr. N. Sharon Hill is Professor of Management at the George Washington University School of Business. As a leading scholar on virtual work (e.g., virtual teams, telecommuting, and hybrid work), she studies the positive and negative impact of working virtually to understand how to achieve successful virtual work outcomes for individuals and teams. She is especially interested in how leaders at different organizational levels can facilitate virtual collaboration, foster virtual workers’ well-being, and promote inclusive virtual work environments. Dr. Hill’s articles have appeared in leading academic journals, and she serves on the editorial boards of Personnel Psychology and Organization Science. She has also translated her work for articles in practitioner outlets such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review, and contributions to media outlets such as the New York Times, FastCompany, and World Economic Forum.