[Excerpt] Virtual teams are the name of the game these days. Experience suggests that leaders of traditional teams are struggling to understand and cope with the nuances of this very different and challenging development; thus far, without much help from researchers. This paper represents a start toward filling the gap. First, by clarifying key functions that formal leaders of virtual teams should be performing. Then, by exploring conditions most favorable for formal leaders to coax the formation of shared leadership (i.e., a collective sense of responsibility for essential activities) within virtual teams. And finally, by examining the relative effect of formal and shared leadership on virtual team performance.