PurposeThe purpose of this article is to provide guidelines to help leaders understand and lead virtual teams.Design/methodology/approachThis paper discusses the importance and implementation of effective leadership for virtual teams. It begins with a review of conventional versus virtual teams, and then describes the two primary leadership functions in virtual teams – performance management and team development. Following the discussion of the development and function of new teams, the article then provides a detailed guide for the leadership of virtual teams over the life of a project. These guidelines follow the four stages of a project timeline: Pre‐Project, Project Initiation, Midstream, and Wrap‐Up.Practical implicationsFollowing guidelines and understanding the differences between conventional and virtual leadership will enable managers to become effective virtual team leaders.Originality/valueThe paper shows how, in the context of increasing globalization and technology, leaders can manage the challenges of leading virtual teams.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe two social simulations created to assess leadership potential and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. One is set in the novel environment of a lunar moon colony and the other is a military combat command. The research generated from these simulations for assessing the decision effectiveness of potential leaders with different personality traits and decision styles under varying degrees of information quantity, uncertainty and complexity is summarized. Opportunities and limitations of applying current computer assisted technology to social simulations for assessing and developing leaders' decision effectiveness in turbulent environments is discussed.Design/methodology/approachCollege undergraduates and officer candidates in university ROTC programs made a series of decisions while being subjected to varying degrees of environmental turbulence in social simulations. The decision effectiveness of subjects with different personality characteristics under varying degrees of environmental turbulence was assessed through researcher observations, self‐reports, and peer ratings.FindingsSocial simulations are a cost effective way to assess and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. The results of controlled experiments in social simulations have suggested that leaders with high levels of cognitive complexity and incongruity adaptation are more likely to be successful in highly turbulent environments than leaders with lower levels of incongruity adaptation ability and cognitive complexity who are more effective in more stable and structured situations.Research limitations/implicationsThe ease of modifying computer games renders them effective as low‐cost virtual worlds that have relevance in military leadership experimentation. However, the use of computer simulations alone fails to capture the impact that relationships and emotions have on leader decision making, highlighting the continuing need for social simulations that include these interpersonal aspects of decision making.Practical implicationsBy participating in realistic social simulations, leaders can experiment with new decision styles without the risk of making real world mistakes that could jeopardize their own and their organization's future. The leaders who are most successful in adapting their decision style to the more complex requirements can be identified for promotion or assignment to appropriate settings.Originality/valueBoth military and civilian organizations are in need of cost effective way to assess and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. Social simulations provide a unique approach to meeting these needs and can simultaneously provide a venue for research in associated areas.

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The Luna I Moon Colony Simulation is described, and its possible uses as an instructional and research instrument in the areas of individual and group behavior are discussed. The need for such a simulation which resembles reality, motivates participants, minimizes role behavior, and allows for experimental control is posited, and the Luna I's previous use in experiments concerning goal setting, perception, risk taking, decision making, group organization, and creativity is elaborated on. Suggestions for experimental designs, procedures, scenarios, and data collection are included.