“Rise of the Virtual Leader: An Innovative Marketing Approach for Increasing Your Business’ Effectiveness” by Michael Houghton and Jason Kukulis of the Kauffman Foundation is a comprehensive study of how emerging digital technology can transform a business. There is an ever-growing need to improve the effectiveness of the marketing and sales departments of a company as businesses become more global and as the competitive landscape is getting ever more challenging. The Kauffman Foundation has been conducting research on leadership for several years, and this book provides an excellent and complete review of the latest trends in digital leadership.
What makes a virtual team successful?
I have studied leadership using a variety of new technology. I also have had experience in marketing and sales, so I was interested in what the authors of this book had to say about digital technology. While I believe that there are a number of tools and platforms that can be used for managing a company’s communication needs, I also recognize that these platforms can have a negative impact on a business’ ability to effectively communicate its mission, goals, vision, values, etc. This is why it is so important to make sure that leaders use the tools and platforms that are appropriate for their job and their business.
In their review of the Rise of the Virtual Leadership, the authors state: “A leader in a virtual environment should be able to connect with the people in his organization easily and comfortably. To do this, he must be able to build a relationship with a person who uses digital tools, such as a website, to communicate with others.” The authors also note that a “leader in a virtual world should be able to understand a person who works from home or whose primary contact with others is via the internet.” The authors suggest that this requires a “manager to understand how his or her team interacts with his or her virtual organization.”
What is virtual leadership?
In addition to helping a manager understand how his team interacts with him, the authors recommend that managers should be able to access real-time data on the performance of their leaders. These data include their “vision, values, mission, business, and objectives,” as well as the “level of engagement.” These data should be available across all departments, including the sales, marketing, customer service, human resources, and legal departments.
Another way to help a business owner understand how to integrate a digital platform into his or her business is to have a leader to create a team of “virtual liaisons.” This team would include sales, marketing, customer service, business development, and other departments that work with and interact with the company’s overall strategy. The author recommends that a virtual liaiser should “be given access to all relevant tools and information” from all the business functions involved with the company.
“A liaison should have real-time access to all the systems that the business uses to run its operations. He or she should be able to take care of internal communications and keep all the pertinent records up to date. The liaison should also be able to access the corporate website, sales funnel, business dashboard, marketing funnel, and the corporate website itself. If the liaison is not a member of the business team, the liaison should have a full understanding of the company’s sales funnel.”
What is the purpose of a virtual team?
The author further notes that a business owner should “build a system that will enable the liaison to send updates across all aspects of the business. The liaison should be able to manage the communications system, including email, telephone, and all types of social media.” A business owner should also create a system that allows him or her “to view and interact with the business’ social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Facebook Connect.” If a business owner does not already have a good system in place, the author recommends that they “work with a liaison to design one that is customizable for their company and specific employees.”
Finally, the authors recommend that business owners implement digital tools into their company’s “strategy.” For example, a strategy should “help to set the direction and mission for the business, and should include a description of how the business plans to use technology to achieve those goals. In addition, the strategy should identify how the strategic goals will impact your company’s future as a whole.” Once this information has been gathered, the strategy should be implemented to help the business to implement the strategies and reach its future goals.
