Five decades of leadership and ‘disruptive’ technology: From e-leadership and virtual team leadership to current conversations on digital leadership

Despite more recent technological advancements, information and communication technology (ICT) retains its disruptive character within organisations. Many scholars agree that leadership is fundamental to deal with the challenges of ICT in organisations. However, the extent to which traditional leader approaches can account for such challenges remains debated. In response, a five-decade-long scientific conversation has formed along the lines of concepts like e-leadership, virtual team leadership, and recently also digital leadership. This chapter presents a narrative overview of that conversation, demonstrating how the focus has shifted over time. From lab experiments in computer-mediated groups examining the boundary conditions of traditional leadership approaches, to leadership in virtual teams and leadership driving the digital transformational at organisational level. We conclude this chapter with a couple of recommendations for future research and practice.