The companies connected to the global value chain inevitably and necessarily apply virtualized
solutions in their work organization. As such, the appropriate implementation of the shoring
strategies, the increasing competition and the supply-demand imbalance on the local market of
the high-skilled workers, all puts the existing organizational and leadership practices to the test.
The article aims to highlight the main challenges the virtual team leaders (VTL) are facing and
some best practices that might widen the toolset of the modern VTL. The results are based on a
case study of a multinational info-communication technology (ICT) service company in which
experienced managers and leaders shared their strategies. The main takeaways of the empirical
research are (i) the emphasis on the “early-adopter” behavior and the proper usage of the latest
technology in the communication, (ii) the importance of the ability of building trust and setting
common goals; (iii) despite that everyone is perfectly connected via the internet, the regular
personal presence is still the most powerful leadership tool.