IBM, a long-time proponent of virtual worlds like Second Life and ScienceSim, has published a 36-page document detailing a research study they conducted, along with Seriosity, on how leadership skills learned in Virtual Worlds can translate into the business study.  Update: Actually, the report is from 2007. The opening paragraph is great:

What’s next? It’s the simple question that businesses spend millions trying to answer every year, all with the goal of learning what the business world of the future will look like. But there are some elements of this future that are already falling into place. For example, we know that business is becoming increasingly global. We know that enterprises are increasingly distributed, faster paced, and fiercely competitive. And we know that more work will be conducted virtually, using technology to bridge previously impassable communications gaps.

While not focusing on any virtual world specifically (examples are given of Second Life, World of Warcraft, and EVE online), they make a great case for using virtual worlds as a breeding ground for new talent that understands leadership is not permanent.

“MMORPGs mirror the business context more than you would assume,” says Byron Reeves, Ph.D., the Paul C. Edwards Professor of Communication at Stanford University and Faculty Director of the Stanford Media X Partners Program. “They presage one possible future for business — one that is open, virtual, knowledge-driven, and comprised of a largely volunteer or at least transient workforce.”

Of course, online games do not provide a perfect analog for the business world of the future. The stakes in the real world are obviously much higher. But it’s easy to see how some of the qualities of gifted gaming leaders could translate into a corporate setting. The collaborative influence that online leaders exhibit is extraordinary in some cases. Gaming leaders are more comfortable with risk, accepting failure, and the resulting iterative improvement, as part of their reality. Many of these leaders are able to make sense of disparate and constantly changing data, translating it all into a compelling vision. And the relationship skills of the best gaming leaders would put many Fortune 500 managers to shame.

“You can never stop earning the right to be their leader,” says Tom Cadwell, an MBA student at Kellogg School of Management and former employee at Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft™. “You always have to be sensitive to the concerns of members, and you always have to sell decisions you make. Goodwill from past successes doesn’t last forever.”

The entire document is available here. (Download 1.3M PDF)