Research on global team leader effectiveness in general, and global virtual team leadership in particular,  has largely focused on leadership traits and behavior. However, scholars have to our mind underused social status theory as an explanation for leader effectiveness and team performance. In our empirical study, we address the question whether achieved leader status can provide an explanation for leadership effectiveness and successful team deliverables in the context of global virtual teams. The answer to both questions in our study of global virtual teams is affirmative, as we demonstrate that achieved leader status (as perceived by team members), mediates between leadership effectiveness (as evaluated by team members) and team output (as evaluated by an external panel of expert judges). Building on the premise that leaders’ achieved status is endowed by team members through a process of  interpersonal interaction involving perceptions of competence, expertise and prominence, we contend that being an effective leader of global virtual teams is not enough. Instead it is leaders of global virtual team with achieved leader status that are linked to successful team outcomes.