Featured Post from Georgia Southern University

How to lead the pack when interacting ‘online’? Our expert spoke to the BBC about how leadership is changing in the new workplace.

Sep 30, 2020

2 min

Steven Charlier


Workplaces are changing – and with America adjusting and adapting to the new realities of COVID-19, how teams are managed and how leaders are portrayed is also in a state of evolution.


Georgia Southern’s Steven Charlier was recently interviewed by the BBC – and was featured in an article that focused on the differences between leadership skills and how they come across in-person and on-line.


“Fifteen years ago, Steven Charlier, chair of management at Georgia Southern University in the U.S., had a hunch that in-person charisma and leadership skills don’t translate virtually. “Before I became an academic, I worked for IBM for a number of years on a lot of virtual teams,” he says. “I had a boss who was a wonderful guy and great manager, and he drove me crazy trying to communicate. He was incredibly slow and unresponsive.”


This seed of professional vexation has borne fruit, with new data showing that the confidence, intelligence and extroversion that have long propelled ambitious workers into the executive suite are not enough online, because they simply don’t translate into virtual leadership. Instead, workers who are organised, dependable and productive take the reins of virtual teams. Finally, doers lead the pack – at least remotely.



Georgia Southern’s Charlier is not surprised to find a wide gulf between the behaviors of in-person and remote leaders. “In any leadership role, you’ve got to establish that trust. It’s trusting that the person is going to do things,and trusting that they’re telling the truth and being up front and honest. But how you go about doing that virtually is a little different – it’s a different skill set.”


This is a fascinating topic and one that will be top of mind as America begins a new era of remote working. And if you are a journalist looking to follow up on this topic – then let our experts help.


Steven Charlier is an expert in project management and virtual teams on project-based work and how technology influences how we work and lead within organizations. He’s available to speak with media about this very interesting topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.


Connect with:
Steven Charlier

Steven Charlier

Associate Professor

An expert in project management & virtual teams on project-based work & how technology influences how we work & lead within organizations

E-LeadershipVirtual TeamsE-Learning
Powered by

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern University expert available to provide geopolitical analysis on the Iran war featured image

1 min

Georgia Southern University expert available to provide geopolitical analysis on the Iran war

The Middle East has entered an active state of war marked by a cycle of retaliatory strikes across Iran and the Persian Gulf. Three major uncertainties now dominate the global outlook: the long-term survival of the Iranian government, the fate of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, and the security of critical oil transit routes. Georgia Southern University Professor of Political Science and International Studies Jacek Lubecki, Ph.D., is available to speak about the military operation in Iran and its implications for regional stability and global security. Lubecki is an expert in comparative politics and military security studies, with a focus on the Middle East and Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. His research examines terrorism, counterinsurgency and military strategy. His work has been published in journals including Europe-Asia Studies, East European Politics and Societies, The Polish Review, The New Ukraine and The Armchair General. He has co-authored several books, including Globalization, Nationalism, and Imperialism: A New History of Eastern Europe (2023), which examines domestic and global security challenges, and Defending Eastern Europe: The Defense Policies of New NATO and EU Member States (2021). Lubecki speaks Polish, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German and Arabic with varying levels of fluency. Lubecki is available for interviews in person at Georgia Southern’s Statesboro Campus or virtually.

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Venezuela's political shift after U.S. intervention and the Cuba-Venezuela Connection featured image

1 min

Georgia Southern University expert available for interviews about Venezuela's political shift after U.S. intervention and the Cuba-Venezuela Connection

The January U.S. military action in Venezuela is altering political connections and calculations across the Western Hemisphere, with deep implications for Cuba. The long-standing belief in the United States’ strategic patience regarding adversarial and destabilizing governments has been decisively overturned and threatens the Cuban government’s vulnerability to collapse. Georgia Southern University Associate Professor of International Studies Christopher M. Brown, Ph.D., is a recognized expert in the democratization and democratic theory of Latin American countries and the Caribbean Basin. He offers expert analysis on the shifting political landscape in Venezuela and the long-term resilience of the Havana-Caracas axis. Brown is a National Endowment for Humanities Scholar with the José Martí Institute at the University of Tampa and participated in a Faculty Exchange with the University of Havana. He has authored several books focused on the failed democratic systems in Latin America and most recently published a book titled “Responding to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis: Insights for the Caribbean” (with Georgina Chami Ph.D., University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nalanda Roy, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University). His monograph, “Failed Democracies in Latin America and the Caribbean” (Palgrave-Macmillan) was published in August 2023 and he is currently completing, “Democratization of Cuba” (Palgrave-Macmillan), which will be published in June 2026. Brown is available in person at the Statesboro Campus or virtually.  Simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

Georgia Southern professor to present “Steel and Sweat: Knights, Soldiers and the Making of the Tactical Athlete” featured image

2 min

Georgia Southern professor to present “Steel and Sweat: Knights, Soldiers and the Making of the Tactical Athlete”

The Georgia Southern University College of Arts and Humanities will host the next installment of the Moveable Feast lecture series with an in-depth discussion of the evolution of combat training from the tumultuous Middle Ages to the modern-day military. Professor of Spanish Grant Gearhart, Ph.D., will present “Steel and Sweat: Knights, Soldiers and the Making of the Tactical Athlete” Feb. 19, at 6 p.m., at Service Brewing in Savannah. Gearhart, who is also the coordinator of experiential learning for the Department of World Languages and Cultures, says the presentation is all about connecting modern military training with the physical contests of centuries past. “I wanted to bring back interest in research on the Middle Ages, considering there is a declining interest in the topic within academia,” Gearhart explained. “To connect the past with present in a way that’s digestible for all audiences is something that I feel passionate about bringing to the public.” His research focuses on the evolution of fighting styles and explores how these styles reflect the ethics and values of the cultures in which they were developed. “Today’s soldiers are more than just military personnel, they are athletes,” said Gearhart. “Being a former college athlete sparked my interest in doing this research on the connections between athletics and warriors. I want to show how our modern ideas of soldiers as tactical athletes have historical grounding in the Middle Ages.” The Moveable Feast series is an immersive learning experience that brings lectures into spaces relevant to their topics. The event is free and open to the public.

View all posts
Powered by