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Empty presentation

How does an 18-year-old fellow waltz into an Audi dealership, spin a heap of lies and drive off in a new $80,000 Audi? The same way he spent a year flying the world in first and business class, staying in five-star hotels, eating in the world's best restaurants. The people in all these businesses believed his lies, and it seems obvious to me that they believed him because of his presentation. And, as I write in my column in The Herald today, they were impressed by his presentation because it is very likely that the 18-year-old Miles Mehta believed his own lies. Mr Mehta was sentenced in Newcastle court this week to a minimum of seven months in jail for fraud.

Many people present so well that they get away with the most outlandish lies, and I'm reminded of Glen Oakley, who at the time of his unmasking was the chief executive of Newcastle Port Corporation. My Oakley had such faith in his fictitious degrees, some from Australian universities, that he listed them in Who's Who in Australia.

I have noticed over the years that many successful and senior managers present so well that whether they have other gifts is irrelevant. Some seem devoid of abilities beyond presentation. And I have come to believe that the most valuable attribute for ambitious people is the capacity to present well.

There's another side to this. When I was having treatment four years ago for throat cancer I encountered quite a number of specialist doctors, and I was taken aback by the lack of presentation of most of them. Once, while sitting in a room in a Sydney hospital waiting to see a man I'd been told was one of the world's leaders in his field, I was startled when the cleaner shuffling about the room walked behind me and started feeling my neck! Others wore the right clothes, if a tie is right, but had an awkwardness that seemed to betray discomfort. They didn't inspire immediate confidence, and I would say that is because their gifts and personality make no concession to illusion. As you probably know, I owe the fact that I am alive today to their skills and commitment.

I mention this to illustrate my belief that presentation has a much greater impact on us than is warranted. I wouldn't mind betting that the 18-year-old Miles Mehta won the confidence of a great many more people more readily than could many, even most, of the specialist doctors I encountered in my journey to a cure. Does your experience echo this?

Posted By: Jeff Corbett on 18/03/2009 3:26:15 PM | Comments (15)

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Presentation is super important for cities, town and villages as well as people. Lets splash the white paint about, tidy up the signage and clean the Newcastle LGA up. It may still be the ruins but will look great! and if it looks great we will think it is great!

Posted by Bigfeller, 18/03/2009 4:37:32 PM

Jeff, I can only agree. I worked in the corporate sector for several multinationals and have encountered this at several levels. In my last experience (take that to be last job in a corporate business), the Operations Director of a Major Australian business did not know the difference between and Balance Sheet and a Profit & Loss statement. Whilst my direct boss and I were trying to explain the financial position of a division of the business to him I could only wonder what it was he had skills in. He reported to the MD and Board of Directors - surely he must have presented well?

Posted by John - once was Corporate, 18/03/2009 8:04:27 PM

The school certificate may not be recognized as a high level of academic achievement but not everyone gets one. Our son didn't, due to having been in or at hospital for over 200 days during year 10 being treated for cancer. However he did achieve a life skills certificate. On presentation day there were close to 200 students to go up on stage to accept their certificates and awards. It was taking a while , fairly repetitive with little reaction from the crowd but when our son was called there was loud applause and a resounding cheer, it brought tears to my eyes as i bursted with pride. I looked across the room and saw an unlikely looking mob , year 10 students, who in fact were fine young citizens their response was unprompted, heartfelt and full of goodwill.

Posted by chaff and oats, 18/03/2009 8:09:33 PM

You are so very right Jeff. It is never more evident than a job interview. It is now the norm, whereby a person who ''presents well'' and can talk incessantly about him/herself will always get the position over a person with far more ability but who subscribes to an older generation mantra ''self praise is no recommendation." It is even said, that if a person who is applying for his/her position that he/she has been satisfactorily, they cannot raise these points to keep all the applicants on a level playing field. Pure humbug and buzz words.

Posted by Miz Jasper, 18/03/2009 9:19:01 PM

Interesting, although his CV was clearly misrepresented he was a very good CEO. The CV opened the doors but Oakley was the real deal when it came to running the joint.

Posted by fista, 18/03/2009 11:23:08 PM

The trouble with a person who can present so well, but have little ability is when they gain a management positions they tend to have people around them just like themselves. I believe most Law enforcement agencies are top heavy with pretenders. The real work goes on at ground level.

Posted by Buell, 19/03/2009 9:15:00 AM

what a lovely story chaff and oats. i take books, colouring pencils etc up to ronald mcdonald house a couple of times a year and i see the families waiting around and i have often thought how tough it must be to get through this time of worry and uncertainty. hope your are all doing ok.

Posted by senior sergeant smith, 19/03/2009 9:46:02 AM

Jeff people are easy to fool. Take my screen name - how many people do you see refer to me as if i am a male. in the religious restrictions blog "Eyes wide _Open+" referred to me as 'this fellow'. I never look at anyones screen name and assume that it is a reflection of their gender, age etc. If people can be fooled this easily i would imagine that it would be quite easy to create an identity, learn it thoroughly and then confidently pass it of as fact and people would believe it.

Posted by senior sergeant smith, 19/03/2009 10:14:47 AM

It's not presentation. It's how well they talk. Presentation does help though because it keeps people looking long enough to keep chewing their ear off. This opens a can of worms - does it also mean that the inequalities in the % of more men than women in corporate management therefore means men b**shit better than women? They certainly know how to self-promote better because I think the business values most women strive to have do not include how to fool others, or how to boast better... is it simply too much testosterone?

Posted by skigal, 19/03/2009 10:36:39 AM

When I was a lad, nobody had an education (tertiary) but everybody had common-sense. These days, it appears everybody has an education (tertiary) and nobody has any common-sense. Fista your right; Oakley had a common-sense practical approach which carried him through. If you want to talk about empty presentation, then look no further than the politicians we elect. Most of us don't know these people yet we form an opinion of them based on the way they look and how they act in front of the camera. I was a Commonwealth public servant for a short time and was horrified at some of the people who held senior positions. A large number of them were lateral transfers from other departments and they didn't present well. They say, if you hang around long enough, you'll be the most experienced person in the organisation and eventually get moved up. In the case of the 'old mates' network or the boys club, you only need to present well to the right group of people and as Buell said; they tend to pick people like themselves. My barber had the best quote, he said; "I've never met a conman I didn't like".

Posted by Colin O., 19/03/2009 11:43:38 AM

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