"Presence is more than just being there"
About this Quote
Presence, for Malcolm Forbes, is the upgrade from attendance to influence. Coming from a publisher who built an empire on access, image, and the theater of proximity, the line reads less like a spiritual koan and more like a rule of power: bodies can show up, but only certain people actually arrive.
The intent is managerial and social at once. In business, “being there” is the calendar version of commitment: you took the meeting, you sat in the chair, you logged the hour. Forbes is pointing at the invisible remainder - attention, authority, and the ability to shape the room. Presence is what makes a handshake register as a promise, a question land as a challenge, a silence feel like judgment. It’s charisma, yes, but also preparedness: the sense that you’re not just consuming the moment, you’re directing it.
The subtext carries a mild rebuke. If you’re merely “there,” you’re replaceable. The line flatters the people who can turn proximity into leverage - the executive who remembers names, the host who frames the conversation, the editor who can make a room feel like a front page. Coming from a man associated with conspicuous socializing and brand-building, it also doubles as self-justification: the jet-setting, the parties, the cultivated aura aren’t frivolous if “presence” is a business tool.
Context matters: late-20th-century corporate culture prized face time, networking, and the performance of leadership. Forbes distilled that ethos into one clean distinction: participation isn’t the same as impact.
The intent is managerial and social at once. In business, “being there” is the calendar version of commitment: you took the meeting, you sat in the chair, you logged the hour. Forbes is pointing at the invisible remainder - attention, authority, and the ability to shape the room. Presence is what makes a handshake register as a promise, a question land as a challenge, a silence feel like judgment. It’s charisma, yes, but also preparedness: the sense that you’re not just consuming the moment, you’re directing it.
The subtext carries a mild rebuke. If you’re merely “there,” you’re replaceable. The line flatters the people who can turn proximity into leverage - the executive who remembers names, the host who frames the conversation, the editor who can make a room feel like a front page. Coming from a man associated with conspicuous socializing and brand-building, it also doubles as self-justification: the jet-setting, the parties, the cultivated aura aren’t frivolous if “presence” is a business tool.
Context matters: late-20th-century corporate culture prized face time, networking, and the performance of leadership. Forbes distilled that ethos into one clean distinction: participation isn’t the same as impact.
Quote Details
| Topic | Live in the Moment |
|---|
More Quotes by Malcolm
Add to List
