Personality Theft

It didn't really have anything to do with his qualifications

Honestly Lay Bare struggled with how to start this introduction.

We wanted to go with the … in a world where misadventure reaches every corner (said, of course in a Star Wars type “return of the Jedi” voice) … but it sounded … well too Star Wars.

So instead we are saying it straight.

Welcome to the world of personality theft.

What is personality theft?

Well we have all heard of identity theft – stealing key identification tags to either validate or exploit one’s existence based on the identification tags of another person.

Personality theft is when someone either steals the life of the other person – through transfer to them of undeserved achievements, recognition etc – or makes up aspects of one’s life that is not based within the realms of reality.

As you will see, personality theft is not immediately detrimental to the profit performance of an organisation.

Ultimately, however, it is insidious to an ideal more important than any earnings – trust!

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David J. Edmondson was born June 10, 1959.

Edmondson moved to San Dimas, California in 1977 where he attended Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College. While at Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College ,Edmondson began his study to become a Baptist minister. Edmondson left California after one year on campus and returned to Colorado where he became the associate pastor of Security Baptist Temple, in Colorado. During his time as associate pastor, he continued his studies through correspondence with PCBBC and stated that he earned his ThG, in Theology in May 1980. Upon completion of his studies he was ordained as a Baptist minister in June 1980.

In 1994, Edmondson wrote a letter to the then President of RadioShack, Leonard H. Roberts. In the letter he wrote that he had a idea that he would like to share, and asked Roberts for 15 minutes of his time. Roberts agreed to a meeting in early February and half way through Edmondson's presentation, Roberts stopped the conversation and offered him a job by asking “what do I have to do to get you to join this company.”

When Edmondson expressed his lack of interest in joining RadioShack, Roberts let the subject drop, but was so intrigued with Edmondson's idea he canceled his appointments for the next several hours and spent time reviewing how to make Edmondson's idea a reality.

Over the next several months the two men developed a strong working relationship and by November 1994 Edmondson finally agreed to join the company. Roberts offered him the position of Senior Vice President of Marketing for the RadioShack Division. While Edmondson was excited to join Roberts in transforming the company, he asked Roberts to offer him the lesser title of Vice President of Marketing and allow him to work with David Beckerman, the company’s long time marketing head, for at least a year. Edmondson told Roberts that he believed that if he were going to succeed in his new position it would be important for him to demonstrate his value and earn the respect and acceptance of the organization. Roberts agreed and Edmondson joined the company in December 1994.

Over the next 11 years Edmondson made considerable contribution to the performance of RadioShack. Edmondson clearly understood the core strengths of RadioShack were found in its people and its pervasive network of stores. With more than 35,000 employees capable of “demystifying” technology and 7,000 neighborhood stores, RadioShack was well positioned to drive the adoption of new digital technology. Edmondson earned a reputation within both the consumer electronics and wireless industries as a strong strategic thinker, collaborative negotiator and as an innovative and fair minded partner.

Edmondson also greatly improved the relevance of RadioShack’s brand by leveraging the now famous tag line, You’ve Got Questions…We’ve Got Answers. Edmondson was recognized by Advertising Age as one of the top 100 marketers in America in 1996 for his initial repositioning of the RadioShack brand.

As a result of his contributions to the company, Edmondson's career steadily advanced from the time he joined RadioShack.

During his tenure, he occupied positions as Vice President on Marketing (1994-1995), Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising (1995-1997), Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (1997-2000), President and Chief Operating Officer (2000-2005) and Chief Executive Officer (2005-2006).

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Edmonson was also hiding a fraud.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram broke the story of a résumé fraud – personality theft – as it was investigating Edmondson's drunken driving arrests.

Tarrant County sheriff's office spokesman Terry Grisham, citing police records, says Edmondson was arrested on charges of drunken driving in July 2000. He pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and was placed on "deferred adjudication," a kind of probation, for two years. In May 2002, the charges were dismissed.

Edmondson was arrested again on charges of drunken driving in January 2005.

The Fort Worth newspaper reported that Edmondson's résumé said he had a degree in theology and psychology from a school — now called Heartland Baptist Bible College and located in Oklahoma City — that he actually only attended for two semesters.

Edmondson later acknowledged to the newspaper that he didn't receive a B.S. degree but instead earned a three-year theology degree through correspondence courses. The school says it has no record of that either.

**

As good as his story is it is topped by the story of the Admissions Dean at MIT that didn’t have a degree that she said that she had!

The dean, Marilee Jones, was prominent in higher-education circles as an author and outspoken advocate of reducing the stress of college admissions. At MIT, she redesigned the school's application to include fewer lines for extracurricular activities, saying that too many students were puffing up their credentials to fill the space.

But as the university learned in 2007, Ms. Jones had embellished her own credentials. She attended college for one year, as a part-time student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1974, but never received the bachelor's or master's degrees that she claimed from RPI. Nor did she receive a degree she claimed from Albany Medical College, the university found. Registrars at RPI and Albany confirmed that Ms. Jones didn't receive degrees there.

Ms. Jones, who is 55 years old, is described as a "scientist by training" on an MIT Web site for applicants, and her nonexistent degrees are listed on her publisher's site.

In a statement released by the university, Ms. Jones said she first fudged her résumé in 1979 when she was hired in a junior position in the MIT admissions office. When she was promoted to the deanship in 1997, she "did not have the courage to correct my résumé," she wrote. Ms. Jones didn't respond to messages left on her home and cell phones.

"This is a very sad situation, both for the institute and for Marilee," MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay said in an interview. "We take integrity very seriously, and it was on that basis that as soon as we determined that these facts were not true we dismissed her even though she has done a great job."

Ms. Jones was a dominant presence at MIT. She sometimes signed letters to incoming students as "your mom away from mom." After joining the admissions office in 1979, she focused on increasing female enrollment at the historically male-dominated engineering school. As at other top colleges, the number of women at the school has surged, from 17% of undergraduates in 1979 to 45% this year.

In 1997, Ms. Jones was promoted to dean of admissions and launched a national career as a spokeswoman for easing the stress of college admission. With a Philadelphia pediatrician, she is the co-author of a 2006 book, "Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond." In a statement, the book's publisher, the American Academy of Pediatrics, said it "continues to stand behind the information and positive messages presented in the book."

Ms. Jones also served on numerous higher-education boards, including a regional council of the College Board and the National Association for College Admission Counseling's commission on standardized testing.


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As of today, Honestly Lay Bare is reverting to a once a week entry - usually on a Wednesday or a Thursday - as we experiment with the world of podcasting and YouTube. Stay tuned.