Concerned with my boss presenting my project/presentation?

Question

About 8 months ago, a coworker and I worked on a project which lasted about 4 months to complete. After completion, we as a team presented the findings to 3 different groups of increasing authority. Everything went well as far as I could tell with the presentations. However, we have recently been asked to present again to a member of upper management. This is actually very exciting for the both of us, since this member of upper management is very influential in the company, and this would give us some good visibility on some sound work we've done.We have just been informed that my boss's boss would prefer that my boss give the presentation with us in the room as support. This bothered me a little because I have always held myself to give credit where due and take responsibility for my work, and I feel this is undermining this ideal for me and my coworker. My boss does not know the information nearly as well as my team does and I believe the presentation would suffer because of this. Not trying to devalue my boss, I just think the presentation would be better suited if my team presented it. It is also worth noting that my boss's boss just assumed his new role a couple of weeks ago.I understand that in the end I'll just do what my boss tells me to, but I am wondering if it would be out of line and seem selfish to bring this concern up to my boss? The last thing I want is this to come off as some sort of power struggle; so if believed that I should confront my boss then what is some phrasing to avoid?

Answer 1

You have already proven yourselves as great presenters in previous presentations. Did your project manager/main boss/top boss offer any perks for your efforts at that time? If not, then I would defer to the boss's boss who might be trying to ensure that your regular boss is aware of the new information being presented...that you are communicating well with your main boss who is responsible for your workflow. You never know what the boss's boss is thinking until you allow the request to be presented as they wish. Your supervisory boss may find that they are not as well versed in your work as they need to be. It seems like the 'line of authority' is very top-to-down controlled in your organization. Your boss's boss may not be comfortable with allowing your coworker team to shine if he/she has talked with your supervisor and learned that the communications channels are not open, for instance. In the end, it's your decision whether to sit back and listen to your boss present the information to the leader. Do consider consequences should the main boss balk at your suggestions to continue presenting the information as co-creators.