Short People Got No Reason…
I just finished reading Blink, an interesting little book about how we tend to make split second judgments and how those judgments tend to be surprisingly accurate. It seems that we assume tall people are the leaders.
The book cites Malcolm Gladwell’s research on the height of Fortune 500 CEOs. It seems the average male CEO is 6′ tall while the average American is a scant 5’9″. It gets even more interesting as people get taller. A full 58% of the CEOs ore over 6′ and 30% of them are over 6′ 2″. In the general population these numbers are 14.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
Interesting stuff. All together now…
I don’t want no short people ’round … don’t want no short people ’round me.
April 20th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
And it isn’t just CEOs. Most historic figures who achieved something, especially founders (Washington, Jinnah, Muhammad) are recorded as being taller than average. There were exceptions, such as Napolean or Adolf, but they didn’t actually succeed in the end.
Maybe it’s the general assumption of height being associated with success that gives taller people the confidence and will to lead.
I wonder if there are any cultures with the opposite ideas.