Although I’m average height … 5′ 9′ or thereabouts (can’t rem last time I even checked) … I did snag a first class wife myself 16 years ago who is my own version of ‘Dolly’ and Jackie O.

And she never left my side once since.

Without her … Frank would be a beach bum somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale or Marathon Key selling sea shells and tourist trinkets!!

How’s that for a nice plug for the gorgeous and loving women in our lives that make it all possible for us chest-pounding gorillas??

Nice touching ending to a thread as we’re sliding in to February and Valentines day soon!
http://www.iresinc.com

Even tho Madison was only #4, he got the girl, and Dolly was a lot better known in her time than Jackie O. Otherwise, Martha would have been very well remembered (she did a lot, too numerous to list). How about this one, –the shorter you are, the longer you live, and I’m not short.

Jon

To be fair, Blink also presents equally compelling evidence that our ‘gut feelings’ are often CORRECT yet you failed to mention that aspect.

I cite the specific example of the Paul Getty Museum’s purchase of an expensive statue that those without any scientific evidence in their possession felt was a fraud … which was proven true later … in direct contrast to the ‘expert and substantiated mounds of evidence’ that was an original statue.

But that’s not why I’m posting … on the subject of height discrimination … this poses an interesting observation:

Are those HIRING discriminating against short people that could just as easily do the job?

OR …

Is it that the general employee population would not hold as high regard for a short person thereby FORCING the board of directors to hire a tall person or risk having an ineffective leader that can not garner respect (not because of the BOARD’s bias … but because of the inherit BIAS of the EMPLOYEE POPULATION!!??)

Hmmmmm ….

In other words we may have a Chicken Versus Egg conundrum.

James Madison our second president knew by writings in his diaries that he ‘… may not have the stature of his predecessor’ referring to Washington who was 6 ft 3. He realized when announcing candicacy for president he was ‘vertically challenged’ and also lacking the actor-like charismatic charm of George Washington who was nearly impossible to not like in his day and age.

Yet James was a brilliant man, considered the most successful attorney in New England of his time, and the Father of the Bill of Rights, and a genius in dealing with Britain’s continuing bullying during the war of 1812 (yes he got the White House burned down but it resulted in a stronger federal union afterwards which may have been a contributing factor as to why we’re not using confederate money today).

While James was considered a sad statement of a man compared to the tall, elegant, handsome, G.W. … His wife Dolly who introduced ice cream to the public was a smash hit of her time equivelant to Jackie O. To the contrary, Martha Washington is very little spoke of being only four foot and change in height. We all know Dolly Madison ice cream … but are hard pressed to think of a contribution of Martha.

So height may not be the issue … PERCEPTION is the issue. James knew full well he was as smart if not smarter (being a lawyer) than Washingon himself. He also knew however, that leadership required garnering those that will follow … hard to do when you’re short but doable.

We may still be using pre-historic, genetically-encoded out-dated and ancient instincts to judge which in a modern society not requiring to hunt for survival any longer (not in the conventional sense anyway) and kill for meats are probably outdated instincts we can not shake off too easily.

By the way, I’ve been trying to get into KPMG as a 3rd party recruiter for a while now… any advice?

You see the height phenomenon in sales; many companies wind up hiring people that are former athletes who tend to be larger, taller than the population norms. I?m 6?1? and it does play to your advantage.

Exposing yourself to other cultures to desensitize yourself to silo recruiting is an excellent tool.
In 2005 I consciously attended several Middle Eastern dance recitals to expose myself to other cultures in terms of dress, music, traditions and it was exceptionally eye opening for me. I remember at one of the recitals watching a Turkish gentlemen who was very into the music of the dancers on the stage. Some people would have probably thought, ?Wow, he is really into this music and it does nothing for me.? Then I thought I wonder what would happen if we took this same Turkish gentlemen and placed him in the audience at Buddy Guy?s blues club on Wabash Street in Chicago. He would probably look at all the people screaming their appreciation of Buddy Guy playing the blues and say ?Wow, those people are really into this blues music and it doesn?t do anything for me.? It?s all a matter of perspective and the experiences you bring to the table.

The person I?m dating now is from Sri Lanka and her frame of reference combines British, Indian, Buddhist and Christian influences. Very different from my rural VA, upbringing.

These experiences left me with a far greater appreciation of how those cultures can bring very fresh perspective to situations and problems, which are immensely valuable. Of course that value is never realized if a hiring manager is refusing to hire someone because they didn?t make eye contact during the interview. The person was Indian and that would have been considered rude.

My two takeaways here are we do have deeply engrained bias and we need to consistently attempt to be aware of those blind spots so they do not impair our ability to bring the best talent to the organization and it would probably do us all some good to place ourselves in unfamiliar territories to heighten our ability to connect with people from other cultures. That skill, I believe will become increasingly more significant over time.

I have wondered for some time, why hundreds of thousands of already successful individuals would line up to appear on ‘The Apprentice’?

If I’m going to go on a game show … it will be to one a million dollars outright … NOT to have to WORK for $250k … I already know how to work.

My son asked me ‘dad would you go on that show?’. I said ‘NO. Dad is already confident with his achievements and success and has nothing he needs to prove to the Trump organization’.

It boggles my mind … that supposedly intelligent professionals would line up to work for a company that has been marginally successful at best, has been bankrupt twice, its flagship Casino unit is in RUINS, it stiffs bond and stock holders, and the chairman lets his sexual urges result in the destruction of more hundreds of millions everytime a girl bats her eyelashes.

Yet … we glamorize the company simply because the CEO is ‘Telegenic’ and ‘Looks Good’ on T.V.

There are many far better managed companies where people would learn much more … Black & Decker is one that comes to mind … but hey, Donald looks good on TV

Thanks for connecting the concepts so practically and eloquently.

So by the time a Man has grown, perhaps it is not just the interviewer with the bias but the candidate themselves…

Does the vertically challenged man have less confidence? Does he project less ‘power’ verbally as opposed to just height?

Just a different angle…

As a vertically challenged individual myself, I have seen first hand some of the less obvious biases people face. Attractive people often fare better than those among us who are not, particularly in an interview situation. Thin people do better than heavier people. And of course, Blondes have more fun….

Until we come to grips with our own unconscious biases we are likely to make at least some of our decisions based on these preferences. Unless we tackle them and those of our recruiting staff we will never really have a level playing field.