There's really a connection between height and success?

身高和成功真的有關(guān)嗎?

It's huge. Tall people make an average of $789 per inch per year (for every inch above a person of average height) and this has been shown repeatedly in a set of four large-scale salary survey studies over 50 years in both the U.K. and the U.S。

關(guān)系很大。高個(gè)子的人每高出平均身高1英寸(2.54厘米)每年就多賺789美元。過(guò)去50年中這個(gè)數(shù)字在對(duì)英國(guó)和美國(guó)所做的四項(xiàng)大型薪酬調(diào)查研究中都反復(fù)出現(xiàn)。

Numerous studies show that when bosses are given real and fictitious resumes of two competent　employees, there's about a 70% chance that bosses will pick the taller person for the job. In follow-up studies where the managers were asked to rate the employees coming in to the job, they gave flying color reviews to the tall people, which is hilarious because none of the employees had even done anything yet. The clear implication of this is that tall people are perceived as very competent before they ever display proof that they are。

大量研究表明，當(dāng)面對(duì)兩個(gè)稱(chēng)職的求職者遞來(lái)的有真有假的簡(jiǎn)歷時(shí)，70%的情況下老板都會(huì)選擇個(gè)子高的那一個(gè)。在后續(xù)調(diào)查中，每當(dāng)經(jīng)理被問(wèn)及如何評(píng)價(jià)即將上任的員工，他們總會(huì)對(duì)高個(gè)子流露溢美之詞。這點(diǎn)實(shí)在是很滑稽，因?yàn)檫@些員工還什么都沒(méi)有做。從這不難看出人們先入為主地認(rèn)為個(gè)子高的人能力也卓爾不群。

Why is that the case?

為何會(huì)如此?

One reason tall people are successful is that they are very memorable. We are evolutionarily primed　so that whenever somebody sizable walks in the room, everyone in the room glances, because millions of years ago the biggest person was either going to be a protection or a threat. Being memorable is a major boon if you're doing great work, but it's a double-edged sword: If your work is awful, everyone is going to know it; they won't forget。

個(gè)子高的人取得成功的一個(gè)原因是他們讓人印象深刻，這點(diǎn)是在人類(lèi)進(jìn)化的過(guò)程中形成的看法。每當(dāng)一個(gè)大個(gè)子進(jìn)屋時(shí)，他會(huì)引起每一個(gè)人的關(guān)注，因?yàn)閹装偃f(wàn)年以前，塊頭最大的人要么是保護(hù)者要么是威脅者。給人留下深刻的第一印象是一把雙刃劍：如果你表現(xiàn)出色，那會(huì)錦上添花;但如果你表現(xiàn)糟糕，那么也盡人皆知，因?yàn)槿藗兌紱](méi)有把你忘記。

Tall people are also very good at guarding their personal space, and this pays off in spades in the workplace. When two friends are talking they tend to be 18 inches apart, when two coworkers are talking they tend to be about three feet apart. When a boss and an employee are talking they tend to be at least four feet apart. People always give tall people that full four feet. So when they do studies where they put a video camera in an office floor and track the body language, tall people are related to by everyone in the room with that "boss-space," whereas with short people, coworkers crowd their personal space。

身材高大者善于保護(hù)自己的私人空間，這使得他們?cè)诼殘?chǎng)中容易獲勝。兩個(gè)朋友交談時(shí)，大概相距0.45米;兩個(gè)同事交談時(shí)，相距大概0.9米左右;當(dāng)老板和雇員交談時(shí)，至少相距1.2米。和個(gè)子高的人交談時(shí)，人們往往會(huì)保持1.2米左右的距離。根據(jù)放在辦公室地板上的攝像機(jī)跟蹤到的肢體語(yǔ)言記錄，在和高個(gè)子同事交談時(shí)，所有的人都與其保持著相當(dāng)于和老板保持的距離，然而在和矮個(gè)子同事交談時(shí)，則侵占了對(duì)方大量的個(gè)人空間。

So how do you explain shorter CEOs like Jack Welch and Ross Perot?

如何解釋像杰克-韋爾奇和羅斯-佩羅這樣身材相對(duì)矮小的CEO?

These are broad statistics, and there are many short people who do succeed. But people of any height who are successful tend to display certain behaviors that correlate with success. Jack Welch's wife actually told me that Jack thinks he's really tall. And there are behaviors that correlate with success. Successful people, whether short or tall, are known and seen. You know when Barry Diller walks into a room, and Jack Welch commands his physical space. So shorter people who are powerful often display many of the same behaviors as tall people。

有大量的數(shù)據(jù)表明許多身材矮小的人也取得了非凡的成就。但凡是那些獲得了成功的人，無(wú)論身高幾許，都會(huì)表現(xiàn)出和成功相關(guān)的行為特征。杰克-韋爾奇的夫人告訴我，事實(shí)上杰克自認(rèn)為很高大。成功人士無(wú)論高矮，其一舉一動(dòng)都容易引起公眾注意。你知道巴瑞-迪勒什么時(shí)候進(jìn)屋，而杰克-韋爾奇能控制自己的活動(dòng)空間。換言之，大權(quán)在握的矮個(gè)子往往會(huì)表現(xiàn)出許多和高個(gè)子一樣的行為。

There are also a number of short CEOs who have succeeded by avoiding the corporate ladder and starting their own companies. This is definitely the case for Ross Perot, who is a self-made billionaire. Ron Perelman and Barry Diller also started their own companies instead of trying to move up from inside a company。

還有很多身材低矮的CEO通過(guò)自己開(kāi)公司取得成功，而不是通過(guò)在公司內(nèi)部一個(gè)階梯一個(gè)階梯往上爬。羅斯-佩羅就是一個(gè)典型的白手起家的億萬(wàn)富翁。羅恩-佩雷曼和巴瑞-迪勒也都是這樣打出了自己的天下。

What are the best and worst jobs for tall people?

什么工作最適合高個(gè)子，什么最不適合?

Tall people make more money and also tend to cluster　in higher-paying fields. This is because they tend to thrive in fields in which social interactions take place, since they're helped by their body language. So tall traits are going to shine in these kinds of jobs. For example, if I were a litigator, I would be able to use the full power of my tall body to command presence, whereas if I were a clerk sitting behind a desk, I would gain no benefit from being tall. Granted, plenty of tall people flock to other fields -- for example, there are a disproportionate number of tall people in police work, firefighting work, and physical work where being tall would be of value。

高個(gè)子的人賺錢(qián)更多，也更容易聚集在高薪領(lǐng)域。這是因?yàn)榈靡嬗谒麄兊纳眢w語(yǔ)言，他們易于在社交互動(dòng)性強(qiáng)的領(lǐng)域成功，也就是說(shuō)高大的身材會(huì)在這類(lèi)型的工作中發(fā)揮優(yōu)勢(shì)。例如，如果我是一名律師，我就能充分利用我身高的優(yōu)勢(shì)來(lái)把握我的表現(xiàn)，相反假如我是一個(gè)文秘，每天坐在桌子后面，那么我的身高就無(wú)用武之地。當(dāng)然，還有很多高個(gè)子的人涌向其他的領(lǐng)域。例如在警察、消防員和其他一些能發(fā)揮身高優(yōu)勢(shì)的行業(yè)中，個(gè)子高的人占有極大的比例。

What advice do you have for tall people in a job interview?

對(duì)高個(gè)子在面試工作時(shí)有什么建議?

They say that when you're networking, your goal is to be liked. You want to make someone as comfortable as possible. To do this you need to adjust your body language and be hyper-aware of yourself. In my case, this means no hovering. I go out of my way to kill the dumb jock stereotype by being as verbally coherent as possible, and I always sit down as soon as I possibly can. I gain nothing by standing there flexing my physical might。

有人建議說(shuō)面試的時(shí)候要迎合對(duì)方的喜好，要盡可能的讓對(duì)方感到舒服。要達(dá)到這個(gè)目標(biāo)，你需要調(diào)整自己的肢體語(yǔ)言并且高度注意自己的言行。對(duì)我而言，我不能拖泥帶水，要當(dāng)機(jī)立斷。我的身材很容易讓人把我當(dāng)成一個(gè)笨拙的運(yùn)動(dòng)員，我會(huì)盡可能以清晰連貫的口頭表達(dá)來(lái)消除這種成見(jiàn)，并且一有機(jī)會(huì)我就坐下，因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)從不斷調(diào)整站姿中獲得任何好處。

Isn't it sometimes better to be short than tall?

是否有時(shí)候身材矮小比身材高大有優(yōu)勢(shì)?

The big challenge for tall people is that they cannot hide. Tall people are always public, and this can be pretty tough. Short people and those of average height can camouflage　and sort of disappear in a crowd when they choose to. It's just a beautiful thing to be able to hide, and really stressful when you're tall and not able to do this。

對(duì)于身材高大的人而言，一個(gè)很大的挑戰(zhàn)是不能隱藏。高個(gè)子的人總在人們注意之中，這其實(shí)是一件麻煩事。矮個(gè)子以及中等身材的人可以根據(jù)自己的需要在人群中偽裝甚至消失在人們視線(xiàn)之外。能夠隱藏是一件很美妙的事，可惜對(duì)于高個(gè)子來(lái)說(shuō)，由于無(wú)法隱藏自我而總是活在壓力之下。

Have you ever wished you were shorter?

你是否曾經(jīng)希望自己變矮?

Absolutely. In my first job, in consulting, we would sit around in the conference room and I would always be the one called out and asked questions -- especially when I hadn't even had a chance to have my first cup of coffee. Now it's not a matter of wishing I were short, but of wishing that I could make the awkwardness and all of the really god-awful body language just go away!

當(dāng)然!我的第一份工作是咨詢(xún)，那時(shí)我們經(jīng)常圍坐在一個(gè)會(huì)議室里開(kāi)會(huì)。有時(shí)候我都來(lái)不及喝第一杯咖啡就被點(diǎn)名發(fā)表意見(jiàn)�，F(xiàn)在，重要的不是希望自己變矮，而是希望我可以避免做出笨拙和特別糟糕的肢體語(yǔ)言。