Bosses
In gorilla society, power belongs to silverback males. These splendid creatures have numerous status markers besides their back hair: they are bigger than the rest of their band, strike space-filling postures, produce deeper sounds, thump their chests lustily and, in general, exude an air of physical fitness.
In the corporate world, the typical chief executive officer (CEO) is more than six feet tall, has a deep voice, a good posture, a touch of grey in his thick, lustrous hair and, for his age, a fit body. Bosses spread themselves out behind their large desks. They stand tall when talking to subordinates. Their conversation is laden with prestige pauses and declarative statements.
The big difference between gorillas and humans is, of course, that human society changes rapidly. The past few decades have seen a striking change in relative influence – between men and women, the West and the emerging world, and between geeks and non-geeks. Women run some of America’s largest firms. More than half of the world’s biggest 2,500 public companies have their headquarters outside the West. Geeks barely out of short trousers run some of the world’s most dynamic businesses. Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley’s leading investors, has introduced a blanket rule: never invest in a CEO who wears a suit.
Yet it is remarkable, in this supposed age of diversity, how many bosses still conform to the stereotype, according to recent research. First, they are tall. People who “sound right” also have a marked advantage in the race for the top. When people were asked to evaluate speeches delivered by 120 executives, it was found that voice quality accounted for 23% of listeners’ evaluations and the content of the speech only accounted for 11%. Physical fitness seems to matter, too. Good posture makes people act like leaders as well as look like them.
Besides relying on all these supposedly positive indicators of fitness to lead, those who choose bosses also rely on some negative stereotypes. Overweight people are judged incapable of controlling themselves, let alone others. Those who “uptalk” – habitually ending their statements on a high note as if asking a question – rule themselves out on the grounds that they sound tentative and juvenile.
High-tech companies merrily abandon Mr Thiel’s rule once they reach a certain size and recruit a besuited outsider as CEO. Female leaders have reacted in different ways. Some have defined themselves by wearing power suits and working long hours. Others have celebrated motherhood.
Can anything be done about this predisposition for promoting people of a certain type? Ideally, those selecting a new boss would conscientiously set aside all the stereotypes, and judge candidates purely on their merits. However, given a plethora of candidates, all with perfect CVs, selection committees continue to look for the “x” factor and find, strangely enough, that it resides in people who look remarkably like themselves. Another solution is to introduce quotas for CEOs and board members. But the risk is that this ends in tokenism rather than a genuine equalising of opportunity. So, some management experts suggest we just accept that stereotypes and prejudices cannot be wished away, and simply help those born outside the magic genetic circle project a sense of power and self-confidence.
More than a century ago, Oscar Wilde quipped: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.” Unfortunately, those who choose leaders still seem to think this way.
The Economist