????經(jīng)常會有人提到，《財(cái)富》500強(qiáng)企業(yè)的CEO身高都在平均線以上。我們從未親自調(diào)查過相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)，但是非官方研究表明這一說法并非空穴來風(fēng)。身高超過1.9米（6英尺3英寸）的埃爾瑞娜?科恩（Arianne Cohen）是《高個(gè)子之書：至高點(diǎn)的生命禮贊》(The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High)一書的作者，認(rèn)為身高和成功的確相關(guān)，并且提供了一系列理論說明為什么高個(gè)子的人更容易在商界和其他領(lǐng)域取得成功。《財(cái)富》最近采訪了科恩，她就身高在職場中的影響發(fā)表了自己的意見。

????身高和成功真的有關(guān)嗎？

????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。過去50年中這個(gè)數(shù)字在對英國和美國所做的四項(xiàng)大型薪酬調(diào)查研究中都反復(fù)出現(xiàn)。

????大量研究表明，當(dāng)面對兩個(gè)稱職的求職者遞來的有真有假的簡歷時(shí)，70%的情況下老板都會選擇個(gè)子高的那一個(gè)。在后續(xù)調(diào)查中，每當(dāng)經(jīng)理被問及如何評價(jià)即將上任的員工，他們總會對高個(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。

????為何會如此？

????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)是在人類進(jìn)化的過程中形成的看法。每當(dāng)一個(gè)大個(gè)子進(jìn)屋時(shí)，他會引起每一個(gè)人的關(guān)注，因?yàn)閹装偃f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]有把你忘記。

????身材高大者善于保護(hù)自己的私人空間，這使得他們在職場中容易獲勝。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)，則侵占了對方大量的個(gè)人空間。

????如何解釋像杰克?韋爾奇(Jack Welch)和羅斯?佩羅(Ross Perot)這樣身材相對矮小的CEO？

????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，無論身高幾許，都會表現(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(Barry Diller)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)子往往會表現(xiàn)出許多和高個(gè)子一樣的行為。

????還有很多身材低矮的CEO通過自己開公司取得成功，而不是通過在公司內(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富翁。羅恩?佩雷曼(Ron Perelman)和巴瑞?迪勒也都是這樣打出了自己的天下。

????

????It's often been suggested that the CEOs of the Fortune 500 are of above-average height. We've never done the number-crunching ourselves, but unofficial studies suggest the assertion has merit. Arianne Cohen, the 6'3'' author of The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High, maintains there is a tangible correlation between height and success -- and offers up a variety of theories on why tall people tend to thrive in business and elsewhere. Fortune recently sat down with Cohen to talk about the role height plays in the workplace.

????So there's really a connection between height and success?

????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.

????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.

????Why is that the case?

????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.

????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.

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

????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.

????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.