Posted on 01/14/2008 2:52:23 PM PST by blam
Lasting Impression: Does The Face Of A CEO Determine A Successful Company?
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2008) It certainly takes more than a pretty face to run a leading national corporation. But according to a recent Tufts University study, the performance levels of Americas top companies could be related to the first impressions made by their chief executive officers (CEOs).
Using photographs of the highest and lowest ranked Fortune 1000 companies CEOs, psychologists Nicholas Rule and Nalini Ambady quizzed ordinary college students to determine which of the pictured faces were characteristic of a leader.
Without knowledge of the pictured individuals job titles, and by rating the faces on competence, dominance, likeability, facial maturity and trustworthiness, the students were able to distinguish between the successful and the not-so-successful CEOs.
Despite the ambiguity of the images, which were cropped to the face, put into grayscale and standardized in size, ratings of power- and leadership-related traits from CEOs faces were significantly related to company profits.
"These findings suggest that naive judgments may provide more accurate assessments of individuals than well-informed judgments can," wrote the authors. Our results are particularly striking given the uniformity of the CEOs appearances. The majority of CEOs, who were selected according to their Fortune 1000 ranking, were Caucasian males of similar age.
The study, which appears in the February 2008 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reveals a strong connection between appearances and success as it leaves behind an intriguing question: which came first, the powerful-looking CEO or their successful career?
Adapted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.
some people have too much time on their hands.
Interesting. But it’s not just a matter of whether a face is handsome or “pretty.” It’s also a matter of facial expression, eyes, wrinkle lines, poise of the head, and a lot of other subtle indications of character.
I mentioned this on a thread about a sexy looking murderess. She was superficially good looking, but her eyes and her expression looked truly ugly and menacing, in spite of that.
The same thing holds true of pictures of male executives. We learn to judge people by their looks—which is entirely different from saying we learn to judge them according to whether they are good looking. Sometimes looks can fool you, but it’s surprising how much you can often read in a person’s face.
If so, Bob Nardelli was one ugly SOB at The Home Depot.
Robert Nardelli, 57 (Home Depot)
Sell Home Depot stock?
Sell Home Depot stock?
i’d sell. Home Depot is going down. their policies are driving employees to Lowe’a and other places.
btt
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