Does Height Matter (For Guys) in Front Office?
We all know that people subconsciously look to the tallest man in a boardroom or business environment as the most assertive, confident, competent or experienced individual, so how much does height really matter for guys who want to succeed in a client-facing high finance environment? There's a reason we barely have any presidents under 6ft.
In my opinion, 5'10 or 5'11 is the cutoff in high finance if you want to be taken seriously as a guy. Given that most bankers you'll be surrounded by will come from wealthy backgrounds (meaning they have access to the best nutrition and their parents tend to be taller on average), any guy under 5'10 is going to be seen as a midget and not taken seriously by clients, colleagues or superiors.
However, the optimal height is probably around 6'4-6'5 to have the best chance of success. Any taller and your height will be distracting/overtly intimidating, yet ideally you're still noticeably taller (by ~2 inches) compared to other guys in high finance, distinguishing yourself as the physical "leader" in any group setting.
Thoughts?
6'4 is a good height if you have the proportional frame to fill it out and your face isn't lengthy as a result too. Because tall people tend to be extremely skinny and have long faces, I would say the best height is around 6'1, where you all taller than 90% of people but also don't become skinny and ugly as a result
This is such a dumb thread. Bloomberg is 5'7. Carlos Slim is 5'7, so is THE Jeffrey Bezos. Short kings have a chip on their shoulder that drives them to success.
Putin is 5’7
Jesus was 5’0”.
Any male under 5’6 shouldn’t even consider a career in any business field. However, There’s tons of opportunities for people of such height in growing fields such as being a jockey or one of the seven dwarfs. I’m 6’2 btw
Lloyd Blankfein says "Giddy Up"
My 2 shortest friends: both are 5’4
One is an MD at B of A - makes close to $1M/yr
Other is the head trader at a very successful sleeper HF - makes $1M+/yr
What a stupid fucking thread. Not to mention it's also sexist (what, should there not be any women in finance?)
Height is not nearly as important of a factor for women when it comes to how people assess them. Rather, other factors like hair, makeup and weight are more important.
In addition, women are subconsciously seen as "junior" or "subordinate" to men in a boardroom setting anyways.
Why did I read “boardroom setting” as bedroom setting lmao
Only tall women
Dude posting probably went to a non-target and has to find purpose on WSO.Definitely a bunch of short king rainmakers out there. Ever wonder why they have smoke show wives…it's not just the money in their wallets they are also packing heat as well.
CFO / CEO at multiple companies I’ve been at have been far shorter than what you’ve listed and commanded the utmost respect from everyone in any room they walked into. Extremely successful with M7 MBA’s and millions in the bank. Also, no idea where 6’4” came from. Corporate America isn’t the NBA
Del, wow someone really bumped this thread 6 months later lol.
Are we considering schlong length tho? Definitely a factor in terms of getting respect and establishing dominance. Personally, if I see my MD has a massive bulge, best believe my work is gonna be top tier as opposed to the beta MD with nothing to show. Just my .02 tho
Personally I think girth is more important - Randy Marsh
The text of your post speaks to height but the subtext of your post speaks to lack of length in another department.
I'm 6'5 so I wholly agree with everything your saying and contend that no nuance needs to be applied, full stop. Apart from easily being able to reach items on the top shelf, one added benefit us amazons realize is the ability to travel with all our little underlings in our pockets, to be deployed as needed.
If you see me and think that's unfair, track down a step ladder, climb to the 3rd or 4th rung, and say it to my face.
Before you whine about height privilege, it's not all gravy. It rained the other day and YOU try walking on the streets and not losing an eye because your head is level with all the umbrellas.
Only insecure plebs argue about height, the true metric to base your gigachadness off of is index to ring finger ratio. If you know you know
Mine are the same, what does that mean?
Means you're a woman
fellas, is it gay if my index and ring finger are the same length
bro whenever putin walks into a room everyone knows who the boss is
- daily ritual to watch this video of putin:
Yes, like an amusement park, you must be this high to ride. Otherwise, to the back office with you.
No. Studies show the most important length in a man is the length of his schlong
In all seriousness, it's not that big a deal. Some of the best MDs I've ever seen have been short
Are they compensating for being short?
Maybe. But there is a bias where when a tall person does x, it's because they are confident/leader etc. whereas if a short person does the same thing its compensating for height - something to consider
Most Prestigious Ways to Judge a Man's Character:
Top Tier:
-By his Zip Code
-By his vacation house's Zip Code
-The make of his bit loafers
-His vintage watch collection
-Cash in Bank (not to be confused with Net Worth)
-Chill-to-Pull ratio (how much time does he spend chilling with the boys versus having sex with women)
Middle Tier:
-Penis size
-Height
-Technical "on paper" net worth
-Bench press max out
-Time it takes to run a mile
Bottom Tier:
-How he treats his family and subordinates
-Whether or not he's a good father
-Generosity, kindness and honesty
-Intelligence and creativity (gay)
6 inch cut off for dick size for sure. No but seriously this a fucking retarded post. That’s actually sad you took the time to write this and believe that height is seriously that important. Pretty sure most top guys don’t spend their time writing retarded shit like this.
Let's be real here. Height can definitely play a role in how people perceive you in this kind of environment. If you're a short guy, you're gonna have to work harder to prove yourself and be taken seriously by clients, colleagues, and superiors. I wish I was kidding but there's research backing this up. But hey, at the end of the day, it's not the only factor and if you're a hard working Joe with great skills, you can overcome the height disadvantage.
One of the MDs in our group is like 6’7
He’s a rainmaker
None of our MDs are below 6’
I work in distressed debt at a large cap fund and none of our Partners are above 5'8 (shortest is 5'4 male)
I urge you to bring this up in your bank's diversity forum, at diversity recruiting events, the female interns at the firm, and your school's 'Women in finance' club
I am Tom Cruise.
Steve Schwarzman is 5’ 6”
Lol Lloyd B is 5’5. Bloomberg 5’4. Zuck 5’6. Bezos 5’7. Four of the most influential people on America (and literally 3 of the top 10 ten most influential). Think you’ll be okay. Don’t sweat the small stuff- from a 5’5 front officer. ;)
Height is quite trivial, you’ll notice it over time.
So many famous financiers (politics as well) are short - Schwarzmann, Kravis, roberts, Rishi Sunak, Dan Dees (a prominent MD at GS) - napoleon complex in some ways helps these folks to be more aggressive and resilient. Tall folks take it for granted and screw up eventually (best example DJDSOL, also one of my xboss)
Tall folks do make good sales guys but unless they are willing to compliment it with some intelligence, end up wasted
How tall is Dan Dees?
Dicta molestiae molestiae quo rerum laudantium non. Vel aspernatur occaecati modi sapiente adipisci. Rerum officia consequatur consequatur non maiores voluptas nulla. Facilis commodi quam enim ea corporis. Molestiae sequi architecto est enim dolores cupiditate.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ab dolorem ullam neque sed ad est enim. Temporibus quasi et enim magnam. Nostrum quo autem aut et quasi optio dolorum. Consequatur repellat et minima ducimus voluptatibus et. Voluptas fugit et quas ex doloremque ea nulla. Mollitia laboriosam eum et omnis doloribus quas voluptatem. Cupiditate enim amet fuga voluptatem ea.
Eos ut culpa qui quae rerum aperiam itaque officiis. Perferendis omnis autem qui quidem excepturi. Illo aut ut ut voluptatibus consequatur hic sint. Sed laboriosam facere distinctio expedita. A inventore consequatur hic. Et dolor sed ab non.
Pariatur ut consequatur corrupti ea. Quaerat deserunt distinctio incidunt natus cum. Totam quibusdam velit vitae et quas. Sit modi harum tenetur accusantium debitis vel id.