Average looking people are more successful?

I have a theory, people who are not good looking / never treated specially by people in school / have nothing apart from brains are the ones who are most successful in corporate life. Because they've never been treated special by anyone, they cultivate great work ethics, start looking at life very pragmatically, and have a very objective approach to everything they do, good mix of skills to be a successful professional. Eg: look at all CEOs, head of states, people who've done for themselves, I rarely find them good looking, sure they wear good clothes and dress up nicely but nothing in way of being beautiful.

Agree / you think its bollocks?

 

The opposite may be true... the one with dashing good looks may be able to capitalize on any headstart he/she may have, leading to a successful outcome too...

unfortunately i dont think there is an easy/straight forward answer to this question.. although you may get a couple success stories/examples out of this from not very good looking individuals?

 

There have been studies that show taller and more attractive people do better on average. Life and business is a huge popularity game. If you know how to play the game early you are at an advantage.

 
Anthony .:
There have been studies that show taller and more attractive people do better on average. Life and business is a huge popularity game. If you know how to play the game early you are at an advantage.
yes I've heard of those studies but I am talking about the very top, MDs / CEOs of largest companies in the world. My point is because of a very objective approach towards life, they are able to learn the game before / easier than others
 
notbirdman:
Looking at the best rappers out there proves your point. Jay-Z...Lil Wayne...Snoop Dogg.

Rappers make up a small fraction of the music industry. Look at the most successful singer and entertainers across the board. A majority are successful solely because of their looks, not their mediocre voices which can be enhanced by technology.

There has been many studies that show that better looking individuals are more successful on average. Better looks = more perks, respect, admiration and self confidence = more power and opportunity (on average of course). I know a lot of you will jump on this comment, especially the average looking ones, but there is some truth to this. You see it all around you. Obama and Brittney Spears are decent examples

 
Best Response
IBslave22:
notbirdman:
Looking at the best rappers out there proves your point. Jay-Z...Lil Wayne...Snoop Dogg.

Rappers make up a small fraction of the music industry. Look at the most successful singer and entertainers across the board. A majority are successful solely because of their looks, not their mediocre voices which can be enhanced by technology.

There has been many studies that show that better looking individuals are more successful on average. Better looks = more perks, respect, admiration and self confidence = more power and opportunity (on average of course). I know a lot of you will jump on this comment, especially the average looking ones, but there is some truth to this. You see it all around you. Obama and Brittney Spears are decent examples

Britney went to Columbia and Harvard Law... that's why she's really successful... luckily Obama is really good looking, otherwise... oh wait

 
2x2Matrix:
Do you really think there's any difference in competence or quality of work? Of course not. The winner's going to be the guy who's more likable/establishes a better rapport/etc.
Agreed but why would that be the better looking person? Forming a relationship has a number of different levels, nothing to do with looks. Typical CEOs meet 100s of people everyday, I think they get transactional after a point and I highly doubt they even look at people in terms of what they look like. If a person is going to be of benefit to him, he'll continue relationship or else goodbye, even though you might look like brad pitt or whatever
 
wannabemonkey123:
2x2Matrix:
Do you really think there's any difference in competence or quality of work? Of course not. The winner's going to be the guy who's more likable/establishes a better rapport/etc.
Agreed but why would that be the better looking person? Forming a relationship has a number of different levels, nothing to do with looks. Typical CEOs meet 100s of people everyday, I think they get transactional after a point and I highly doubt they even look at people in terms of what they look like. If a person is going to be of benefit to him, he'll continue relationship or else goodbye, even though you might look like brad pitt or whatever

Totally valid. If there's any benefit to being good looking, it's really, really slim - the main point I was trying to make was that looking at the super-successful people only shows you a really slim portion of the people who had the necessary brainpower to get to the top, so the absence of good-looking people in that group isn't particularly meaningful. Soft skills, likability, etc. play a big role, and luck plays a huge part too - the person who gets picked to be CEO probably isn't significantly better than the next 2-3 people who missed out on the job.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

This is an impossible argument to make. How could you possibly determine that it was the "looks" that made someone successful/unsuccessful? Life is made up of billions of experiences and interactions that shape the way we think and act. The way we look and the experiences driven by our looks make up such a small fraction of our lives. Also, being "good looking" is such a relative judgment.

It would be one thing if you looked across the spectrum of successful people and everyone was good looking, but this just isn't the case. Heck, part of it is just the line of business they are in. I've met a lot of entrepreneurs that were widely successful but absolutely crazy because the industry they operated in valued "being absolutely nuts" more than being good looking.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
CompBanker:

It would be one thing if you looked across the spectrum of successful people and everyone was good looking, but this just isn't the case. Heck, part of it is just the line of business they are in. I've met a lot of entrepreneurs that were widely successful but absolutely crazy because the industry they operated in valued "being absolutely nuts" more than being good looking.

Not necessary. A higher proportion of good-looking people among the successful vs. the proportion of good looking people in general population, would establish the relationship between good looks and success. That relationship may be interpreted in many ways: It may mean people like to deal with pretty people more, or it may mean that people are considered attractive when they have a higher degree of symmetry, and assuming that symmetry is considered to be a marker of good genes, attractive people are viewed as genetically superior and thus more capable of success, OR they are genetically superior and that manifests in attractiveness.

More is good, all is better
 
Argonaut:
CompBanker:

It would be one thing if you looked across the spectrum of successful people and everyone was good looking, but this just isn't the case. Heck, part of it is just the line of business they are in. I've met a lot of entrepreneurs that were widely successful but absolutely crazy because the industry they operated in valued "being absolutely nuts" more than being good looking.

Not necessary. A higher proportion of good-looking people among the successful vs. the proportion of good looking people in general population, would establish the relationship between good looks and success. That relationship may be interpreted in many ways: It may mean people like to deal with pretty people more, or it may mean that people are considered attractive when they have a higher degree of symmetry, and assuming that symmetry is considered to be a marker of good genes, attractive people are viewed as genetically superior and thus more capable of success, OR they are genetically superior and that manifests in attractiveness.

OR it may not be that people prefer good looking people, but DON'T want to work with ugly people, treating average and good looking people the same way. Inherent biases against ugly people would also result in a higher percentage of beautiful people in successful positions.

 

Malcolm Gladwell had a couple of chapters in "Blink" about the fact that most of the CEO's of F500 company's were tall, in like the top 10% or something.

He also talks about the "Warren Harding Error," which means that we determine whether a person is fit for a position based on looks. Warren Harding just looked like a president, so everyone thought he could do that job, even though he didn't have the experience. He is considered the worst president in US history.

I can dig up the data from Blink if anyone is interested.

 
jonnyseed:
Malcolm Gladwell had a couple of chapters in "Blink" about the fact that most of the CEO's of F500 company's were tall, in like the top 10% or something.

He also talks about the "Warren Harding Error," which means that we determine whether a person is fit for a position based on looks. Warren Harding just looked like a president, so everyone thought he could do that job, even though he didn't have the experience. He is considered the worst president in US history.

I can dig up the data from Blink if anyone is interested.

Warren Harding is one of the best presidents to ever preside Over this country. Check out the recession of 1921

 
acljnle0:
don't forget that a few articles argue that being 'good-looking' constitutes having totally 'average' facial features as in how far your eyes are set apart, nose size, ear size, etc.

impossible argument to support imho

This is an excellent point (that I planned on making, but was beaten to the punch). I watched a show a few years back which focused on looks and they came to this conclusions as well. It seems that people who are considered attractive or more attractive than the average person actually have what was scientifically considered "average" features, like those listed above...its just that instead of having one or two, these people deemed more attractive have nearly all of them, which was rather interesting to learn.

The other thing that you need to keep in mind is how age and "success" are correlated. Obviously, this has changed over the years because a decade or more ago you would not have found a 20 something running a billion dollar company. The positions of CEO and President, etc are reserved for very knowledgeable people who have decades of experience, so looking at them when they are 60+ is a bit unscientific/biased (unless you have an old people fetish). You would have to go back and check out their yearbooks and to see just how "attractive" they were.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
NeverSurrender:
A more interesting question is:

Is it disadvantageous career-wise to be extremely good looking?

I'm still trying to figure out if there is more to life than being really really ridiculously good looking?!?

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
Edmundo Braverman:
I can't speak to this, as my rugged good looks have opened many doors over the years. One area where being average looking may help is in the distraction department, enabling average looking guys to focus on the task at hand. I can tell you it's a full time job for me to just fend the women off.

We all have our crosses to bear.

I'm even attracted to your mug shot there Eddie, lol.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

We've all seen the hot chick leave a bar with the average looking dude...body language, personality, confidence. Works in the board room too. Average and awesome looks can be equalized with rapport and people skills. Dress for success and "fake it til you make it"...if you like you, people around you will like you... Look your best, stand up straight, and jump into the game!

Enough clichés?

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
 

I'm sorry, but as a heterosexual male, I really don't take "looks" into account when I'm factoring in who I'm doing business with. Given that CRE and finance in general is dominated by males, I think it's a moot point to argue that men of any type of physical quality--save the well dressed--are more successful or not, at least in this industry.

My dad was rugged--not good looking by any stretch thanks to smoking--and he was CEO of a fortune 500 insurance company because he was competent and gregarious--the males who promoted him didn't give a flying f*ck about his cheekbone structure because they weren't gay...

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
I'm sorry, but as a heterosexual male, I really don't take "looks" into account when I'm factoring in who I'm doing business with. Given that CRE and finance in general is dominated by males, I think it's a moot point to argue that men of any type of physical quality--save the well dressed--are more successful or not, at least in this industry.

My dad was rugged--not good looking by any stretch thanks to smoking--and he was CEO of a fortune 500 insurance company because he was competent and gregarious--the males who promoted him didn't give a flying f*ck about his cheekbone structure because they weren't gay...

Ditto, this is a gay discussion.

--- man made the money, money never made the man
 

No way a lesser good looking person can win over a better looking person based on their face. Actually there is a study done on this. In my HR class we learned the concept of Halo Effect. And we were shown a video of two guys going into an interview for a broker position (Yes front office). One guy is nerdy looking the other is like a frat guy, ceteris paribus. Guess who got the job. Thats right the frat looking guy.

 
ilovemac:
No way a lesser good looking person can win over a better looking person based on their face. Actually there is a study done on this. In my HR class we learned the concept of Halo Effect. And we were shown a video of two guys going into an interview for a broker position (Yes front office). One guy is nerdy looking the other is like a frat guy, ceteris paribus. Guess who got the job. Thats right the frat looking guy.

Here you're talking about masculinity more than straight-up looks. All kinds of rugged, masculine, type-A males would never be considered "classically good looking" but would be considered perfect fits for these positions. A nerd is a nerd, defined by build, dress, personality, and interests not cheekbone structure.

Array
 

You have to remember one important point not mentioned here. Studies have showed that companies with more beautiful people actully have a higher amount of customers than firms with not so many beautfiul people. They also produce higher higher profits. So the average looking CEO might actully just have a lot of beautiful looking people working for them, which in turn makes them look like a good CEO since they have a large customer base/great profits.

 

Dear average looking people,

Good looks do indeed help in the business world, although they can only get you so far. If you are average looking, do not fret. You can still make it to the top and you will be judged on your overall performance. Your appearance is just one of many factors that have an effect on ones potential for success. All held constant, the better looking individual will persevere though. No need to rationalize how you can still be very successful even though you are ugly. Money doesnt buy happiness either, but it sure as hell helps.

Looks will not be enough to get you to the very top, but certainty play a role in first impression business interactions, interviews and your level of influence. An excellent and confident personality can absolutely compensate to some degree for what you are lacking in the looks department. In my work, we do pay attention to looks as we find that with all else equal, the better looking individual will perform better with clients.

Fun fact: the tallest candidate in Presidential elections has almost always won. This is no coincidence. It is obvious that those who are attractive get better perks throughout their daily life, but that doesn't mean that they are more like to be the CEO. I would say that life is a bit easier for them though.

That being said, Brad Pitt for President.

 

[quote=Seigniorage]In my experience, it only comes into effect if you are completely hideous. And unless you have serious birth defects, it's your own fault and highly correctable (being morbidly obese, sloppily dressed, bad skin). And even then, success is still possible, as this picture attests: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/05/alg_galleon_raj_rajaratnam…]

Looks like a Teddy Graham.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
kraken:
i once tested some female friends i started by showing them some pics of guys, their answer was "he's ok", "doable", etc. i then proceeded to show them pics from the same guys and tod them they were billionaires their answer "he's cute/hot"

you get the point, all the studies are right, being wealthy makes average people look better ...

mm not really

p.s. i don't think girls really use the term "doable" when describing how good looking a guy is

 

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