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Being fit matters.
New research suggests that a few extra pounds
or a slightly larger waistline affects an executive's perceived
leadership ability as well as stamina on the job.
While marathon
training and predawn workouts aren't explicitly part of a senior
manager's job description, leadership experts and executive recruiters
say that staying trim is now virtually required for anyone on track for
the corner office.
'Because the demands of leadership can be
quite strenuous, the physical aspects are just as important as
everything else,' says Sharon McDowell-Larsen, an exercise physiologist
who runs an executive-fitness program for the nonprofit Center for
Creative Leadership.
Executives with larger waistlines and higher
body-mass-index readings tend to be perceived as less effective in the
workplace, both in performance and interpersonal relationships,
according to data compiled by CCL. BMI, a common measure of body fat, is
based on height and weight.
While weight remains a taboo
conversation topic in the workplace, it's hard to overlook. A heavy
executive is judged to be less capable because of assumptions about how
weight affects health and stamina, says Barry Posner, a
leadershipprofessor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of
Business. He says he can't name a single overweight Fortune 500 CEO. 'We
have stereotypes about fat,' he adds, 'so when we see a senior
executive who's overweight, our initial reaction isn't positive.'
CCL
staff detected the correlation after collecting hundreds of
peer-performance reviews and health-screening results from the CEOs and
other senior-level managers who participate in its weeklong leadership
workshops in Colorado Springs. A pair of university researchers, using
data from 757 executives measured between 2006 and 2010, found that
weight may indeed influence perceptions of leaders among subordinates,
peers and superiors.
Tim McNair, a general manager at Nazareth,
Pa.-based guitar maker C.F. Martin & Co., says he was inspired to
make some changes after spotting his 'gut' on camera during a recent
public-speaking exercise while attending the CCL workshop.
He
wondered whether his colleagues had the same reaction to his appearance,
he says, adding: 'Would they think, 'If he can't keep his hand out of
the cookie jar, how can he do his job?''
So the 44-year-old, who
says his peers' evaluations were somewhat harsh, recently rejoined the
local gym, where he heads after work at least three days a week to run
on the treadmill, cycle or stretch. He has also given up double
cheeseburgers, steak, ice cream, Coca-Cola and Tastykakes, opting for a
healthier diet of grains and vegetables. In four months, he has shed
about 25 pounds.
The fitness imperative for executives is
relatively new, says Ana Dutra, the CEO of Korn/Ferry Leadership and
Talent Consulting. Time was, a company chief spent every waking minute
at work, sacrificing exercise, vacation and kids' soccer games in the
service of the firm. Employees were expected to admire and emulate this
devotion. Now, executives are expected to take time off to 'revitalize
themselves,' Ms. Dutra says.
She pegs the shift to the sudden
deaths of high-profile CEOs, including McDonald's Corp. chief Jim
Cantalupo, who died of a heart attack in 2004, 16 months after taking
the post. His successor, Charlie Bell, died less than a year later of
cancer at the age of 44. In 1997, Coca-Cola Co. Chairman Roberto
Goizueta, a smoker, died weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
The
CEOs of today are also more visible than their forebears and must be
camera-ready at a moment's notice, composed while courting investors and
ready to respond in a company emergency. Excess weight can convey
weakness or a 'lack of control,' says Amanda Sanders, a New York-based
image consultant who has worked with senior executives at Fortune 500
firms.
'It's the leadership image you project,' says Mark
Donnison, 47, a senior executive director at Canadian Blood Services who
has lost 25 pounds since starting an early-morning workout rotation of
cardio, weights and yoga last summer. 'Folks do see how you live.'
Companies
seek leaders with physical endurance, the better to manage global
businesses and solve complex problems, says Mr. Posner, who advised Dow
Chemical Co. on training high-potential global leaders in 2010 and 2011.
Those leaders were instructed to build in regular time for exercise to
help them withstand the constant travel and the demands of an overseas
role. The training even incorporated such classes as Zumba, Pilates, tai
chi and yoga, says Dawn Baker, Dow's global director of talent
management.
Panera Bread Co. founder and co-CEO Ron Shaich says
he began working with a trainer about five years ago, in part to stay
energized while running a growing company. Two to three times a week, he
gets up for a 5:30 a.m. appointment with his trainer, and on Sundays he
opts for a 90-minute run. The workouts have boosted his energy levels
and helped him focus, he says.
In general, the executives in the
Center for Creative Leadership study were healthier than the average
American. They drank and smoked less and were more likely to exercise
regularly. About half were considered overweight or obese, defined as
having a BMI of more than 25. By contrast, more than 60% of Americans
fit this description, according to a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
last year.
The sample's leaner executives, defined as having a
BMI under 25, were viewed more favorably by peers, averaging 3.92 for
task performance on a five-point scale; heavier leaders averaged 3.85.
Similarly, members of the leaner group rated higher on interpersonal
skills.
The study controlled for factors such as age, race,
gender, job level and personality traits. Results were similar across
industries, says Eden King, one of the study's researchers and an
associate professor of psychology at George Mason University.
To
be sure, the perception of competence isn't the same as measurable
leadership success. Executives who were part of the study say it's
difficult to say how much of the perceived bias stems from their
physical weight and how much from their own projected insecurity.
Weight
Watchers International Inc. CEO David Kirchhoff, 46, recalls feeling
painfully self-conscious when his weight was at its peak a decade ago,
around the time he first took up the post. At six-foot-two and 245
pounds, he tried to hide his girth with oversize sweaters and pleated
pants.
'I sucked in my gut a lot,' says Mr. Kirchhoff, who has
since lost 40 pounds. Now, he says, 'I probably carry myself with more
confidence and authority.
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Post By：2013/1/30 13:50:16
