Role Models: Relevant to Everyday Performance?
I’m coaching a client who is transitioning from senior technical expert to CEO of his small business. We’ve discussed his leadership style before. The catch here for him is that his understanding is evolving and he was at a loss for words to describe his current style. He has always been clear that he is a visionary but what about using high touch, collaboration, inviting truth telling and clear communication? So, we started to talk about the CEO’s and business people that he admires and wishes to emulate.
And that’s when I got to wondering…are roles models really useful on a daily basis?
Don’t get me wrong. Role models serve an important purpose. They provide us with both inspiration and a roadmap. Basically everyone has a biography of some sort. You can read a published account of someone’s life, Google the person and/or ask questions directly. But how do they really do that thing you are aspiring to?
People aren’t perfect
It’s so easy to put someone on a pedestal. Think about the people you admire. We don’t really know that person. Take someone like Donald Trump. Sure, he’s on television and is well known for his real estate acumen. You might read about him, listen to what he says and take a class from Trump University. People tell me that they admire how he acts so confidently even when he is so close to bankruptcy. But what do you really know about him? Would it matter if he were rude or cruel?
What happens when you learn something unpleasant or ugly about your role model? There is that moment when one is faced with the idea of the person and the real life person. Can you overlook the fact he or she is human and not perfect? It may be possible to extract what is meaningful to you and suggest that your role model works very hard to behave in a certain way. Then again, the transgression may be too abhorrent to you.
Looking for a role model
So what makes us identify certain people as inspiring to us? Certainly, their story can be one possible starting point. We’ve heard so many rags to riches stories and each person who has accomplished this has qualities worth of emulation. Could it be that we see role models to get us through certain stages of development? If you founded a business and emphasized innovation, you might want to learn about Bill Gore, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Maybe you are a woman in business and aspire to rise to the top of the business world or politics so you might read lists like Forbes Power Women. Perhaps there is a boss who is so adept at his/her profession that you felt as if you are apprenticing to him/her.
Throughout our lives, we find people who are extraordinary and study them so we can be like them. This is part of how we form our identities. Over the years, we have different experiences and different choices and seek to navigate them successfully. It makes sense to add and subtract to our list of role models. They may be fictional characters, celebrities, known industry experts or people within our sphere who embody greatness.
But I’m back to my original question…how are they relevant to our everyday performance?
We know the big stuff they have accomplished. What did they do on Tuesday morning at 9:08am? When we are working on an audacious goal, there are moments when we are discouraged. We may lose faith (even for a moment). We may even encounter obstacles we didn’t anticipate and this throws us off track. And it could be that we just don’t know how to act or execute a particular skill and this slows us down. Do our role models give us the big picture or a how-to manual?
So, I’m opening up these questions to you. We’ll be discussing this topic on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, September 16th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT so I hope you can join us. If not, please add your thoughts below.
1. How do you identify someone as a role model? What qualities do you look for?
2. What is the difference between idolizing someone and using them as a model?
3. What role does gender play in your choices of role models?
4. Are we more likely to seek role models in good times or bad? Why?
5. How do you use a role model when for everyday performance?
4 Comments
This is a great post Elli and I look forward to the discussion on #kaizenblog today. Here are my comments on your questions:
#1. I look to people as role models who are known to be honest and direct and who shine in some area where I’d like to learn/improve. NOTE: A role model does not have to be everything – it’s possible to have several with different specialties.
#2. “Idolizing” to me implies blinding light and “they can do-no-wrong” admiration. Role models are definitely not that.
#3. Gender screening doesn’t play a role for me ever. In fact, I’m amazed at how much people can miss when they filter by gender in any area.
#4. I’m not sure if you’re asking for a trend analysis here and I don’t have any statistics to offer. However, I don’t think I’ve never gone out with the task being: find a role model. More likely, I stumble on someone and say – that person would be a good role-model or mentor or adviser and create an opportunity to bring them into my life in some way
#5. My most frequent use of role models is to ask – “what would X do in this circumstance?” And, hopefully they are in relationship with me in some manner, so I reach out for a discussion.
A discussion of how others react to the same issues will be very interesting.
- JOSEPH
Joseph Olewitz recently posted..Video #3 Selling, What Is It Really? Creating Win-Win
Joseph,
Thanks for commenting! Your point in #1 is such an interesting one. It can be easy to quote one person for everything but what do we miss if we don’t see what others offer.
Looking for someone who is like you (gender, race or other identifier) can be useful if you’re charting new territory. For example, if you are the 1st woman to own in business in your family or you are an immigrant or member of a minority and are stepping out of stereotypical norms. It doesn’t have to be exclusive but having a role model like you can normalize your experience.
I’m also looking forward to today’s #kaizenblog discussion!
~Elli
Simply put I look for a role model from someone who does, is far better than I. Usually this is multiple people with diverse expertise and not gender specific. Worship, sick admiration is not part of the equation. I may not even like the person very much but they are extremely expert or proficient in something…… and they become a point of leaning from… role model. Actually Joseph said it all
This is an excellent post, yet again.
Caroline,
Thank you for being a role model for me! Your enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and mentoring of others is an inspiration for me!
Like you, I look for people from many different places. It’s curious that you brought up how you may not even like the person but still value in their proficiency. That may be an underrated practice that many of us use.
~Elli