Role Models & Responsibility

Dimensions of a Role Model - Dr. Bernhard Scholz
have his hair cut like Gareth Bale and attempts to copy his
brainless adoration and I prefer to call this an "idol". These
patterns I just described can be transferred from sport to
music or other cultural areas, but it will also apply to other,
also professional, environments.
ideals and less than idols
I tend to qualify noncommittal ideals as basically
ineffective whereas having an idol seems to me at best
unsustainable and sometimes even destructive. Although
consider idols as extreme cases also for a form of public
admiration which sometimes abruptly changes into public
misconduct, which are sometimes simply expression of
the trivial truth that we all are highly complex beings with
bright but also dark sides. Hyping someone frequently
rests on somehow neglecting the uglier facets of her
or his life and concentrates on the admirable ones. The
sometimes following condemnation often seems to be
driven by disappointment when realizing that the hero is at
white!? Think of Uli Hoeness who is still a highly successful
lot and whose contributions to society are not belittled by
the news a few months ago.
This also highlights an important
question I‘ll address
later again: What‘s the
substance of the example? A
person or a behaviour?
When I focus on role models in the following paragraphs
patterns of example and imitation neglecting the extremes
on the basis that noncommittal ideals seem to me as not
really important or in case of idols obviously not very
helpful in contributing to our personal development.
There again role models in a proper sense are potentially
highly effective in forming personalities and personal
straightforward to invert the descriptions to cover the
forms of negative role models. At least to me it was a
somehow surprising observation that with regard to idols
positive examples seem to be potentially more dangerous
unconsciously followed role models. Only when attending
leadership trainings I tried to clarify this process of learning
by using examples. This was also the time when I started to
watch more closely and consciously how others, especially
successful or otherwise impressive people, mastered their
ESPRIT St. Gallen Business Review
challenges and this did not end up to now. There are for
example discussions or presentations where I ask myself
afterwards: Wow! How did she accomplish this, how did he
manage to get out of that mess again? How did she convince
or how did he persuade the auditorium? Basically these
questions are at the heart of the proper functioning of role
models. That said these questions are only the start. What
were the essentials of the challenges, why did the applied
be an extreme way to use a role model by simply
complex tasks like for example how to use bow and arrow
in a friendly competition. But these are typically not the
situations we are thinking of when we talk about role
models.
the ones mentioned above and then also to consider what
method successful? Do I have the personal prerequisites to
be credible if I employ an instrument? Does a method seem
consistent with how I am or want to be perceived? And most
This brings me back to the above mentioned remark and an
important distinction: We should not use a role model for
being like someone but for acting and achieving results like
someone! In my view trying to be like someone brings one
very close to the pattern of transforming a role model into
an idol. I strongly believe in the uniqueness of individual
persons and in each person being a highly complex psychophysical
ecosystem. Trying to imitate a person in the sense
of trying to be like her or him results nearly necessarily in
inconsistencies which are sometimes also quite ridiculous.
It takes much more than a well trained charming smile and
the imitation of some gestures to become a successfull ceo
of an international bank.
Uli Hoeneß: A Rolemodel and a Villain?
Imagining ourselves how we want to be in the future as
a benchmark and a compass for our own development
is a constant process. It is based on personal values,
perceived strengths and weaknesses as well as on a feeling >
Winter 2013 - 7