5 Qualities of Positive Role Models
The top five qualities of role models described by students in my study are listed below. These qualities were woven through hundreds of stories and life experiences that helped children form a vision for their own futures. By far, the greatest attribute of a positive role model is the ability to inspire others.
1. Passion and Ability to Inspire
Role models show passion for their work and have the capacity to infect others with their passion. Speaking of several of his teachers, one student said, “They’re so dedicated to teaching students and helping students and empowering students. That is such a meaningful gesture. They are always trying to give back to the next generation. That really inspires me.”
2. Clear Set of Values
Role models live their values in the world. Children admire people who act in ways that support their beliefs. It helps them understand how their own values are part of who they are and how they might seek fulfilling roles as adults. For example, students spoke of many people who supported causes from education to poverty to the environment. Role models helped these students understand the underlying values that motivated people to become advocates for social change and innovation.
3. Commitment to Community
A role model is other-focused as opposed to self-focused. Role models are usually active in their communities, freely giving of their time and talents to benefit people. Students admired people who served on local boards, reached out to neighbors in need, voted, and were active members of community organizations.
4. Selflessness and Acceptance of Others
Related to the idea that role models show a commitment to their communities, students also admired people for their selflessness and acceptance of others who were different from them. One student spoke of her father, saying “He never saw social barriers. He saw people’s needs and acted on them, no matter what their background or circumstances. He was never afraid to get his hands dirty. His lifestyle was a type of service. My father taught me to serve.”
5. Ability to Overcome Obstacles
As Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome.” Young people echoed this sentiment, showing how they developed the skills and abilities of initiative when they learned to overcome obstacles. Not surprisingly, they admire people who show them that success is possible.
(https://www.rootsofaction.com/role-model/)
Seven Traits of Role Models
1. Demonstrate confidence and leadership. A good role model is someone who is always positive, calm, and confident in themselves. You don’t want someone who is down or tries to bring you down. Everyone likes a person who is happy with their achievements but continues to strive for bigger and better objectives.
2. Don’t be afraid to be unique. Whatever you choose to do with your life, be proud of the person you’ve become, even if that means accepting some ridicule. You want role models who won’t pretend to be someone they are not, and won’t be fake just to suit other people.
3. Communicate and interact with everyone. Good communication means listening as well as talking. People are energized by leaders who explain why and where they are going. Great role models know they have to have a consistent message and business plan, and repeat it over and over again until everyone understands.
4. Show respect and concern for others. You may be driven, successful, and smart, but whether you choose to show respect or not speaks volumes about how other people see you. Everyone notices if you are taking people for granted, not showing gratitude, or stepping on others to get ahead.
5. Be knowledgeable and well rounded. Great role models aren’t just “teachers.” They are constant learners, challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zones, and surround themselves with smarter people. When team members see that their role model can be many things, they will learn to stretch themselves in order to be successful.
6. Have humility and willingness to admit mistakes. Nobody is perfect. When you make a bad decision, let those who are watching and learning from you know that you made a mistake and how you plan to correct it. By apologizing, accepting accountability, and correcting course, you will be demonstrating an often overlooked part of being a role model.
7. Do good things outside the job. People who do the work, yet find time for good causes outside of work, such as raising money for charity, saving lives, and helping people in need get extra credit. Commitment to a good cause implies a strong commitment to the business.
True role models are those who possess the qualities that we would like to have, and those who have affected us in a way that makes us want to be better people. They help us to advocate for ourselves and take a leadership position on the issues that we believe in. (The Seven Traits of a Role Model (caycon.com) )
Here’s what I look for in a good role model:
1. Honesty is the best policy. If a character is not honest with themselves and others they do not deserve respect. I can understand a coming of age story where the character learns the value of honesty by at first lying, then suffering the consequences and ultimately choosing the path of sincerity and Truth.
2. Faithful and Trustworthy are traits I honor the most. It is my goal and the goal I expect in characters I follow (people I know). The road for Role Models is a two-way street. This is their purpose. As I do, so do you. As above, so below. The world is my mirror.
3. Wholesome and Sense of Humor go well together because they are complimentary. Being whole requires a healthy sense of humor. The ability to laugh at difficulty and anything which makes no logical sense defines resilience in my view, though the role model does not laugh at people in a derogatory way. Good humor is a trait we can all respect.
4. Selflessness almost goes without saying. A good person is selfless! However, selflessness has its limits because one must take care of themselves if they are to go on caring for others. Which leads us to the next trait of a good role model, NOT being broken.
5. Most story telling these days requires the main character to be “broken”, because this makes the character more “interesting”. By broken, I mean major personality flaws or mental illness. While this tactic can be effective in an opposites attract sort of way, I believe this undermines the whole story by removing the character as a role model.
6. A good role model does the right thing when that can be determined. By “right thing” I mean the character has a strong moral code and sticks to it. Good stories often contain an ethical dilemma or moral issue the main character must deal with. If the story has characters who play both sides of things, as in good/evil, hero/villian, or simply a two-face character it weakens the impact of the story by maintaining confusion in the audience. A good role model is clear to the viewer.
So there you have it, 3 perspectives on Role Models. It is easy to see the overlap and by this you can come up with your own view on what makes a good role model. For clarity, I made my list before finding the others which were basically the top picks on a google search. I find that with a clear mind and intention internet searches will take you right where you need to be, giving you the answers you seek.
Obviously, not all characters in a story are role models, though I believe the main characters should be. For instance, in a romance story the love birds need to complement each other by both being role models or not. In stories with a clear villain the character will be an obvious opposite to the hero, though there may be a few traits in common to bring the characters into conflict.
The purpose of this blog is mainly for my own research into writing for the new millennium. It is creating a story for our evolution to 4th density or simply providing a story to aspire to. Evolution happens regardless of our desire for it. One’s desire and focus quicken the pace for it though. We should all have role models in our lives. For me it was my mother and to some degree my father. I can think of no other person besides my grandmother who really inspired me. I have had lots of good teachers and coaches over the years, though they were so temporary I can hardly call them role models.
My writing project in process can be found here if you are interested. I suppose I should clarify that role models have a very important place in story telling because without them, the story has no teeth, no purpose, no message in my view. Since our lives are our story, this applies to us as individuals as well. We are the authors of our life, after all.
Sequoia Elisabeth
Oneness Ministry 