One time I was walking back from the newsagent and this mother and her child were walking past me. The child was turning the air blue – swearing like a sailor, swaggering like a little champion. Patience wearing thin with her cocky offspring, mum turns round to child and says: “Will you stop swearing? For f***’s sake!”
It’s kind of obvious where the child picked up his vocabulary (clue: he had never read The Canterbury Tales). Your parents are your very first role models on planet earth. They set the template, lay the foundations on which you build.
Of course, later on, your role models adapt. Some people look up to musicians. When I first heard Jimi Hendrix I bought a guitar the day after. I couldn’t play it, I let it gather dust. Later on, I liked the way the harmonica sounded and thought I’d get one of those. The neighbours complained it was ‘too noisy’ so I stuck it in a drawer. Not so long ago, I bought a mandolin off eBay because I heard a Chinese man playing one at Goodge Street tube. I gave it to a family member a month later.
Some of you may have once looked up to film stars, sports stars, models, political figures or the great thinkers of our time. I think most people have, to some degree. You know those people who you see at fan conventions who dress like Luke Skywalker or Michael Jackson? I think that’s just a cartoon, exaggerated version of a quality a lot of us possess.
Essentially, we’re all copycats. Some better than others, but all looking for someone to inspire us. It’s the same in the workplace. Somebody who talks with belief and passion makes people believe. Somebody who can relate to the workforce as ‘one of us’ is always going to be more successful than someone who rattles off stats or speaks in jargon. So why is that many senior employees concentrate on business models at the expense of being role models?
Obviously, I’m not saying chief executives should suddenly start trying to act cool. For a lot of them, this would mean putting a baseball cap on sideways and some sunglasses with coloured frames. Probably calling Rachel from HR ‘Dudette’ or something bad like that.
But it is worth asking yourself the question once in a while: “Who do I look up to? And who looks up to me?”
22 February 2010
Who are you looking up to?
One time I was walking back from the newsagent and this mother and her child were walking past me. The child was turning the air blue – swearing like a sailor, swaggering like a little champion. Patience wearing thin with her cocky offspring, mum turns round to child and says: “Will you stop swearing? For f***’s sake!”
It’s kind of obvious where the child picked up his vocabulary (clue: he had never read The Canterbury Tales). Your parents are your very first role models on planet earth. They set the template, lay the foundations on which you build.
Of course, later on, your role models adapt. Some people look up to musicians. When I first heard Jimi Hendrix I bought a guitar the day after. I couldn’t play it, I let it gather dust. Later on, I liked the way the harmonica sounded and thought I’d get one of those. The neighbours complained it was ‘too noisy’ so I stuck it in a drawer. Not so long ago, I bought a mandolin off eBay because I heard a Chinese man playing one at Goodge Street tube. I gave it to a family member a month later.
Some of you may have once looked up to film stars, sports stars, models, political figures or the great thinkers of our time. I think most people have, to some degree. You know those people who you see at fan conventions who dress like Luke Skywalker or Michael Jackson? I think that’s just a cartoon, exaggerated version of a quality a lot of us possess.
Essentially, we’re all copycats. Some better than others, but all looking for someone to inspire us. It’s the same in the workplace. Somebody who talks with belief and passion makes people believe. Somebody who can relate to the workforce as ‘one of us’ is always going to be more successful than someone who rattles off stats or speaks in jargon. So why is that many senior employees concentrate on business models at the expense of being role models?
Obviously, I’m not saying chief executives should suddenly start trying to act cool. For a lot of them, this would mean putting a baseball cap on sideways and some sunglasses with coloured frames. Probably calling Rachel from HR ‘Dudette’ or something bad like that.
But it is worth asking yourself the question once in a while: “Who do I look up to? And who looks up to me?”
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