Role of Role Models in Personality Development

For the better part of the populous, a role model plays a vital part in shaping our personality. Right from the initial stages of growing up, we establish our role models, though in those nascent stages, we tend to idolize our family members. The earliest role models of most individuals are seen in their parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents. As our exposure increases, our role models gradually take the form of public icons like Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Usain Bolt, Dhirubhai Ambani, or other such public figures who have proved their mettle in some walk of life.

Usually, a Role Model of a person can speak volumes about his ambition and interests. The personality traits of the role model have in some way inspired the idoliser, and we can see that these inspiring characteristics bring about a pointed change in that individual’s perceptions. It is, however, not enough only to select a proper Role model; to use him or her as a sort of benchmark and then identify the qualities that have made the Role model successful in the chosen field is equally imperative. It is not necessary to put the Role Models on a pedestal or deify the personality, making a SWOT analysis of our individual capabilities and identifying our weaknesses to correct them is essential. Making use of the opportunities, warding off the threats and improving on our strengths to exceed our own expectations and cross the benchmarks set by our Role Models is a further aid to developing our personalities on the lines of our icons.

An interesting hypothetical analogy to figure our tennis ace Roger Federer’s Role Model evolution could be as follows:

While Roger Federer may not have consciously modelled himself on Pete Sampras it appears from his overall approach to the game that at some point of time he may have modelled his game partly on Sampras.
However it is testimony to Federer’s greatness that over the last few years he has improved his all court game to such an extent that today he is arguably the greatest player the tennis world has seen.
Having surpassed the achievements of his one time role model it is imperative for Federer to set new goals and, if necessary, choose a different Role Model - perhaps somebody like Tiger Woods, the greatest Golfer the world has seen, where at his career peak, there is a wide gap between him and the rest!

Milind Vartak

www.valueaddservices.com