How To Be a Role Model For Others: 21 Well-Rounded Tips

In this new article you’ll learn how to be a role model for others.

Role models are supposed to motivate, teach, and lead by example. Whether you are trying to instill core values in your children or demonstrate proper classroom behavior to your students, the most important thing you can do is to be fair, considerate, and consistent.

Role models don’t have to be flawless, but they do have to show that everyone makes mistakes and that it’s important to accept responsibility for them. As long as you care about the people who admire you, you can be an inspiring and informative role model.

How To Be a Role Model For Others:

1. Put into action what you have learned.

The most important thing you need to do if you want to be a good role model for your kids is to do what you say you’re going to do.

Of course, some of the things that apply to your children may not apply to you, but it is still very important that you set a good example for them. Your children will imitate your behavior, so it’s important to model the behavior you’d like to see in them.

2. When you make a mistake, apologize.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be the perfect parent who never makes mistakes. It’s not feasible. Things will go wrong, and you will sometimes lose your cool or say or do something you later regret.

This is very understandable.

The most important thing is that you accept responsibility for your actions and apologize for them instead of pretending that nothing happened. If you behave inappropriately and try to sweep it under the rug, your children will learn that they too can act that way.

3. Express your ideas out loud.

Children don’t have to think of you as the person who knows everything. In fact, you can help them even more by thinking out loud and encouraging them to participate in the process.

When a difficult situation arises, you can review the pros and cons with your children and demonstrate to them the steps you need to take to make a choice. In this way, you will show them that you are human and that when you say no, you are not just saying it categorically, but because you have given it a lot of thought.

However, you have to be careful not to go too far; after all, you don’t want to explain your reasons to your child every time, because it will become tiresome and lose its effectiveness.

4. Make sure you apply what you say.

Another need for any parent who wants to be a good role model is to be able to back up your statements. You need to stick to your point if you tell your child that she won’t be able to go to the mall with her friends until she does her school work, or she will be seen as a pushover.

While it may be difficult, you can’t be fooled by your children’s apologies, emotional pleas or outcries. Of course, you should always listen to your children and never make rules without considering them first, but once you make a rule, you must follow it if you want your child to respect you.

5. Be respectful to everyone, especially your children.

If you want to be a good role model for your children, you need to treat everyone around you with respect, from co-workers to neighbors.

You can’t encourage your children to be nice to everyone when you yourself are scolding a buddy, yelling at a telemarketer, or even being snarky with a cashier.

You also need to be nice to the people around you, instead of being cruel or insensitive to them, because your children will take your actions to heart.

6. Maintain Consistency.

Another thing you can do to set a good example for your kids is to be consistent in how you keep your house in order.

If you have a rule that your kids can’t play with their friends until their homework is done, you need to stick to it no matter what, and not create exceptions depending on how much they want to play with their friends.

If you tell your kids they have to finish eating their veggies before they move on to dessert, don’t break that rule just because your child cries. If you make a lot of exceptions, your children will be confused and believe that it is okay not to be consistent in their behavior.

7. Be understanding of your partner.

If you have a partner, one of the most important relationships a child can observe is your relationship with them. While no relationship is flawless, you should show your children that two people can love, compromise, and grow as individuals and as a couple by working together.

You may not realize how your actions affect your children, especially when they are young, but when they are old enough to form their own relationships, they will imitate the relationship behaviors they observe.

8. Don’t favor one person over another.

Of course, it’s practically difficult not to pick favorites when you’re teaching a class with a child who is constantly falling asleep or texting while sitting next to another student who is listening intently to everything you say.

Students will be graded correctly when it comes time to give grades, but while you’re engaging with students in the classroom, you’ll have to try your best to mask your biases to promote a healthy classroom climate.

9. Follow your own set of rules.

This point is very obvious. Don’t be late to class if you are urging your students not to be late.

Turn off your phone during class if cell phones are banned at your school. Don’t eat half of a sandwich during a presentation if you tell your students they can’t eat in class.

Students will see you as a hypocrite if you behave this way, and they will lose respect for you. This behavior also suggests that students are okay with you disregarding the rules.

10. Show interest in the topic.

If you have no interest in the course topic, whether you are teaching organic chemistry or fundamental grammar, no one else will. You must show enthusiasm for the subject you are teaching on any given day.

Your passion will transfer to the children, instilling in them the value of being interested in what they are learning. Students will follow you if you seem bored or tired of the same old subject.

11. Accept responsibility for your mistakes.

This task is a little more difficult. You want your students to think of you as the person who knows everything and passes exams.

However, things can go wrong – maybe you skipped a key topic in class, maybe one of the exam questions was wrong, or maybe you promised to give your students their essays on time but didn’t.

If you find yourself in one of these situations, let the kids know you made a mistake and move on. In the long run, swallowing your pride for thirty seconds will be worth it because kids will understand that teachers are imperfect too.

12. Ask for feedback from older students:

While asking a class of third graders what they think about your lesson plans may not yield the best results, asking older students for feedback on your teaching and lesson planning can help you become a better teacher and a great role model.

For example, if you are a college professor, asking for feedback at the end of class can help you do a better job next time, while showing students that your beliefs are not immutable and that you can adapt.

13. Keep a positive attitude.

If you want to be a good role model for your children, you should encourage them to perform well in school and to work harder (1). If they are struggling, offer to help them after school, provide more materials or comment on their work in detail to help them improve.

Make sure you acknowledge the progress they deserve. This models progress and tells students that they can be better than they are.

If a teacher tends to promote excellent students and dismiss inferior ones, students will believe that there is no potential for growth.

14. If you have hurt your brother or sister’s emotions, apologize.

It can be hard to swallow your pride, especially if you are used to controlling your younger sibling. If you made a mistake, really hurt your sibling’s emotions, or just did something you regret, it’s important to swallow your pride and apologize.

This will not only show your sibling that you care, but it will also send the message that if they make a mistake, they should apologize to you.

15. Assume the role of an older sibling.

If you want to be a decent role model, you can’t be the one who yells at your parents, kicks the wall or screams. Your younger siblings will want to be exactly like you, so be mature and take the good road rather than acting like a child.

While you may not always be mature and fair, you can try to set a good example for your sister. If you disagree with your brother, don’t stoop to his level and start yelling or sobbing; instead, act more mature.

16. Show that you are not flawless.

If you are the older sibling, you may see yourself as a glamorous, flawless role model for your younger siblings at all times.

While this may be true under certain circumstances, you should relax and remember that you are only human. If you did something wrong, you can discuss it with your siblings and explain what you would do differently next time.

Whether you yelled at your mother or showed unsportsmanlike behavior at a soccer game, you can tell your siblings what happened and show that you regret the behavior.

17. When it is acceptable, include your siblings in your activities.

Of course, there will be times when you just want to hang out with your friends and ignore your little sister, which is also fine.

If you are doing something that your little sister or brother would like to do without bothering you too much, such as running errands for mom or watching TV, it is important to let your siblings spend that time with you whenever you can.

You want to set a positive example of family integration and unity so that your brother doesn’t feel obligated to exclude you from his future activities.

18. Explain why you want to take on something on your own.

Don’t just tell your little brother to bugger off if you want to spend some time alone or just hang out with your buddies; instead, say something like:

“I want to spend some time alone with my buddy Jenny. Would you want me around if you were just hanging out with your best friend? It’s not personal and we can meet up later.”

Not only will this strengthen your bond, but it will also show your siblings that you are capable of giving meaningful answers and not being cruel.

19. Don’t compete with others.

Your younger siblings will most likely want to talk like you, dress like you, and act like you. This can be both flattering and cute, and it’s something you’ll have to deal with.

However, whether it’s in looks, academics, or soccer skills, you should avoid competition between you and your sister. You want to be there for your siblings to support and encourage them (2), not discourage them from trying.

If you develop a competitive bond with your brother, it will likely last the rest of your life and could lead to some unhappiness.

20. Achieve academic success.

To be a good role model for your siblings, you don’t have to be a student who gets A’s alone, but you should try to treat the instructors and the school with respect.

If you act like school is meaningless, all the teachers are idiots, and you don’t care about learning or skipping class, your siblings will undoubtedly do the same.

You don’t want to set a precedent where your siblings believe that skipping class or failing school is okay; this type of thinking can negatively impact the rest of your siblings’ lives.

21. Don’t pressure your siblings to take on something they aren’t ready for.

It can be tempting to encourage your younger sibling to join you in smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, or doing anything more mature with your buddies if your sibling is a few years younger than you.

Your sibling may want to please you, and you may think it’s cute to enlist the help of your younger brother or sister in making an obnoxious joke or even breaking the law for someone, but in doing so, you will lead your sibling down a dangerous path.

Don’t put pressure on yourself if you want to have a drink with your buddies or do something else that your sibling isn’t ready for.

Thank you for reading this article about how to be a role model for others and I really hope that you take action my advice.

I wish you good luck and I hope its contents have been a good help to you.