I Thought I Knew What Being a Role Model Meant.

Don’t Let the Smile Fool You EP35I thought I understood what it meant to be a role model.Then one unexpected conversation in an elevator made me realize that people may be watching something you never even realized mattered.In this episode, I talk about how my understanding of being a role model has changed over the years, from believing it was mainly about showing people what was possible, to realizing how much pressure I had quietly attached to that responsibility.When I became a CEO for the first time, I was one of two women CEOs in the group. Somewhere in my head, I decided that failure would not just belong to me. I worried about what it might mean for the women coming behind me.Nobody put that pressure on me. I did.Over time, I began to understand that people are not only watching what you achieve. They are also watching how you respond when things do not go according to plan. And sometimes, they are noticing things about you that you had no idea mattered.I also talk about why I no longer believe being a role model begins when you reach the top. At every stage of your career, someone may be looking at you and thinking, maybe I can do that too.“I Thought I Knew What Being a Role Model Meant” is a conversation about representation, pressure, failure, and the unexpected ways we influence people without realizing it.If you enjoy the episode, subscribe to Don’t Let the Smile Fool You, like the video, and share it with someone who might enjoy it too.Chapters:00:00 The elevator conversation that changed how I think about role models
01:11 What does it really mean to be a role model?
03:05 The pressure I put on myself as one of two women CEOs
04:57 What people learn from how you handle failure
07:15 The things people notice that you never expected
08:48 You don’t have to be at the top to be a role model
09:27 How my definition of being a role model changed
11:28 You may already be influencing someoneConnect with Uche Ofodile:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ucheofodile
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