Effect role modelling has for diversity and inclusion

The powerful effect role modelling has for diversity and inclusion

Sue Liburd

Read any in-depth profile of a successful person, and you’ll often find mention of the people who had a crucial positive impact on their development and helped them on their journey to the top.

When it comes to getting support on your own journey towards personal and professional success, research points to three types of support that have been found to act as powerful catalysts. Namely the support of role models, mentors, and coaches. Each position can play a distinct role in your development. In this article I’m going to talk about role models, how they have helped me, and how they can inspire you.

Unlike a mentor or a coach, often, a role model usually inspires from a distance. They typically have no direct contact or a close relationship with you, they may even be someone you admire from a different era, and yet they can still influence and change your thinking or behaviour.

The theory behind role modelling and success.

In the world of role modelling research, there are two influential theories that explain why it’s possible to be inspired by people you may only know from a distance. These are the Stereotype Inoculation Model (SIM) and the Motivational Theory of Role Modelling (MTRM).

SIM rejects the belief that it is not possible to achieve or feel a sense of belonging in what is perceived to be an alien or hostile environment. For example, when a person from an underrepresented or negatively stereotyped group, who shares common characteristics with a high achieving individual, observes that individual’s success within a similar hostile group it can inspire confidence. We have seen this powerful effect in the fight for gender parity at senior levels within companies. As women are appointed to board positions in increased numbers, and then seen to thrive around the top table, it opens possibility. This then empowers other women to overcome the psychological barriers that told them they had no right to belong in those spaces. This has resulted in more women aspiring, apply for, and achieving boardroom positions.

MTRM theory describes role models as ‘people who inspire others though their words, actions, and deeds’. Viewed through this lens, role models are primarily people representing the art of the possible. They demonstrate behaviours, strategies and approaches that are open to imitation. Through observation and modelling of their behaviour, the aspiring observer can change their behaviours, horizons and goals.

In the field of diversity and inclusion, the combination of SIM and MTRM make for a powerful and transformative cocktail. Role models are profoundly important for helping us achieve great things personally and professionally. It is the nature of being human that we seek to emulate peers, leaders, and those we look up to in life. The power of ‘knowing who you can be, by the power of what you see’ is an essential part of the solution for creating of a more inclusive workplace, society, and world.

My personal and professional journey has been enriched and inspired by role models. People who have inspired and guided me to take bold steps to power through those glass doors and ceilings. People like my mother Linda Liburd, Rosa Parks, Professor Linda Hill, Christine Lagarde, Dame Zaha Hadid and Anita Roddick, to name a few. Through noting and observing their wisdom, mindset, and actions, I’ve been able traverse the barriers put in place by those whose mindsets are faulty and informed by a lifetime of privilege. To this day my role models continue to serve me well as I continue to encounter fresh challenges. In the spirit of pay it forward as I endeavour to be an effective role model, mentor, and coach for others, I encourage you to be one too.

Sue Liburd MBE DL is a Non-Executive Director of ABSTRACT and Managing Director of Sage Blue. She is an award-winning businesswoman, human capital innovation consultant, and business mentor. Sue won IOD Director of The Year 2021 for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, showcasing leaders and executives who are leading by example and driving change in the workplace.

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