Career role models: from Indiana Jones to Steve Jobs

A recent article in Fast Company makes a case for Indiana Jones as the ultimate contemporary career role model — specifically in the business world, but also as a figure of thick-skinned “work-adventure” balance, fresh thinking in a bureaucratic system, and spontaneity. “Dr. Jones should be teaching business, not archaeology,” says business and entertainment writer Tom Teodorczuk. “We can all learn a good deal from his exploits in Raiders of the Lost Ark–whether or not our job requires us to bring a bullwhip to work.”

Another popular figure of American moxie, ingenuity, and perseverance has retained global popularity as a career role model, even after his death in 2011. The Times of India reported last month that, according to a recent survey of British adults and children, Steve Jobs was the number one reported career role model, winning out over Barack Obama and British entertainment icon Simon Cowell. Just over 16 percent of kids ages 8-15 named Jobs as someone whom they aspired to be like.

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