As a child, I learned about famous people who became my role models. Favorites I learned about and idealized were Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Schweitzer, and Neil Armstrong. Each one of them influenced some aspect of my developing personality, my life goals, or my academic aspirations.
Looking around at our dominant cultural, sporting, and governing personalities, it seems that bad language, bad behavior, and bad habits are the most dominant character traits in evidence - from violence at the Academy Awards to sexual peccadillos, foul language, bigotry, and verbal abuse in DC politics.
I was pleasantly surprised this weekend when I caught a couple of interviews on the Bloomberg TV program “Leaders with Lacqua.” This television series presents people that we and our children should know about and emulate.
One show was a conversation between Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua and former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi and another was Lacqua’s interview with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2022-04-14/leaders-wit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra_Nooyi
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2022-03-24/leaders-wit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pesquet
To the extent possible, parents would be well-advised to limit their children’s exposure to the most glaring examples of modern society. Instead, children should hear and see people like the leaders interviewed by Ms. Lacqua - learning what kind of achievements are to be admired and how civilized human beings ought to interact with one another.
I am thankful for Michael Bloomberg and others striving to elevate our business ethics and public discourse.
…[W]hatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8 KJV, Public Domain