• 123 questions
  • Checked October 2026

Questions to Ask Your Role Model

Twelve questions for the person you look up to, to print with a line under each for what they say.

Questions to Ask Your Role Model

Role modelInterviewed byDate

  1. Write your role model's name and the date at the top.
  2. Ask each question aloud and write the answer down in their words.
  3. Your role model may pass on any question.
  4. Before you hand the sheet in, ask whether any answer should stay private.
Show all 24
  1. Who was your role model when you were my age?
  2. Who taught you the thing you are best at, and how did they teach it?
  3. What do you do when you do not feel like doing the work?
  4. What are you still learning?
  5. What did you choose not to do, so that you could do this?
  6. What were you like at my age?
  7. What do you do that you hope I never copy?
  8. Do you know that people look up to you, and how does that feel?
  9. How do you want people to feel after they have spent time with you?
  10. When did someone's trust in you change what you did next?
  11. What did you get wrong at first that you are good at now?
  12. What did you do that you were not sure you could do?

Next step Questions for a grandparent

All 123 questions

Good ones to start with 24

  • Do you know that people look up to you, and how does that feel? It still surprises me. Then I stand up straighter.
  • How do you want people to feel after they have spent time with you? Taller.
  • What are you proudest of that almost nobody knows about? I taught my father to read music.
  • What are you still learning? The piano. Badly, twice a week.
  • What did you believe at my age that you no longer believe? That grown-ups always know what they are doing.
  • What did you choose not to do, so that you could do this? I left the band. I still miss it.
  • What did you do that you were not sure you could do? Start again in a new town at thirty.
  • What did you get wrong at first that you are good at now? Listening. I used to plan my answer while people talked.
  • What do you do badly and enjoy anyway? Sing. Loudly, in the car.
  • What do you do that you hope I copy? Write thank-you notes. Real ones, on paper.
  • What do you do that you hope I never copy? Skip lunch. Do not do that.
  • What do you do the night before something important? Lay out my clothes and go to bed early.
  • What do you do when you do not feel like doing the work? Ten minutes. I promise myself only ten.
  • What do you do when you have let someone down? Tell them before they find out. Then fix what I can.
  • What do you know how to do that you wish everyone learned? Change a tire. And say no kindly.
  • What do you make time for, however busy you are? A walk before breakfast. Nobody gets that hour but me.
  • What small thing do you do every day that adds up? I write down three things to do, and no more.
  • What were you like at my age? Quiet, stubborn and always late.
  • What would you ask your own role model today? Whether she was ever scared. I think she was.
  • When did someone's trust in you change what you did next? A teacher gave me the keys to the lab. I never let her down.
  • Who do you call when you need advice? My older brother, even when I know what he will say.
  • Who do you still owe a thank-you, and for what? A neighbor who fixed my bike and never mentioned it.
  • Who taught you the thing you are best at, and how did they teach it? My uncle. He let me get it wrong first.
  • Who was your role model when you were my age? My swimming coach. She never raised her voice.

Growing up 14

  • What chance did you nearly miss? A tryout. I got on the wrong bus and ran the last mile.
  • What did the grown-ups in your life nag you about, and were they right? Finishing things. They were right.
  • What did the place you grew up in teach you? That you wave at everyone, even strangers.
  • What did you do after school that shaped you more than school did? I stacked shelves in a shop and learned to count change fast.
  • What did you get in trouble for? Reading under the desk in math.
  • What did you learn from a brother, a sister or a cousin? How to lose at cards without sulking.
  • What did you read, watch or listen to over and over as a kid? A book about lighthouses. I knew every page.
  • What did your closest friendship as a kid teach you? That you can argue and still share your lunch.
  • What was the first thing you worked hard for? A red bicycle. Two summers of mowing lawns.
  • What were you bad at in school that you are good at now? Speaking in front of people. I used to hide.
  • When did you first disagree with the grown-ups around you? At twelve, about quitting piano. I lost. I am glad.
  • When did you first feel proud of yourself? When I swam a full length without stopping.
  • Which fear did you outgrow, and how? The deep end. It ended the day I jumped.
  • Which grown-up took you seriously when you were small, and how could you tell? My aunt. She asked my opinion and then waited for it.

Personal ones 16

  • What are you afraid of now? Letting people down. Also geese.
  • What are you like when you are tired? Short with people. I say sorry a lot on Fridays.
  • What are you stricter about with yourself than with other people? Being on time. I forgive it in everyone else.
  • What did someone say about you that you decided to live up to? That I make people feel clever. A student said it.
  • What do you do each week that is only for you? Thursday night pottery. Nobody may call me.
  • What do you do every year without fail? Write to my grandmother on her birthday.
  • What do you do when nobody needs anything from you? Walk the long way home.
  • What do you do when you are angry? Go quiet, go for a run and talk tomorrow.
  • What do you find hard that other people find easy? Small talk. I rehearse it in the car.
  • What do you still doubt about yourself? Whether I talk too much. You tell me.
  • What makes you laugh at yourself? I still cannot park a car straight.
  • What three words would your closest friend use for you? Loyal, loud and early.
  • What would you gladly explain to me for a whole hour? My garden. Mostly the tomatoes.
  • What would your family say you are like at home? Messier than you would guess. Also, I sing.
  • Where do you go when you need to think? The bench behind the library.
  • Which object would tell me the most about you? A dented thermos. It has been everywhere with me.

Setbacks and hard days 14

  • How do you keep going when nobody is clapping? I keep a folder of kind notes and read one.
  • How do you say sorry when you are the one who got it wrong? Quickly, out loud, and without the word "but."
  • How long did it take you to get good, and what did the middle feel like? Eight years. The middle felt like walking in sand.
  • What did failing at something show you about yourself? That I can be bad at a thing and still like it.
  • What did someone tell you about yourself that you did not want to hear? "You do not listen." It was true.
  • What did you lose that made room for something better? A job. It left Tuesdays free, and I started coaching.
  • What do you do with a day when nothing works? Tidy one drawer. Then go to bed early.
  • What was harder than it looked from the outside? Being in charge of friends.
  • What was your biggest setback, and what did you do the next morning? I failed the exam. I made coffee and signed up again.
  • What would you tell yourself on your worst day, if you could go back? It is one day. Eat something.
  • When did you have to ask for help, and how did you ask? I rang my old teacher and just said, I am stuck.
  • When did you want to quit, and what kept you going? Year two. My roommate hid the letter I had written.
  • Which "no" are you glad you heard? The team that cut me. I found running instead.
  • Who stood by you when things went wrong? My neighbor, with soup, without questions.

What you stand for 14

  • How do you choose when two good things pull in different directions? I ask which one I would be sorry to have skipped.
  • How do you measure a good year? By how many people I helped get somewhere.
  • How do you treat someone you do not like? The same as everyone else, and a little more carefully.
  • What can other people always count on you for? My full attention while they are talking.
  • What do you always do when you walk into a room of strangers? Say hello first. Always first.
  • What do you do when you see someone being treated unfairly? Stand next to them first. Then speak.
  • What do you do with praise? Say thank you, then pass half of it on.
  • What do you refuse to be talked out of? Showing up when I said I would.
  • What do you want to be remembered for? That I had time for people.
  • What will you not do, even if everyone else does? Laugh at someone who is trying.
  • When have you changed a rule because it was wrong? I let the youngest players pick the teams. It worked.
  • When was the right thing also the unpopular thing? I owned up to a mistake and lost the customer.
  • Which matters more to you: being liked or being trusted? Trusted. Liked comes and goes.
  • Whose respect matters most to you? My daughter's. She is hard to fool.

Advice for someone my age 14

  • How do I become someone other people look up to? Do the boring part well when no one is checking.
  • How do I find out what I am good at? Notice what people ask you to help with.
  • How do I get better at talking to adults? Ask one question and really listen to the answer.
  • How do I keep going when I am not the best in the room? Be the one who comes back on Tuesday.
  • How do I pick the right people to spend time with? Watch how they talk about friends who are not in the room.
  • How will I know when to change direction? When you dread Mondays three months in a row.
  • What is a waste of time at my age, and what only looks like one? Worrying about being cool. Daydreaming is not a waste.
  • What is the best way to learn from someone better than me? Carry their bags and keep your eyes open.
  • What should I be doing now that I will thank myself for later? Reading things nobody assigned.
  • What should I do when I am scared to try? Tell one person you are going to. Then you have to.
  • What should I say yes to this year? The thing you would have to practice for.
  • What should I stop apologizing for? Asking questions. Ask more.
  • What would you tell me not to hurry? Deciding who you are. You get to revise.
  • Whose advice should I be careful with? Anyone who never admits to being wrong.

For a career role model 16

  • How did you learn to speak up at work? Badly at first. I wrote my point down and read it out.
  • How do you decide when to stay and when to move on? I leave when I have stopped learning.
  • How do you handle being the newest person in the room? I ask the question everyone else is too proud to ask.
  • How do you keep your work from changing who you are? I never miss Sunday dinner.
  • If I watched you work for a day, what would I see? A lot of listening and one hard phone call.
  • What did a job you disliked teach you? How I do not want to treat people.
  • What do you do in your work that nobody taught you? I walk the floor every morning before I open my email.
  • What do you look for in someone you would give a chance to? Someone who has already started without being asked.
  • What do you want to have built by the time you stop? A team that does not need me.
  • What should I have done before I ask someone like you for a job? Made something, however small, and finished it.
  • When did you take the smaller job on purpose? When it came with a better teacher.
  • Which boss or colleague showed you how to treat people? My first manager. She learned every cleaner's name.
  • Which part of your career was luck, and which part was choice? Luck got me into the room. Choice kept me there.
  • Which step in your career looked like a mistake to other people? Leaving a big firm for one with two people.
  • Who do you look up to in your own field, and why? An older engineer who still asks beginners' questions.
  • Who opened the first door for you, and what did you do once inside? A cousin got me an interview. I stayed late for a year.

For a woman you look up to 11

  • Were you ever the only woman in the room, and what did you do? Often. I sat at the middle of the table.
  • What did someone assume about you that turned out to be wrong? That I would not want the night shift. I asked for it.
  • What did the women in your family teach you without saying a word? That you finish the job, then you sit down.
  • What did you have to learn to say out loud? "I was not finished speaking." Calmly.
  • What do you tell a girl who hears she is too loud or too quiet? That the volume is hers to set.
  • What do you wish you had seen a woman do when you were my age? Run the meeting. I never saw it until I was thirty.
  • What has changed for girls since you were one? More teams and more choices.
  • What would you like girls my age to stop worrying about? Being liked by everyone at once.
  • Which woman's story should I go and read? A local one. Ask at the library who built this town.
  • Which women did you look up to when you were growing up? My grandmother, who ran a shop and a choir.
  • Who made room for you, and how do you make room for others? A boss who put my name on the report. I do the same now.

How it works

These questions to ask your role model suit the school interview or a quiet hour with someone you admire: who they looked up to at your age, what they hope you copy, what they hope you never do.

Read the full guide

Good personal questions to ask a role model

Personal ones holds sixteen about the person behind the example: what makes them laugh at themselves, what they still doubt, what they are like when they are tired. None asks about health, money or faith, and a role model may pass on any line.

Questions to ask a career role model

For a career role model suits someone whose work you would like to do one day. It asks about choices more than duties: the step that looked like a mistake to other people, the smaller job taken on purpose, what to finish before you ask for a job.

Questions and answers

What questions to ask your role model in an interview?

Begin with ones that are about the two of you: what were you like at my age, what are you still learning, what would you ask your own role model today. Good ones to start with holds twenty-four.

What are good questions to ask a role model about setbacks?

Ask what happened next, not only what went wrong: what did you do the morning after your biggest setback, who stood by you, which "no" are you glad you heard. Setbacks and hard days holds fourteen.

What are questions to ask your female role models?

For a woman you look up to holds eleven: which women she looked up to, what someone wrongly assumed about her, who made room for her, what she would like girls your age to stop worrying about.

What should I ask a role model for advice?

Ask for something you can use this year: what should I say yes to, how do I find out what I am good at, whose advice should I be careful with. Advice for someone my age holds fourteen.

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