Leadership Advice from Your Role Model

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Compare contrasting leadership behaviors and identify specific situations where opposing approaches work best.

Use it when: Use in leadership workshops or team sessions to explore situational leadership and build flexibility across different management styles.

Skip it when: Skip when the session teaches an uncompromising standard operating procedure or when the group has fewer than 5 people.

Group arrangement: Individual card writing, rapid room-wide card swap, followed by whole-room discussion

Timing: Source specifies at least 20 minutes; exactly 20 minutes allocated here for one primary anchor card and its direct contrasts.

Materials and tools

• One blank 3x5 index card per participant
• One pen or pencil per participant
• One whistle or attention chime for the facilitator
• Digital whiteboard or anonymous online form for remote or hybrid sessions

Before participants arrive

1. Hand out one blank index card and one pen to each seat.
2. Ensure floor space is clear so participants can stand and mingle freely to swap cards.
3. If running a hybrid session, assign one in-person assistant to monitor digital submissions and write them onto physical cards before the swap begins.

Say this to open

Think of a leader you genuinely admire. It could be a former boss, a teacher, a historical figure, a family member, or a fictional character. Write that role model's name or title at the top of your card. Below it, write one or two sentences of practical advice that person would give to an emerging leader.

How to run it

1. Write role model and advice 4 minutes

   Say the opening script. Participants privately select a leader. At the top of the card, they write the role model's name or a brief descriptor like 'my soccer coach'. Underneath, they write 1 to 2 sentences of leadership advice in that leader's voice. The facilitator gives a time warning at 3 minutes and stops writing at 4 minutes.

2. Mingle and swap cards 3 minutes

   Everyone turns their card face down and stands up. Participants mingle and trade cards hand-to-hand repeatedly across the room so no one keeps their own card or tracks who wrote which card. After 2 minutes of active trading, the facilitator sounds the chime to stop. Everyone returns to a seat holding one swapped card.

3. Read advice and guess role model 4 minutes

   The facilitator calls on one volunteer to read only the advice written on their card, keeping the role model's identity secret for now. The room calls out quick guesses for what kind of leader or which specific figure gave that advice. After 45 seconds of guesses, the volunteer announces the role model written at the top.

4. Compare similar and opposing advice 6 minutes

   The facilitator asks who holds a card with similar guidance, inviting 1 or 2 people to read theirs. The facilitator then asks who holds advice that directly contradicts the first card (for example, 'Move fast without waiting' versus 'Build full consensus before acting'). The room discusses 1 or 2 opposing pairs, noting how each style succeeds in different contexts.

5. Select personal takeaway 3 minutes

   The facilitator asks participants to review the card currently in their hands or an insight heard during discussion. Each person privately selects one specific piece of advice to test in their daily work. Three participants may optionally share their chosen commitment with the room.

Debrief questions

• In what workplace scenario would the first piece of advice fail while its opposite succeeds?
• How can a leader recognize when circumstances require shifting from one style to another?
• Which single piece of advice from today will you apply to your own work this week?

Finished output: Every participant leaves with a concrete, personally chosen situational leadership behavior to apply.

Remote

Participants submit their role model and advice anonymously via an online form or digital sticky notes with the role model hidden under a digital cover. The facilitator reveals one advice note, invites voice or chat guesses for the role model, unveils the name, and sorts matching and opposing sticky notes into paired columns.

Hybrid

Remote participants submit entries to an anonymous digital form. The designated in-person assistant transcribes these onto blank cards and adds them into the physical mingling swap. When a remote participant's card is held by an in-room participant, it is read normally; remote participants view cards through a shared camera feed or digital mirror.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may pick an anonymous mentor or well-known public figure without explaining their selection.
• Reading a card aloud during the whole-room phase is completely optional; a participant may pass the card to a neighbor or facilitator to read.

If the session gets stuck

A participant receives their own card back during the physical swap.

Direct them to make a quick direct trade with their nearest neighbor before the reading step begins.

No one in the group holds a card that contradicts the first piece of advice read aloud.

The facilitator supplies a standard leadership polarity (such as 'Decide decisively on your own' versus 'Consult every stakeholder first') to anchor the comparison.

Terms used here

• Framegame: A reusable instructional game structure whose content can be replaced while keeping the underlying rules intact.