4 Role Models Who Are Kind of Jerks
And Why I Love Them For It
I’m always drawn to people who disrupt their field rather than just get good at it. Game changers are more interesting than game masters.
Whenever you change the game, those who succeeded or were planning to succeed on the way it was will resent you, reject you, and yes, call you a Wanker.
But their words mean less and less as you succeed more and more.
With that in mind, here are 4 people I appreciate and aspire to be (these aren’t in any order, and definitely aren’t the only people I admire. They just stood out the most).

- Steve Jobs: It’s pretty easy to admire this guy’s success, but he always got a lot of criticism for his arrogance and the way that he treated others. Thing is, that’s how it works. People in business, especially his business, are always arrogant. It makes them confident enough to succeed. Think about it, if Steve Jobs weren’t as successful as he was, would he have been as known for his personality? I respect him for how he shrugged off the haters (many of whom used his own devices to talk about how much they didn’t like him, mind fuck right), and kept changing the way the world communicated, one mind-blowing innovation at a time. Oh how we miss you Steve. Would be nice to have an iPhone reveal that isn’t just revealing the phone is now 0.1mm bigger and £100 more expensive.

2. Kanye West: If you’ve listened to rap, no fuck it, music, in the last ten years, odds are that the artist was influenced by this man. However, he gets more hate than anyone for his arrogance. He gets flack for everything, from the woman he married to his mental health. Regardless of whether you think he’s completely lost his marbles, one thing no one can ever question, though, is the success of his music. People don’t win 21 Grammy Awards without talent and hard work. Through all hate, he has stuck to his guns and still continues to put out great content in music, fashion and public displays of peculiarity.

3. Taraji P. Henson: Didn’t think there would be women on this list, did you? Think again. Taraji P. Henson has turned the response to her superhuman self confidence and turned it into a wildly successful acting career. People have long rolled their eyes and sighed at her loud and expressive personality, and out of that she stars on the number one television show in America and has been nominated for an Oscar.

4. Ty Cobb: It’s kind of hard not to turn into a bit of a wanker when one of your abusive parents shoots the other and you’re the greatest athlete of all time in your sport. It’s probably not his fault. Cobb played baseball in the early 1900s, and was known for playing dirty. He would sharpen his boots to inflict more damage on other players. I have an unusual respect for any of the greats that got to where they are by playing dirty. It’s the growth hacking mentality of exploiting the rules to the fullest until someone has to move the goalposts.
People always say that the only way to succeed is to shrug off negative criticism. Few understand that that includes people telling you you’re a bad person for pursuing what you believe in, and that sometimes that comes from those close to you.
Whatever you believe in, chase it no matter what anyone says. You’ll know that what you’re doing is right, and that they will understand when you achieve your goals. Success breeds envy, cheddar breeds jealousy and often the kind of toughness it takes to get to the top is interpreted by those around you as just being a bit of a dick. Ye’ said it best ‘There’s leaders and there’s followers. But I’d rather be a dick than a swallower’.
Follow Ross Hacks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rosshacks
