The benefits and burdens of Role Models
Seeing someone like ourselves in a position of leadership can be powerful. But what does it feel like to be the person everyone is looking to?
Role models matter. They help us imagine possibilities we might never have considered, challenge assumptions about who belongs in leadership and make paths that once seemed closed feel more accessible.
Our own Pride in Leadership research reinforced just how important this is. More than 70% of respondents to our Overcoming Barriers to LGBTQ+ Career Progression report said they lacked LGBTQ+ role models in leadership. For many, the absence of people they could identify with affected their confidence, aspirations and sense of what might be possible for them.
But being visible isn’t always easy. With recognition can come expectations: to speak for an entire community, to be an example to others, to share deeply personal experiences or to carry the responsibility of being ‘the first’. And, perhaps surprisingly, there are still plenty of firsts to be had in 2026.
Drawing on her own experiences of leadership and LGBTQ+ visibility, Amanda Millar will explore both the benefits and the burdens of being a role model. What does representation mean to those who see themselves reflected in someone else’s success? What pressures do we place on people who break new ground? And how do we celebrate visible leaders without expecting them to carry the responsibility for changing organisations and attitudes on their own?
This thought-provoking session will invite us to reflect on what we really need from role models, and how we can create leadership cultures where representation opens doors for others without becoming a burden for those who lead the way.
About Amanda Millar
Amanda Millar is a director and co-founder of Buchanan Millar, working across leadership, organisational development, inclusion, wellbeing and coaching.
A solicitor by background, Amanda is a former President of the Law Society of Scotland, where she made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the role. She was also the first solicitor accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in both Mental Health Law and Incapacity and Mental Disability Law.
Her career has taken her across legal practice, professional leadership, mental health, coaching and work to improve inclusion, representation and access to justice. Alongside these professional experiences, her perspective has been shaped by her own life, including childhood homelessness, trauma and navigating LGBTQ+ identity and visibility.
Today, through Buchanan Millar, Amanda brings together these different experiences to support individuals, leaders, teams and organisations. Her work explores how people and organisations can develop, embrace difference and create environments where individuals are able to thrive.
