Setting the Example Essay

Philosopher, physician, and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer said, "Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.” The best way to influence other people is by your behavior. Setting an example can affect others by teaching them a lesson, and making them a better person. 

First, affecting others by setting an example is an important factor. By setting an example others will soon join in doing it themselves. For example, a workplace is one of the major factors of how setting an example can affect others. As many workplaces have managers, supervisors, or chief of staff as a role model to the rest of the staff. Especially new employees who would look to their superiors for examples on how to do their jobs correctly and if they make a mistake then others will try to help the new employees by showing them an example on how to do it correctly. It can also be defined as a leadership skill to set an example to others to follow, which is important at a workplace. If some staff is doing their job wrong, but not correcting it then it will affect the production of the rest of the team. However, if an efficient team leader can show an example of how to do the job right, then it may inspire others to do it correctly. These are some of the reasons for how affecting others with setting an example is an important factor. 

Next, teaching others a lesson is another important factor. For example, in a school setting, many students are visual learners which means that they need to see models, graphs, pictures, or another form of visual stimulation to remember topics by sight. Subjects that use mostly examples or visuals are math, science, history, and physical education. They are the main ones who use examples in class to help students understand the harder topic. Which math is a category of using the most examples in class. For example, in any math class, you would have equations, word problems, or diagrams you would have to solve for. Examples are what students find to help them understand the difficult subject and gain knowledge of how to do it correctly. Another subject is science, it is almost always all examples and labs for students to understand the topic which can be reactions and models. Having to teach others examples can help you learn and understand it more and help with comprehension, communication, and confidence on the subject.  These are some of the reasons for teaching others a lesson with examples. 

Finally, it can make them a better person. Setting an example can improve someone's life or way of thinking. Leading a project for school is a prime example of setting a good example for someone. It can help others see how to recreate your example easier and it will inspire them to be better people to implicate the behavior of others. Influencing others can help improve self-awareness and consciousness to behave better to others and setting a prime example to others of what happens when setting a good example towards others. Another example is children, as it is a known knowledge that children will project what they have heard or seen by adults. Which makes parents and other adults more conscious of what they are doing at all times to show the children how they behave and be a better person when they are grown. As children grow to maturity, they will behave on how they have been taught. Children of all ages observe others to see how things are done and give them a basis of how they should act, which is why setting a good behavior can lead to becoming a better person. 

However, others disagree with the statement of “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.” by Philosopher, physician, and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer because they see it as keeping them from being better. I disagree because examples have different types of styles to learn from, such as diagrams for math, models for science, pictures for history, physical visuals for physical education, etc. Many can benefit from setting a good example by our behavior from children, teenagers, and adults as well. For reasons why they disagree are completely illogical because approximately sixty-five percent of the population are visual learners, therefore not having examples as main to influence others does not benefit society.  For example, billboards, advertisements, and other media are part of setting examples due to society being a technological generation. They influence people every day as everyone is passing by and using our phones daily. This is why setting examples by our behavior is important due to how it can affect others in ways we do not know of. 

In conclusion, setting an example by our behavior is the best way to influence others. Like how the Philosopher, physician, and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.” which can be reasoned with setting an example can affect others by teaching them a lesson, and making them a better person.