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So, in part 1 , I got a recommendation from Lily about writing a blog around the concept of why people ask, "Which superhero would you be?"

 

But for me, if I was going to put this question into interviews, I would ask, "Which character would you be?"

 

And so, you can pick any character you want from fact or fiction, from history or from the future to describe who you would be and what values that would put across.

 

I played this game inadvertently a long time ago with Chris Barrow on one of our business courses, and I've written about it before, but I'm old, and my mind is forgetful.

 

The way it went was that Chris asked (for some reason that I can't remember) which character I would be from Lord of the Rings.

 

The answer I gave him was one that he really did not expect. He was clearly shocked and taken aback because he absolutely would have expected me to be one of the heroes, one of the significant characters who fight people and kills people and stands at the top at the end with a crown on his head or a ring on his finger.

 

And so, for the purposes of this, if I was interviewing myself, I would ask myself that question, and the character from Lord of the Rings I would be is Frodo.

 

I would be Frodo because I am Frodo, and I probably love Lord of the Rings so much because that's who I see in the character.

 

The things about Frodo that match my character are as follows:

 

1) Absolutely quite prepared to run off to an adventure and in no way understanding the potential dangers or pitfalls of the adventure you're running towards (everybody that I work with and live with understands that about me).

 

2) Loyal to my friends and family.

 

3) Frodo is not the hero and not the warrior. They're made up of other people in the fellowship. He is not the cool guy and not the well-dressed guy. He's not Boromir, and he's not Aragorn, and neither am I.

 

4) Frodo realised it was too hard and would never achieve it. He was never going to be able to get to the end, wherever that end was, and he knew he wasn't coming back.

 

5) Frodo didn't save everyone because he couldn't, because, in the end, his character or ego or how he had been damaged meant that when push came to shove, he decided he would take the ring for himself.

 

Indirectly, he did save everyone, but only because he was in the right place at the right time.

 

He was lucky. I'm lucky.

 

And finally, after it was all done, Frodo faded into insignificance. He sat in his little room, wrote his little book, gave all his possessions away, and went out to pasture.

 

He didn't take accolades or armour or weapons or crowns; it was enough that the job was done.

 

I don't know if that's me, but I would like it to be when I reach the end.

 

Which character would you be? 

 

If you don't know Lord of the Rings, feel free to pick any character from anywhere you want (unlikely that I'll get to tell that story in my little interview tomorrow).