It seems small, but it's a big distinction between hero worship and role model! 'Hero Worship' is about elevating someone to a categorically higher level. This

It seems small, but it's a big distinction between hero worship and role model! 'Hero Worship' is about elevating someone to a categorically higher level. This can lead to thinking you could never be as good, taking everything they say as gospel, defending even their poor opinions, etc. If we -worship- 10x developers, you can maybe better see how with the emphasis on that word things can get pretty toxic pretty quick. For example, I think many would agree HR disputes should not take talent level as an input, but if one of those people isn't even a mortal... --- None of this is necessary to have a role model, or precludes celebrating someone for doing excellent work as is this case.