My heroes are people that reddit seems to hate. Be it for legitimate reasons or the bandwagon mentality. I think Steve Jobs, John Lennon, and Elon Musk are all amazing pioneers in what they did/are doing and should a model for many innovators to strive to achieve, be it social or technological.
Steve Jobs may have been an ass but what he accomplished was amazing. However, the one thing that solidifies him in my mind is the meaning of the quote "The original Mac team taught me that A-plus players like to work together, and they don’t like it if you tolerate B-grade work.” Surround yourself with the best because everyone else will drag you down. Sure it's arrogant, but it I personally am the one who has to drag all the B and C Players through the mud to achieve a goal.
Whether you like him or not, John Lennon was a musical pioneer. The song lyrics he created when he put pen to paper, although often drug induced, were often amazing. The Beatles as a whole brought Rock n Roll to the world and without them, we wouldn't have so many great rock bands. Additionally, he was a man who came form an abusive home with no parental guidance and while he often struggled in his personal life, he became one of the most well known people EVER.
Elon Musk is hard to defend in this reddit environment because of the reddit bandwagon but he truly is the great technological pioneer of the past decade. Without him, there wouldn't be as much of a push towards Electric Vehicles and renewable energy. He is dragging the industry WITH him. And as someone who grew up on Star Wars and looks to the stars for inspiration, seeing a man putting his blood, sweat, and tears into making humanity and cross planetary species is amazing, especially because of his work ethic you can almost guarantee it'll happen.