Are you mentoring or meddling?

Here’s how you can tell.

You are a mentor if you are using your experience to coach someone who is less experienced. The aim is to help the inexperienced person play a 'better' role or to lead a 'better' life.

And there you have the catch. What does 'better' mean?

That’s where meddling comes in. You meddle when you try to control the nonsense you see in another person's life.

On the other hand, you mentor when you allow nonsense to nudge others to make meaningful life choices, appropriate to them and to their circumstances, not to yours.

Some people believe that you can only mentor that which you have already mastered. Don’t you believe it, because this might make you nervous of being a mentor to someone who needs it.

Remember, we teach best that which we have yet to learn.

I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com