Are you really helping?

One of the traps that is easy for a consultant or a mentor to fall into is of letting our expertise on a subject make us forget our role. We are hired or consulted to help. Kierkegaard made a very astute observation that is easy to overlook in these situations. He said a helper is a servant not a sovereign. Whether you are asked to lead or suport it is important that the client is ultimately the one deciding your role in the process.

If we are honest about our own experience we seldom want someone to tell us exactly what to do. We want someone to listen and help root out things that might have been overlooked.

It is presumptuous of us to assume we can know more about a particular situation and its intricacies as the newest resource at the table. Better to listen and ask questions than to prescribe a formula or process before you understand the situation and its challenges.