Mentorship - Things I've Discovered

Engagement is key. How many times have you sat in a classroom and fell asleep as the teacher droned on and on. People learn better by doing things. They will listen to stories and anecdotes, but they have to be relevant and based on real life experience. Teachers who had actually “worked in the field” were always 10X more interesting than those who were simply academics.
Rules. Every game needs a set of rules. This is what makes the game playable. Yet the rules must make sense, and must be observed equally by all players in the game. Another way of saying this is that any job you undertake needs structure – goals, materials available, budget, size, timing. Things are better off being defined ahead of time. Rules can be changed, but in order to change them there should be some sort of mutual consent. With pets…. rules like don’t go out of the back yard are put in place for their own safety. You let them know about these rules, and then if they ever do break them, you let them know they broke the rules and perhaps they have to spend a “time out” before getting yard privileges again. The punishment for broken rules should be commiserate with damage done. For example, in basketball, you get 5 “fouls” which means if you didn’t intentionally try to harm or contact another, but you did make contact and it impeded the opponent in such a way, – the punishment is that they get possession of the ball. Sometimes, if you contacted them while they were shooting they get a free shot. Each person can do this 5 times before they are ejected from the game. This hopefully gets rid of unsportsmanlike players who tend to break the rules a lot, but allows some margin of error for everyone else who is playing.
Participation. Kids learn way faster is an adult actually takes the time to participate at least initially in an activity. Because we can learn a lot through observation. Especially by watching someone who has mastered the skill we are trying to develop. Kids learning to play catch are more inspired and have more fun with an adult who can catch their throws no matter how far off they may be. The role of the adult is to keep the game going, make adjustments for skill level, lob many easy ones and perhaps throw in some more challenging ones as the child improves. This is true for anyone learning any skill. Spending quality time with someone who is better than you is an invaluable time saver. By all means, also spend some time with people who are equally matched as you practice. Its great to get kids started and then let them play with themselves for awhile. If we only play with people who are better than us it can become a bit disheartening.
Baby Steps. When working on a larger project, it can be very overwhelming for someone “new” to focus on the big picture all the time. It is much easier, and more beneficial, to break the project down into manageable chunks, with a set of specific parameters. Measure the progress. Gently critique where things may be improved. Once a certain level of skill is achieved, it is time to move on to the next “chunk”.
Achievements. Always recognize milestones. Recognize achievements. Life can sometimes become a bit of a blur. When we break it down into smaller pieces with a set of goals and objectives, it is much easier to achieve what you want to achieve.