[Greg Hainsworth]

I can’t tell from your post if you have mentors that need development of specific FRC skills (learning about how FRC works as a program, understanding and using common parts, etc) or if they are trying to change the direction of the team to suit their ideas and goals.

Have a mentor meeting and tell each mentor what your expectations are for being a mentor. Basic ground rules – and keep it clear and concise. How much help do you expect the mentors to provide? Do you want a mentor built robot or a student built robot?

At the risk of sounding cliché: Business plan – 1, 2, and 5 year goals. You need to have this in all the mentor’s hands as soon as they come on board. These goals can be fluid year to year but not mid season. This is where the team is headed for the current and future year. This is where your vision for the team needs to be enumerated.

Good CEO’s do not get down in the trenches. They hire good people and entrust them to get their jobs done. Your responsibility as the lead is to get your mentors the skills and tools needed to do the job you want them to do. Empower them and accept that their approach may be different from yours. It shouldn’t matter as long as they get to the goal that is set. Resist the urge to get hands on or direct mentors to one specific path. I can’t tell how many ‘training’ seminars I sat through encouraging me to ‘think outside the box’ only to be told by higher management “the way we do it now works just fine and we’re not changing”.

Hope this helps. Good luck