The Tao of Volunteers is Your Responsibility

Recently I have listened as fellow Mentors tell me about incidents of Non-Tao behavior from other Mentors. I have heard these stories, I have seen the text in Mentor Channel, Q&A and finally I have been IMed by another Mentor who acted uncharacteristically bad.

I always err on the side of what is prudent when conversing with other Mentors. Lead by example and do not try to discipline another Mentor. I often will comment however and tell someone who is in my IM that "Mentors do not talk to each other negatively or confrontational". It is unacceptable to me that a Mentor would act this way when from the time of Orientation they are told about The Tao of Volunteers http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Tao_of_Volunteers and repeatedly told of the consequences of not following them.

It is my belief that we can rise above those who cannot work together as a team and just chose to not deal with them rather than to allow their negativity to influence us. Conversely I believe that everyone deserves a chance to prove that they can be reasoned with. Once I have exhausted that possibility then I just chose to move on and not interact with them again.

So I feel it my responsibility as a Mentor and Mentor Educator to once again post the Consequences so they can be read. If you have questions or comments, please use the comment section here on this blog for an objective discussion in a non SL setting.

Consequences of Not Following Tao
The Mentor group has grown quite large and all members should be aware there are consequences to not following the Tao of Volunteers. Just as the Community Standards and TOS are the policies and rules of Second Life, the Tao is also the policy and rules of Second Life Volunteers.

Second Life Mentors who do not follow the Tao of Volunteers will be given one warning prior to removal from the Mentors group. Please be aware the decisions of the VTeam are final.

Examples of not following the Tao of Volunteers include but are not limited to:
Using the volunteer email list to air personal arguments/issues or negative opinions on individual Mentors or Lindens.

Aggressive unkind behavior towards new Mentors in channel. If you cannot express help in a productive, nice tone you should not express it in channel nor should you send a private IM to another Mentor to behave in an unacceptable manner.

Using the Mentor channel to seek a Linden to personally help you on issues that should be addressed via the website support area.

Using the Mentor title for intimidation/power purposes. Threats of "I know many Lindens so you better do this or that.." are not acceptable.

Please try and remember that you are in a large diverse group of people and not everyone is always going to see it "your" way. "Agree to Disagree" and walk away before anything gets "heated". My best advise to you is to err on the side of good judgement.

Happy Mentoring! (I mean it!!!)