Evidence based managementAre you a Buttinski? I hope so, as everyone needs a Buttinski in his or her life. At this point, you may be wondering what exactly is a Buttinski. Well here goes.

Whether you have employees working for you, friends who call on you for help from time to time, kids who need attention or just someone who is handy for advice, chances are you are a Buttinski. In fact you would probably have to live in a cave to not be a Buttinski.

The thing is, no matter what you do, you are called upon on a frequent basis for help, advice, counselling, problem solving etc. Now when you do this ‘stuff’, what do you call yourself?

Some people call themselves consultants, others mentors, coaches, trainers etc. Unfortunately, all of these words have negative connotations when they are done for a living. So I’ve been looking for a better word to describe this valuable service.

I checked with an online Thesaurus and a few alternates came up. I thought being a Second-Guesser was an apt description, as was Kibitzer and Backseat Driver. You could go with the Latin definition and call yourself an Interjectus Knowitallum. But the one that struck the best chord was Buttinski.

So go forth and opine knowing that you too have joined the ranks of the professional Buttinski. Now if only we could come up with a new term for Leadership.