Supporting adult children with their career development. How to help but not hover.

I occasionally get calls from parents of adult children who want advice on how to support their offspring toward better career success.  Most calls are from parents with kids between the ages of 22 – 30. I have two children, both of them adults, so I can relate to this desire to help. Our daughter, age 29, is launched in a career; the other, 21, is finishing college. I’ll admit I’ve been a helicopter parent at times, which is the practice of hovering above (similar to a helicopter) our kids to keep an eye on their progress. When my daughter was working on her degree, for example, I edited a...