Mentoring can be beneficial by helping protégés understand an organization and providing career advice. However, mentors can also become a crutch or impediment if they try to mold their protégé into their own image instead of fostering innovation. The author argues that protégés need to depart from their mentors earlier than many think in order to develop their own ideas, as some of history's greatest scientists achieved their best work after breaking from their mentors or without having mentors at all. While mentoring has value, protégés should be wary of overreliance on their mentors and end the relationship sooner rather than later.

1. Is Mentoring a Good Idea?
Roger G. Johnston, Ph.D., CPP
Right Brain Sekurity (http://rbsekurity.com)
Certainly having role models is a good idea, especially to encourage
underrepresented groups to participate in any given field or enterprise. And
mentors can help their protégés understand the organization, its politics, and how
to get things done. Mentors can no doubt also provide sage career advice, serve as a
friendly critic, and champion their protégé, though how often any of these things
actually occurs is, I think, debatable.
There comes a point, however, when mentors become a crutch or even an
impediment, and I would argue this occurs earlier in a protégé’s career than many
think. Too often, mentors mold their younger colleague into an image of themselves.
But a clone of the mentor with the same old way of thinking is rarely what an
organization needs; it usually needs innovative and fresh approaches. That is the
crucial resource that the young bring to the table.
I cringe when I see protégés worshiping their mentors and taking everything that
is offered as sacred knowledge. (And am I being sexist here, or do I just have a small
sample set, but does it seem that this is most often a problem with female protégés?)

2. At some point, a protégé has to depart from his/her mentor—usually the earlier,
the better. I always told the graduate students I was supervising that one sure sign
of real progress in their thesis research is when they begin to disagree or argue with
their thesis advisor.
Indeed, in the case of scientists, many of the most brilliant and productive
(Newton, Einstein, etc.) never really had mentors. Other great scientists did have
mentors, but broke with them at some point before achieving their greatest
accomplishments.
I guess what I am suggesting is, don’t spurn mentoring, but watch out for its
downside and end it sooner rather than later.