What do you do if your career growth is hindered by relying too much on a mentor?

1 Assess your needs and goals

The first step is to reflect on your own needs and goals as a mentee, and how they align with your mentor's expectations and style. What are you looking for from your mentor? What are your short-term and long-term career aspirations? How do you prefer to receive feedback and advice? How often do you communicate with your mentor, and what topics do you discuss? By answering these questions, you can identify the areas where you need more or less guidance, and adjust your mentoring plan accordingly.

2 Seek multiple sources of learning

While your mentor can offer valuable insights and perspectives, they are not the only source of learning and development for your career. You can also seek feedback, information, and support from other people, such as your peers, managers, clients, or experts in your field. You can also explore other learning opportunities, such as courses, workshops, webinars, books, podcasts, or online communities. By diversifying your sources of learning, you can broaden your knowledge, skills, and network, and reduce your dependence on your mentor.

3 Take initiative and responsibility

Another way to avoid relying too much on your mentor is to take more initiative and responsibility for your own career growth. Instead of waiting for your mentor to tell you what to do, or following their advice blindly, you can propose your own ideas, goals, and actions, and seek their feedback and input. You can also take charge of your own learning, by setting your own learning objectives, finding your own resources, and tracking your own progress. By taking initiative and responsibility, you can demonstrate your proactivity, creativity, and accountability, and increase your confidence and autonomy.

4 Give back to your mentor

A mentoring relationship is not a one-way street, where the mentor gives and the mentee takes. It is a mutually beneficial partnership, where both parties can learn from each other and contribute to each other's growth. Therefore, you can avoid relying too much on your mentor by giving back to them, and showing your appreciation and respect. You can do this by sharing your feedback, insights, and experiences with your mentor, by offering your help or support when they need it, by acknowledging their contributions and achievements, and by celebrating your successes together.

5 Review and revise your relationship

Finally, you can avoid relying too much on your mentor by regularly reviewing and revising your mentoring relationship, and ensuring that it meets your changing needs and goals. You can do this by having honest and open conversations with your mentor, where you discuss what is working well and what can be improved in your relationship, what are the challenges and opportunities for your career growth, and what are the next steps and actions for both of you. You can also agree on how to measure and evaluate your progress and outcomes, and how to adjust your mentoring plan as needed.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?