What To Do When You Outgrow Your Mentors?

At some point, when your goals exceed their scope, you will realize that you have outgrown your mentor. Even worse, your goals may clash with theirs. They may want you to stay to work on your Ph.D. and help them with their research, but you may wish to "turn pro."

Basketball player Kobe Bryant best demonstrated this. The standout National Basketball Association (NBA) player skipped college altogether despite the suggestions made by some coaches, pundits, media, players and teachers alike. Others may have recommended he go to college but he wanted to play in the big leagues. Bryant was then drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick in the 1996 entry draft and subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac.

Teachers sometimes come in the shape of a father or mother. No one knows this better than Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, whose father Earl basically raised his son to be the greatest golfer of all time. With all due respect to Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and company, Woods went on to win more at a younger age than anyone else. The fact that he won one of the most prestigious titles in golf, dominating the field in the process as a visible minority in a traditional Caucasian field revolutionized the sport. His triumph at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia was just the beginning and came at an age when most golfers struggle on the development tour or in college. But the lesson here is not one of swings and approaches, it is that Tiger had a passion for golf. Earl Woods may have laid the foundation, but it was Tiger Woods that built upon it afterwards.