An Unorthodox Guide to Mentoring

There always comes a time when you have to cut off a mentoring relationship. What looks like help can turn into a case of psychological abuse when the mentor, demanding more mirroring or praise, stops giving. Or when you've learned all he or she has to offer. At that point, say good-bye before the relationship turns painful.

Harriet Rubin (hrubin@aol.com) is a Fast Company senior writer and author of The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women (Doubleday, 1997) and Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambition (HarperCollins, 1999).