When thinking about a generation defined by technology, highly involved “helicopter” parents, and a general penchant for getting ahead as quickly as possible, many people might be shocked to learn — or find it totally understandable — that what millennials really crave are mentors. But gone are the days where one single person will guide the career of another.

Amanda Mitchell, founder of Our Corporate Life, a company that advises businesses on people issues, told Fast Company recently (“The New Meaning of Workplace Mentorship”) that, "The Millennial definition of a mentor differs from the traditional, and instead of one mentor, they look to a series of different experts to be their 'mentors.'" She offers five tips for leaders and businesses on how to help millennials learn on the job from veteran colleagues and leaders within the organization, like matchmaking mentors to mentees for limited periods of time, or grouping millennials for “mini classes” to maximize a mentor’s personal bandwidth, or being generous with constructive feedback in everyday interactions.

In her story for Forbes, ("Why Millennials Can't Find Mentors And How We Can Fix That") author Denise Restauri also relates an anecdote from her book, Their Roaring Thirties:

Penny Abeywardena, who is now New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs, said, "In my 20s I had a fabulous group of personal friends but I didn't cultivate an equivalent group to support my professional development, mostly because I didn't know better! A couple of years ago, I got involved with some friends in a series of dinners where we would invite new women to come join the conversation. Through these dinners, I've met some of the most important women in my life from a professional and personal standpoint." Encouraging millennial employees to start a peer networking group outside of the office, one that they stick with as their careers grow and mature, can lead to mentors of a different — and possibly more important — sort.

That do-it-yourself (DIY) attitude towards mentorship is something that many business experts agree is key for millennials. In this Entrepreneur story, ("The One Key Thing These Workplace Gurus Recommend Doing Each Day for Business Success,") writer Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, author of Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table, encourages taking the time to develop relationships with colleagues up and down the org chart. "Every person has unique value," Lukensmeyer says. "Find a way to establish a relationship with him or her and empower that person to express that unique value. When the time is right, that person will help you achieve your goals. Extraordinary things can happen when you find a way to bring the right people into your critical conversations every day."

Acting like, and thinking like, a leader in this way is something all too familiar for INSEAD business school professor Herminia Ibarra, whose forthcoming book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, is being published next month. Ibarra recently talked to the Washington Post about the common mistakes people make as they're trying to step up their leadership game — and the reality of the current workplace, where mentors and leadership training are lacking so "many people must take it on themselves these days to make the leap to a bigger role at work, facing their next professional move with a mix of fear, apprehension and do-it-yourself moxie."

April Lane is a freelance writer.