Maybe it would be useful if people who have sidekicks/heroes/... commented on how they got them and why it works/doesn't work.

For example, I used to work with someone I consider a notably talented biologist. He has lots of ideas to try out, and not enough patience to make falsifiable hypotheses. It withered as soon as I entered grad school, because I thought I would be a 'real grown-up scientist'... and now I have lots of ideas and struggle with explaining falsifiability to my Department Head...