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>I just said I no longer push them on one.

Yeah this is what I don't agree with. As a leader, you act as a shield to the people that report to you. You may be privy to information or have a better view of the overall big picture. Sometimes there are burdens you don't want to put on the people that report to you. We can only be so transparent a lot of times.

Theres going to be times where you'll need to have them align with overall company goals etc.

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I'm considering mentor and manager as separate roles. Sometimes I've held them both. More frequently I've been a mentor and not a manager to someone.

What you're describing is just a manager.

Some "mentorship" relationships are distinctly separate from other work concerns. A mentorship program where I work explicitly pairs up people who are distant in the org chart. The mentee can share openly, and be confident the feedback has their interests at heart.

If this sort of mentor needs something from a mentee, that's a conflict of interest. (People use "mentor" to describe different relationships though!)

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