Following will never let you grow after a certain amount of time. It's only good when you don't know anything about the concept and want to learn. Once you are done with the basics, it's probably best to study yourself and make it on your own. Make mistakes, learn from them, don't ever make the same mistake again, there are always better ways to do something. You just have to keep the patience to find it and do it.
That type of "cap" is the reason why people do not grow too big, normally if you are learning there is always room for growth, you could be a great trader and one day can see something you have never seen before, it is just that type of deal, but when we are talking about just following others there is a room for growth but that is limited and like you said after a while you do not keep growing, because you are not learning anything.
I am not 100% against following others, if you really find someone who is good, and they do help you, and after 6 months everything looks great, you should probably keep following them, you will know if they are a person to follow or not sooner than 6 months so if there is no problem by that time, you should probably feel comfortable about it. Which is why I think it is quite important that we end up with someone we trust if we want to follow, or just learn ourselves.