When I give speeches or attend meetings, a startling number of women introduce themselves and, in the same breath, ask me to be their mentor.
当我演讲或参会时，有相当多的女性会向我作自我介绍，同时还请求我做她们的导师；
I cannot recall a single man asking me to do the same (although men have asked me to mentor their wives or girlfriends).
但我印象中还没有一个男性提出这样的请求（尽管也有人请我指导一下他们的妻子或女友）。
The question is a total mood killer—the equivalent of turning to a pensive date and asking, "What are you thinking?"
这样的提问会立刻毁了一个人的心情，这就好比追问情绪不佳的朋友：“你在想什么呢？”
Every senior woman I have talked to about this is deluged with the same request.
和我聊过这个问题的每位女性高管几乎都经常遭遇此类请求，
Their reaction is unanimous: "Oh, I never know what to say when people I don't know ask me to be their mentor."
她们的反应也很一致：“噢，每次遇到不认识的人要求我做他们的导师时，我都不知道该说什么。”
The interaction is flattering, but awkward.
建立互动让人很受用，但也很尴尬。
Even media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who has taught so much to an entire generation, admits that she feels uncomfortable when someone asks her to be a mentor.
即使是具有极大影响力的美国著名主持人奥普拉·温弗瑞也承认，当有人请她做导师时，她感觉“不太自在”。
She once explained, "I mentor when I see something and say, 'I want to see that grow.'"
她解释道：“当我提及某件事时说‘我想看看它怎么发展’，这就已经是在做指导了。”
In part, we've brought this on ourselves.
在某种意义上讲，这种情况也是我们自己造成的。
For the past decade, talk of mentorship and sponsorship has been topic number one at any women's career seminar.
在过去的10年里，所有有关女性事业发展的讨论都把人生导师与赞助者当作首要话题，
It is the focus of blogs, newspaper articles, and research reports.
相关博客、报刊文章以及研究报告对此也特别关注。
Many of these young women are responding to the often repeated advice that if they want to scale the corporate ladder,
大部分年轻女性其实是在回应自己常听到的建议——如果她们想在公司里逐级晋升，
they need to find mentors (people who will advise them) as well as sponsors (people who will use their influence to advocate for them).
就需要找到一位人生导师（为她们提供各种建议）以及赞助者（愿意用自身的影响力来帮助她们）。