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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.
當我演講或參會時，有相當多的女性會向我作自我介紹，同時還請求我做她們的導師；
I cannot recall a single man asking me to do the same (although men have asked me to mentor their wives or girlfriends).
但我印象中還沒有一個男性提出這樣的請求（盡管也有人請我指導一下他們的妻子或女友）。
The question is a total mood killer—the equivalent of turning to a pensive date and asking, "What are you thinking?"
這樣的提問會立刻毀了一個人的心情，這就好比追問情緒不佳的朋友：“你在想什么呢？”
Every senior woman I have talked to about this is deluged with the same request.
和我聊過這個問題的每位女性高管幾乎都經常遭遇此類請求，
Their reaction is unanimous: "Oh, I never know what to say when people I don't know ask me to be their mentor."
她們的反應也很一致：“噢，每次遇到不認識的人要求我做他們的導師時，我都不知道該說什么。”
The interaction is flattering, but awkward.
建立互動讓人很受用，但也很尷尬。
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.
即使是具有極大影響力的美國著名主持人奧普拉·溫弗瑞也承認，當有人請她做導師時，她感覺“不太自在”。
She once explained, "I mentor when I see something and say, 'I want to see that grow.'"
她解釋道：“當我提及某件事時說‘我想看看它怎么發展’，這就已經是在做指導了。”
In part, we've brought this on ourselves.
在某種意義上講，這種情況也是我們自己造成的。
For the past decade, talk of mentorship and sponsorship has been topic number one at any women's career seminar.
在過去的10年里，所有有關女性事業發展的討論都把人生導師與贊助者當作首要話題，
It is the focus of blogs, newspaper articles, and research reports.
相關博客、報刊文章以及研究報告對此也特別關注。
Many of these young women are responding to the often repeated advice that if they want to scale the corporate ladder,
大部分年輕女性其實是在回應自己常聽到的建議——如果她們想在公司里逐級晉升，
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導師（為她們提供各種建議）以及贊助者（愿意用自身的影響力來幫助她們）。
