????IBM公司全球商業(yè)服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)高級(jí)副總裁布里吉特?范?克拉林根（位列《財(cái)富》“最具影響力女性”排行榜第23位）以自身職業(yè)生涯兩個(gè)不同時(shí)間節(jié)點(diǎn)的故事，為我們闡述了導(dǎo)師和擔(dān)保人的區(qū)別。

????當(dāng)她首次加入德勤咨詢公司（Deloitte Consulting）時(shí)，從南非的老家搬到了美國(guó)?！凹~約一位年輕的合伙人示意我坐下，然后說，‘布里吉特，你擁有巨大的潛力，但你有些過于謙和了?！堑拇_是非常好的指導(dǎo)意見！”她說?！八鼛椭依斫饬宋幕牟町悾液芸炀瓦m應(yīng)了?！彼罱K成為德勤咨詢公司金融服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)管理合伙人。

????2004年，范?克拉林根進(jìn)入IBM公司。自1916年老托馬斯?沃森創(chuàng)建IBM以來，“導(dǎo)師制”就一直是該公司管理培訓(xùn)的組成部分。CEO吉尼?羅曼提（位列最具影響力女性排行榜首位）曾經(jīng)正式或非正式地指導(dǎo)過數(shù)十位男女員工，她自身職業(yè)生涯幾次關(guān)鍵的晉升也與其導(dǎo)師的貢獻(xiàn)密不可分。

????范?克拉林根回憶稱，在這家綽號(hào)為“藍(lán)色巨人（Big Blue）”的公司，“一位擔(dān)保人推舉我擔(dān)任歐洲和非洲金融服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)的負(fù)責(zé)人——盡管我欠缺在IBM的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)。正是他的鼎力支持，最終才說服了公司高層，冒險(xiǎn)啟用我出任這個(gè)職務(wù)?！?/p>

????換言之，導(dǎo)師幫助人們做好升職的前期準(zhǔn)備，而擔(dān)保則促使升職實(shí)實(shí)在在地發(fā)生。對(duì)于任何一位渴望出人頭地的公司職員來說，兩者都“極其重要”，范?克拉林根說。一條不太好的消息是：雖然大多數(shù)大型公司現(xiàn)在都在實(shí)施員工指導(dǎo)項(xiàng)目，而且在具備擢升為管理高層潛質(zhì)的員工群體中，擁有多位導(dǎo)師的女性員工數(shù)量已經(jīng)超過了男性。但根據(jù)非營(yíng)利性研究機(jī)構(gòu)Catalyst公司的調(diào)查，自1998年以來，女性在高級(jí)管理人員中所占的比重幾乎沒有發(fā)生變化，僅僅從當(dāng)時(shí)的11.2% 提升到了現(xiàn)在的15.7%。

????根據(jù)Catalyst公司一項(xiàng)針對(duì)4,000位男女MBA的研究，出現(xiàn)這種情況的一大原因在于，男性獲得有影響力的擔(dān)保人的幾率依然高于女性?！跋鄬?duì)于男性同僚，具有升職潛能的女性員工雖然擁有多位導(dǎo)師，但愿意為她們作保的人卻嚴(yán)重不足，”Catalyst公司高級(jí)主管克里斯蒂娜?席爾瓦指出。“如果沒有引路人，女性員工就不大可能被委以重任，或許也就更不愿意去追逐這些高級(jí)職位了?！?/p>

????由于幫助下屬升職需要一位高管動(dòng)用自己的政治資本，用他或她自身的聲譽(yù)去冒險(xiǎn)，為某人充當(dāng)擔(dān)保人的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)要遠(yuǎn)高于提供指導(dǎo)意見?！八^擔(dān)保就是一位有影響力的人士愿意信誓旦旦地拍胸脯為你作保，”克萊爾?法利指出。法利女士曾經(jīng)以德士古公司（Texaco）北美石油和天然氣勘探業(yè)務(wù)主管的身份，躋身1998年“最具影響力女性”排行榜。她之所以能夠在30多歲的時(shí)候就擔(dān)任如此重要的職位，一定程度上應(yīng)歸功于一位位高權(quán)重的擔(dān)保人。她現(xiàn)在著名的私募股權(quán)基金KKR公司擔(dān)任董事總經(jīng)理。

????“提前了解一個(gè)人的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)潛能幾乎是不可能的事情。有些高管能從下屬身上看到自己年輕時(shí)的影子，因此愿意為他們作保，這或許僅僅是人的本能而已。因此，男性往往傾向于為其他男性充當(dāng)擔(dān)保人，”法利補(bǔ)充說。

????Bridget Van Kralingen, senior vice president of global business services at IBM (andNo. 23 on our list of Most Powerful Women), tells two stories, from different points in her career, that illustrate the difference between a mentor and a sponsor.

????When she first joined Deloitte Consulting, she also moved from her native South Africa to the U.S. "A young partner in New York sat me down and said, 'Bridget, you have tremendous potential, but you're way too nice and polite.' That was great mentoring!" she says. "It helped me understand the cultural differences. I quickly adapted." She eventually became managing partner of Deloitte's financial services business.

????Then, in 2004, Van Kralingen joined IBM (IBM), which has included mentoring as part of its management training since Thomas Watson, Sr. founded the company in 1916. CEO Ginni Rometty, who tops our list, has mentored dozens of women and men, both formally and informally, and credits mentors for several key promotions in her own career.

????At Big Blue, Van Kralingen recalls, "I had a sponsor who recommended me to run the financial services part of IBM's business consulting services in Europe and Africa -- in spite of my lack of IBM experience. His advocacy both helped IBM to take a risk on me and helped me navigate the job."

????Mentoring, in other words, prepares people to move up, while sponsorship makes it happen. Both are "critically important," says Van Kralingen, to anyone aspiring to get ahead. The not-so-great news: Most big companies now have embraced mentoring and, in the high-potential pipeline that leads to senior management, more women than men have had multiple mentors. Yet the percentage of senior executives who are female has barely budged since 1998, creeping up from 11.2% then to 15.7% now, according to nonprofit research group Catalyst.

????A big reason why that's so, according to one Catalyst study of 4,000 MBAs of both sexes, is that men are still more likely than women to have powerful sponsors. "High-potential women are overmentored and undersponsored, relative to their male peers," observes Christine Silva, a Catalyst senior director. "Without sponsorship, women not only are less likely than men to be appointed to top roles, but may also be more reluctant to go for them."

????Because it requires a senior executive to spend his or her own political capital, and put his or her own credibility on the line, to give an underling a leg up, sponsoring someone is far riskier than mentoring them. "A sponsor is someone influential who will pound the table for you," notes Claire Farley, who appeared on our 1998 list as head of North American oil and gas exploration at Texaco (since merged with Chevron (CVX)) -- a job she took on while still in her 30s, thanks partly to a high-ranking sponsor. She's now a managing director at private-equity powerhouse KKR (KKR) in Houston.

????Farley adds: "There is so much that is impossible to know ahead of time about anyone's leadership potential, it's probably just human nature for people to sponsor people who remind them of their younger selves. So men tend to sponsor other men."