酷兔英语

有些高层管理人员由于带的徒弟太多而面临晋升步伐减慢的危险。这对女性来说是个尤其普遍的问题。她们是很受欢迎的导师人选,主要是由于女性在高级管理层人数稀少。很多女性由于带的初级职位女同事太多,不得不牺牲自己在高层拓展人脉的时间。导师一般充当着榜样以及回音板的角色,有些经理每年会接到几十个带人的要求。


Some top managers risk slowing their upward climb because they mentor downward too much.


在达拉斯咨询公司ELI Group的女性领导力实验室(Leadership Lab for Women),约三分之一的参与者每年都会收到二十多个辅导较低级别同事的要求。该公司工业心理学家及董事总经理克里斯蒂娜·威廉姆斯(Christina Williams)解释说,迫于接受带人要求的压力,担任管理职位的女性"都会把自己扩充人脉的需求搁在一边"。


It's an especially common conundrum for women. They're in high demand as mentors, mainly due to their thin ranks in upper level management. Many coach so many juniorfemale colleagues that they sacrifice their own time to network with the big brass. A mentor typically acts as a role model and empathetic sounding board and some managers receive scores of requests a year.


不过除非能往上打通关系找到举荐人,否则中层职业女性晋升的可能性不大。举荐人是权力较大的高管,他们能敞开升职电梯的大门,把自己的举荐对象推进去。纽约智库人才创新中心(Center for Talent Innovation)2010年的一项研究表明,男性获得举荐人的概率比女性多46%。


About one-third of the participants in ELI Group's Leadership Lab for Women receive more than two dozen requests annually to mentor lower-level colleagues. Pressured to accept mentorship requests, managerial women 'put their own networking needs on the back burner,' explains Christina Williams, an industrialpsychologist and managing director of the Dallas consultancy.


该中心首席执行长西尔维娅·安·修利特(Sylvia Ann Hewlett)说:"如果时间完全被带徒弟所占据,那么你是找不到举荐人的。被选中当举荐对象是要靠自己争取的。" 修利特是一位经济学家,也是新书《寻找举荐人》(Find a Sponsor)的作者。


But unless they networkupward in ways that land them sponsors, mid-level women are less likely to get ahead. Sponsors are powerful senior players who open the doors of the promotionelevator and push a protégé through. Men are 46% more likely to have sponsors than women, concluded a 2010 study by the Center for Talent Innovation, a New York think tank.


苏珊娜·韦斯特(Suzanne West)明白带人太多的坏处。她是德事隆公司(Textron Inc.)旗下贝尔直升机公司(Bell Helicopter)的一名项目经理,她手下有350名员工,她从来不拒绝带徒弟的请求,尤其是女性。她说:"回馈和分享所学经验是很重要的。"


'You don't land a sponsor if you are totally squeezed by mentees,'' says center CEO Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an economist and author of 'Find a Sponsor,' a new book. 'Being chosen as a protégé has to be earned.'


韦斯特从2008年开始每年都带八到10名女性。不过韦斯特承认,带这么多人"肯定是有代价的。我在自己事业上花的时间越来越少"。处于中层的她有志于成为副总裁。


Suzanne West knows the downsides of excess mentoring. A programmanager at the Bell helicopter unit of manufacturer Textron Inc., she supervises 350 people - and never rejects mentorship requests, especially from women. 'It is important to give back and share lessons learned,' she says.


事实上,在去年秋天进行的"360度"业绩评估中,韦斯特得知自己带的人太多了。


Ms. West has coached between eight and 10 women a year since 2008. But mentoring so much 'is definitely at a cost,' concedes the middle manager, who aspires to become a vice president. 'I have spent less and less time on my career.'


当时,韦斯特正在带大约七名女性业务专员。她现在只带两个人,并打算12月完成兼职MBA学习后参加更多能接触贝尔公司高管的会议。


In fact, during a '360-degree' performancereview last fall, Ms. West was told that she mentors too many people.


威廉姆斯博士提醒说,这是个很聪明的办法,因为不能平衡上下两方面人脉关系的女性"会受到漠视。你会被当作是初级职员的好保姆"。


At the time, Ms. West was coaching about seven female associates. She now counsels just two and plans to attend more meetings involving Bell executives once she finishes her part-time M.B.A. in December.


尽管如此,韦斯特还是觉得减少带新人的人数很难。她说:"当导师是我非常热衷的事情。"


That's a smart approach because women who fail to balance their upward and downward networking 'will be passed over,' Dr. Williams warns. 'You will be seen as a good babysitter for the junior staff.'


美国运通公司(American Express Co.)的克里·佩拉伊诺(Kerrie Peraino)对于当导师这件事情的谨慎态度取得了很好的效果。


Still, Ms. West finds it hard to assist fewer rising stars. 'Being a mentor is something I am really passionate about.'


佩拉伊诺以前同时带九名女同事。但在2008年末被任命为这家金融服务公司的首席多元化执行长不久后,她将自己带的较低级别女同事人数限制在不超过四个。她回想道,她这样做的原因之一是她希望和"比我更资深的人"建立更深入的关系。


A meticulous approach to mentorship has worked well for Kerrie Peraino at American Express Co. AXP +0.99%


如今,她只带资质较好的女性,比如有很强的过往表现、很清楚她应该如何帮助自己、以及有潜力成为她的举荐对象等。


Ms. Peraino used to advise up to nine women simultaneously. But soon after she was named chief diversity officer of the financial-services concern in late 2008, she limited herself to counseling no more than four lower-ranking women. She did so partly because she hoped to build deeper ties 'with people more senior than me,' she recalls.


佩拉伊诺说:"我想发挥最大的影响力。"


Today, she only coaches women with qualifications such as a strong track record, clear sense of how she might help them, and potential to become her sponsored protégé.


佩拉伊诺补充道:"高级职位女性必须对如何投入自己的时间进行规划。她们可能没有男性同事那样迅速意识到这样做的重要性。"


'I want to have the greatest impact,' the Amex executive says.


她认为"对女性来说这是培养关系;而对于男性来说这是一种策略"。


'Senior women have to be intentional about how they invest their time,' Ms. Peraino adds. 'They may not see [the importance] as quickly as their male counterparts.'


2011年1月,她升任全球人力资源高级副总裁职位。


She believes that 'for women, it's about relationships; for men, it's a strategy.'


修利特说,如果保持适度,有志向的管理层女性可以从举荐较低级别员工中获利,只要能创建出互惠互利、有助于增强自身职业名誉的关系。她说:"你需要两到三名优秀的举荐对象来支撑自己。"


In January 2011, she advanced to senior vice president of international human resources.


去年2月晋升为芯片制造商英特尔公司(Intel Corp.)人力资源副总裁的罗莎琳德·赫德内尔(Rosalind Hudnell)表示赞同。


Ambitious managerial women can benefit from sponsoring lower-level employees without overreaching as long as they create a reciprocal relationship that enhances their own professional reputation, Dr. Hewlett says. 'You need two to three amazing protégés to propel yourself,' she continues.


她说:"被看作是一名举荐人......和被看作是一个能够推动创新理念、领导大规模项目和很好地领导机构的人一样重要。"


Rosalind Hudnell, whom Intel Corp. INTC +0.67% promoted to HR vice president last February, agrees.


赫德内尔目前为四名女性和一名男性做举荐。她说,她经常举荐自己的徒弟去那些"努力为我工作"的公司团队去。


'Being known as a sponsor ... is just as important to me as being known as someone who can drive innovative ideas, lead broad scale programs and lead organizations well.'


这位英特尔高管制定了一套同样有创意的在当导师这件事情上采取控制措施的方法。作为她所在行业为数不多的非洲裔美国女性领导人,她被要求每周至少为女同事做一次或两次辅导或举荐。


Ms. Hudnell now sponsors four women and one man at the chip maker. She says she often taps her protégés for corporate teams where 'I know they are working very hard for me.'


赫德内尔只推荐那些能立即回答出一个问题的女性给其他人:"除了CEO和我的职位,你现在最想担任〔英特尔的〕哪个职位?"


The Intel executive devised an equallycreative way to rein in her coaching of colleagues. Among the few African-American female leaders in her industry, she is asked at least once or twice a week to mentor or sponsorfemale co-workers.


被选中的人"都能立即轻松地答出来"。


Ms. Hudnell refers the women to someone else unless they can immediately answer a question: 'What [Intel] job would you take right now besides the CEO's or mine?'


她在大约两年前开始执行这个要求,结果帮她缩减了相当多带人的数量。赫德内尔回想道,当时带15名男女职员让她精疲力尽,同时她又经常提醒自己要继续向上扩充人脉。她说,这个现场小测试的方法"效果很好"。


Those chosen as mentees 'can readily answer it on the spot.'


Joann S. Lublin