Anne Bouverot, head of international business development at Orange France Telecom, has first-hand experience of the benefits of mentoring by a senior corporate leader. She is about to join the board of Groupama, a leading French insurance company, as a non-executive director. “I really believe the discussions with my mentor and his advice have been key success factors,” she says.

Over the past two years, Ms Bouverot has had regular meetings with her mentor, Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of J Sainsbury, under the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme. “He has been very willing to discuss specific examples, such as the BP succession and the [Hewlett-Packard] boardroom leaks, as well as explain general matters such as board evaluations,” she says. “This is particularly valuable for someone like me, in an executive position and with expertise in a particular sector, in understanding how a non-executive position in another sector would be different.”