sphinxx news alert
28 October 2009 | www.sphinxx.com.au

There's something for everyone this week... from salons to salary negotiations, we can help... and there's business briefings, research on women in leadership and the chance to Get Shirty About Poverty...

Here’s a snapshot of what’s new and up for grabs at sphinxx this week:

1. Do you need help with negotiating in the salon or in salary discussions?
2. The facts about women, leadership and gender equality
3. FREE special event and handbooks: Innovative Business Strategies for Turbulent Times
4. Help Us Find the Hairdressers that don’t break the bank!
5. Ascend development day 20 November – only to 23 seats left
6. Get Shirty at Poverty during Anti-Poverty week and change lives

If you have an idea for a topic we should include in a future news alert, please let us know - we’d love to hear from you!

All the best,

Jen Dalitz
Founder & The SheEO, sphinxx.com.au

Have you ever had the feeling someone is pulling the wool over your eyes? Or that you’re not quite getting a fair deal?

My good friend Ruth was telling me recently about a time when she felt just like this. And it related to something I’m sure is dear to all of us... a trip to the hairdressers! So at the time she was having her hair cut in one of those fancy salons, not because she thought the hairdressers were any better, but simply because it was close to her office.

Ruth had been going to this place for a few months and in her recent appointment, the (male) salon owner jumped in at the last minute to finish off the blow dry... No major problem for Ruth... except for when she went to pay and discovered there was a celebrity surcharge on her tab!!

Now a couple of things spring to mind here... Firstly, why is it that women’s hair cuts - an essential service by any measure - cost so much? A male friend of mine was complaining the other day that he had to pay $20 for a cut. Seriously. He nearly fell of his chair when I told him women routinely pay ten times this much! (By the way if you’re sick of spending a fortune on your hair - or you can recommend a good quality or good value hairdresser anywhere in Australia - I would love you to share your secrets on our Help Us Find the Hairdressers that don’t break the bank! blog... together let’s start an uprising on this!)

But the second and more important point is this: if you found yourself in this situation, would you complain or refuse to pay for this additional “service” that you hadn’t even requested in the first place? I reckon most of us would tell everyone we ran into for weeks afterwards about the injustice of it, but would be too embarrassed to "make a fuss" in the salon!
It might seem like a trivial story to be sharing with you, but the reality is our ability to negotiate a fair price at the salon is not that different to negotiating fair pay at work or a fair price on a purchase. Study after study has shown that women on average aren’t as astute at negotiating as their male counterparts. Our style, personality and upbringing all play a part... and as a result women often miss out on getting a fair deal.

If this scenario has struck a cord with you, and you’re in Sydney on the 20th November, you must join us at our next sphinxx development day where Candy Tymson will be presenting a learning session on Negotiation: the secrets men don’t want women to know.

We’ll also be hearing from a woman who’s a gun negotiator, Cassandra Kelly, who’s day job before starting her own corporate advisory firm in Australia included negotiating deals and multi-million dollar acquisitions for Deutsche Bank in New York and London. Cassandra now advises Australian companies and CEOs on how they can get the best deal at the negotiating table and you can have the chance to tap into her advice and experiences - and ask any questions you like! - in our Take the Lead session at this next development day.

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time to rethink the way we approach every negotiation, from the salon to the salary!

Maree McLaren is a woman on a mission to increase awareness of gender inequality in our workplaces, on boards and in leadership positions. She's created a fantastic presentation outlining the current state of play which she's forwarded to me in PDF format.

I encourage you to take a moment to review the document - and to see for yourself what's really going on with gender equality. You'll see from Maree's research that on virtually every objective measure, women in Australia are behind and going backwards in terms of gender equality. Over the past decade, we have gone backwards in The Global Gender Gap Index (a comparison of developed countries), women in corporate Australia (the EOWA census of Women in Leadership), pay equity and working hours compared with our male peers.

Being aware of these facts will make us all better prepared to handle those difficult performance and pay discussions... so thanks Maree for your work on this.

Click here to download the PDF.

FREE special event and handbooks: Innovative Business Strategies for Turbulent Times

If you’re a fan of the book Blue Ocean Strategy, here’s an event which may be of interest to you. Wilson Learning Australia is hosting a free business briefing that will challenge your thinking at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney on 1st December 2009.

Based on the book, Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne), “Exploring Blue Oceans” is an engaging presentation guaranteed to change the way you view your products and services and where they fit in the market space. In short, Blue Ocean Strategy provides a “systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant”.

As an extra bonus to sphinxx subscribers, the first ten people to register will receive a Wilson Learning Handbook valued at $35.00 (to be collected at the event) – just say you’re a sphinxx subscriber when you make your booking.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available which apart from positioning your organisation as a strategic innovator, will secure primary sponsors 2 hours consulting time with internationally renowned facilitator, Peter Bailey - click here for more information.

Help Us Find the Hairdressers that don’t break the bank!

Are you sick of spending a fortune on your hair? And why is it that this essential service costs so much for women, compared to the blokes?

We’ve noticed this discrepancy - and how hard it is to compare prices at women’s salons - and we’re not happy about it! And with many people reviewing their budgets, this expense is bound to be under review...

So if you can recommend a good quality or good value hairdresser anywhere in Australia - we’d love you to share your secrets here on our blog...

Let us in on the hairdressers you use, together with prices and ratings for things like timeliness and the ability to get in and out quickly, the level of pampering like coffee, magazines and other services (let’s face it, not all of us want to pay for this!) and value for money...

If you include your details when you make your post we’ll also send a sphinxx Mock and a copy of the latest Working Women magazine to everyone who posts a recommendation.
Click here to post your comments on the blog.

Ascend development day 20 November – only 23 seats left

Ascend is the sphinxx development day series for senior women in business looking to advance in their careers and to gain the confidence and connections they need to realise their full potential. Each development day features expert speakers, high profile leaders and a panel of business executives who will all share their tips to help you take your career to the next level, along with plenty of facilitated networking.

An exciting speaker line up has been confirmed for our next development day in Sydney on 20th November including:
- NEGOTIATION with Candy Tymson: The Secrets Men Don't Want Women to Know
- LEADERSHIP with Cassandra Kelly, Joint CEO of Pottinger Corporate Advisory
- FUTURE THINKING with Anders Sorman-Nilsson, founder of Thinque Consultancy
- INTRAPRENEURIALISM with Julia Bickerstaff, founder of the Business Bakery formerly a partner of Deloitte for 8 years; and
- SUCCESS STORIES & STRATEGIES, a panel discussion of winning case studies for advancing women.

Click here for to download the event brochure and to register online while seats last.

“Fantastic presenters and extremely relevant content – I took a lot away from each session. Probably one of the best investments I’ve made for my personal & professional development. I would highly recommend other women to attend these sessions to develop new skills & meet other fabulous women!” – Cathy Reber, VP – Head of Global Business Transformation, American Express

We have also just finalised our development day calendar for 2010 so you can save the dates:

Adelaide - Wed 10th Feb, Wed 12th May, Wed 11th August, Wed 10th Nov
Sydney - Fri 12th Feb, Fri 14th May, Fri 13 Aug, Fri 12th Nov
Brisbane - Wed 17th Feb, Wed 19th May, Wed 18th Aug, Wed 17th Nov
Melbourne - Fri 19th Feb, Fri 21st May, Fri 20th Aug, Fri 19th Nov

Get Shirty at Poverty during Anti-Poverty week and change lives

Did you know that 218 million children are working in forced labour? Rise Up is a wonderful profit for purpose company who works to alleviate poverty and help the planet through their range of gorgeous sustainable and ethically manufactured clothing and promotional products.

Get Shirty is basically about buying a business shirt – which you’d probably buy anyway – but at the same time you get the opportunity to see in real time the process followed to make your shift. You will see how your choice changes lives by taking you on a journey from the cotton farm in India, to meeting the people who are making your business shirt through weekly updates, blogs, newsletters and video interviews.

Click here for details on how you can Get Shirty and order you shirt. $10 of every shirt sold will be donated to Oxfam or Life Changing Experiences.