sphinxx blog

I love my job!  After all, how many sheEO’s get to meet with leading women every week to pick their brains on their leadership experiences and successes??  Like just the other day when I led a focus group of sphinxx members on a “live” Take the Lead interview with Karen Moses - a round table chat with Karen, myself and 6 other sphinxx members - and did we have plenty to talk about!

Karen is the Chief Operating Officer of Origin Energy.  For our international readers, Origin is one of Australia’s top 30 companies, and as there are very few female COOs in Australia, it was quite a treat to hear Karen’s experiences first hand. 

One of the things you notice straight away about Karen is her generosity and humility - she is not afraid to give you the real story, worts and all!  So we learned from Karen what it is that helped her to navigate her leadership journey so effectively here in Australia and in her offshore experience in the energy sector.  And we heard Karen’s top 3 tips for pushing through the glass ceiling, which were:

1. Don’t assume its different for men and women - your progression is limited only by your beliefs

2. Be prepared to ask - for the promotion and the payrise.  Men will ask for both, even if they aren’t ready; whereas women will wait to be asked for the promotion and even then won’t ask for more $ in case they really aren’t ready!

3. Look to innovate your career - be prepared to create and take on jobs and resonsibilities that haven’t existed before to create new opportunities of all your own.

Karen also shared a number of other hints - sphinxx members will receive the audio CD this week in the mail and I do hope you’ll take the time to listen to it in full.  If you’re not a member and would like to hear the full transcript of the interview, simply visit the sphinxx bookshop and order the Take the Lead CD Series.

Yesterday I blogged about the need for all women to “get a wife”.  Metaphorically speaking, that is.  I mentioned a few of the options - cleaners, gardeners, nannies and pet butlers.  Yes, that’s right, it is possible to get a pet butler to take care of your 4 legged friends when you can’t.

When you have 3 naughty beagles like I do, a pet butler is not only a good idea — it’s good management!  Saves all the hassles of booking kennels and the nasty side effects like fleas and kennel cough that happen to my friends who can’t resist the urge to sniff everyone and everything in the communal play runs.

Well my pet butler is Bee, and our furry friends think she’s the best thing since sliced bread.  Over the years Bee’s become part of the family, as has her dear husband John (3 beagles is more than a even a trained professional can handle! So John would be called in to help with the walking when Ric and I were both traveling)  The pups loved John just as much – if not more - than Bee – possibly because he normally carried the treats in his pockets!

The funny thing about a pet butler is that the pets get to see them much more than you do.  So just for fun, I’d ask Bee and her dear husband John to join us for dinner on occasions.  Can you imagine the fuss and confusion this caused?!  It’s a bit like inviting a couple of your 4 year-old’s friends over for a party and forgetting to tell your kid til they arrived.  So when Bee and John knocked on the door, alpha dog Mil would practically do cartwheels in her excitement!  The 3 of them would bark and shout like the house was on fire and it would take an hour to settle them down before the humans could even entertain a conversation.

So it was with terrible shock and sadness that I learned today of John’s passing.  Our entire household is in mourning.  Especially the pups who seem to have a way of understanding these things.  I guess that’s a true sign of successful outsourcing - in the end you don’t know how you could ever survive without your service providers.

Thanks John, for the memories.  You were a wonderful “wife” and we’ll all miss you.

You know, I reckon no matter how supportive your partner is - what all working women really need is a wife! I mean how great would it be to walk out the door in the morning without having to worry about another thing, other than what pops up at work today.  It sure would make life easy, wouldn’t it?

So I attended this networking event the other day with a lady called Sarah who’s a lawyer at a big insurance firm in town.  And I’ve gotta tell you, as we got talking, I felt exhausted JUST hearing what Sarah had been through to get there that night.

She’d had back to back meetings all day INCLUDING interviews for a role she’s trying to fill and THEN she left work and got the kids from after school care so she could drop them at the babysitters and THEN come back through the traffic to attend the networking function, along with a few dozen other women executives who all looked far too well kept to be going through the same challenges as her.

Or maybe not…  You might be surprised to hear that through my work as sheEO of sphinxx, and as a business consultant to companies in Australia and around the world, I’ve noticed the scenarios are remarkably similar for most working women.  Especially at the top.

And in a way that’s not surprising.  All the stats show we’re still responsible for most domestic activity, on top of our careers.So “getting a wife” could mean for you employing a nanny; finding an au pair or getting a cleaner; using a menu service; retaining a gardener or hiring a pet butler.  Whatever it takes – just don’t take it all on yourself.

Almost without exception – successful women leaders I’ve interviewed rate securing support as their #1 success strategy.  What could you let go of to achieve more in your life?

Last week it seems I opened a can of worms when I asked your views on the f-factor at work.  I promised to share the results of our sphinxx “f-factor” survey, and here they are:

• 44% of you feel that beautiful women have more chance of getting ahead in business
• 63% of you believe that your f-factor – or lack of it – has had an impact on your career success; and
• 91% of you feel that women DO NOT get the same opportunities – and pay – as men in your workplace.

So, while we’ve come a long way, we obviously still have a long way to go.  But do we have a clear strategy on how to get there (or even an idea of what the end destination looks like?)

We must get clear on this.  We must value substance over style.  We must pursue meritocracy and settle for nothing less.  And we must vote with our purse as consumers.  If a company, product or publication doesn’t stack up to our expectations, we must bypass it in favour of those that do.

If you haven’t voted yet – vote now at the sphinxx survey.  

I was lucky enough to attend yesterday’s Women in Finance luncheon in Sydney as a guest of

but also because I had the chance to hear from Helen Nugent who is Director of Macquarie Bank, Origin Energy, and Freehills, as well as being Chairman of Funds SA, Swiss Re Life & Health (Australia) and Hudson (Australia). Prior to becoming a company director in 1999, Helen was Director of Strategy at Westpac Banking Corporation. She has also been a Partner at McKinsey & Company and Professor in Management and Director of the MBA Program at the Australian Graduate School of Management.The problem with being one of the few women on the boards of such high profile companies is that her time is often sought to give speeches as a prominent woman leader.  The advantage in her being in the leadership roles she holds is that we get to hear her wonderful words of wisdom.  Like the parallel universe she faced compared to her husband in navigating her chosen path.  And her “7 helpful hints” to managing your career.

Helen’s 7 helpful hints when went something like this:-

1. Figure out the long term – where do you want to be in 10 years time?  Of the individuals Helen mentors, many are unable to articulate this.  And of those who can, 100% are men.
2. Pursue your long term aim, but be opportunistic.  Learn to say ‘no’ to career digression; be prepared to take risks; and reach out early to people who can positively influence outcomes for you.
3. Ask for feedback.  Do it often; ask in a natural and relaxed way; and be a good listener.  Over time a pattern of behaviour will emerge and you won’t have to ask as much.
4. Work with the right team.  Try to work with high achieving individuals (high achievers know they need a great team to maximize their success) who are personally secure and who value performance based on merit – these people are what Helen refers to as “women friendly bosses”
5. Build resilience.  Build a stronger outer shell, so that every setback won’t send you spiraling into a productivity pit.  And tell people – in an appropriate and friendly way – when their behaviours need improvement.
6.  Don’t hide your light under a bushel.  Find a way to get your point across so that you get the credit for it.
7. Over-invest in support – on a personal and professional level.  You can’t do it on your own.

Sooooooo…. Thanks Helen, I get the message: I have some homework to do! 

Have your say - what’s the best career advice you’ve been given to date?  And by whom?

If - as a married woman - you have ever doubted the need to have your own game plan,  separate from your husband’s, then look no further than the sad picture in today’s headlines.  Could you imagine being the wife of Eliot Spitzer, standing by his side, as he announced to his constituents and the rest of the world his resignation?

Appearing alongside his wife of more than 20 years, Spitzer apologised for his behaviour but did not make any specific admissions.   It seems from the mounting evidence, he doesn’t need to.

“Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct,” Spitzer told reporters, flanked by his wife. 

Full credit to his wife for standing by her man - if it was my husband, he’d be on the podium alone, that’s for sure!  I sure hope she has a game plan of her own because the high profile life she enjoyed as the Governor’s wife is all but behind her now…

I attended a high profile luncheon on Thursday to celebrate International Women’s Day. Actually it was more than just a lunch – it was quite an event, held in one of the swankiest hotels in Sydney with high profile speakers to inspire the thousands of women participants.

Yet – despite the best efforts of the champagne – the messages from the keynote speakers were less than uplifting.

Helen Trinca, one of Australia’s most prominent editors and influential women in the media, admitted she succumbs to the pressures of choosing magazine covers based on a woman’s “f-factor”. It seems even the business magazines prefer style over substance. Of the high profile politicians on Trinca’s covers last year, John Howard and Kevin Rudd were good enough to photograph as is; but Julia Gillard and Maxine McKew were routed through wardrobe and makeup before their shoot could go ahead. And who knows what airbrushing went on after that!

Trinca talked of the “dangers of affirmative action”; and of the mixed messages society sends when “we urge women to be smart and powerful on the one hand; and beautiful on the other”.

Elizabeth Broderick, the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, then reminisced that although Australia was the third country in the world to allow women to vote, it is now one of the last western countries to mandate paid maternity leave. According to Broderick one in five Australian women has experienced sexual violence and as many as 95% of women will be victims of domestic violence. Wow.

And people ask me if there is still a role for feminism… I don’t know; what do you think? Do you have to be beautiful to get ahead in business? Has your f-factor – or lack of it – had an impact on your career success? And do you believe women get the same opportunities – and pay – as men in your workplace?

Please indulge me just 30 seconds of your time to click here and vote anonymously on this issue now. I promise I’ll share the results with you – and Helen Trinca – next week!

This week we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March, and chances are you’re attending a luncheon, breakfast or after work function in honor of the wonderful contribution that women make to the world.

Of course I do that every day as sheEO, but nonetheless I’m looking forward to attending those events I’ll be at and speaking for the first time on behalf of the sphinxx community.

I’m often asked “why sphinxx?” and where did the idea come from. Well, the sphinxx herself represents the lady and the lioness in all women leaders – the perfect metaphor for the roles we play. And like her namesake in Greek mythology, the sphinx engenders a little bit of mystique – as does our small, but strong, representation at the top of business.

And as for the idea? No surprises there: the concept for sphinxx came from the women around me who’ve shared their frustrations, visions and suggestions for how we as women can collaborate more effectively and be heard in business and in our broader communities. From my MBA buddies, to my colleagues, to my professional associates and even my mum –a little bit of lots of women went in to building sphinxx.

So this week I am celebrating the contribution that each of you make to our sphinxx community of women leaders and to your workplace, family and friendships.

This IWD, let’s celebrate the lady and the lioness – in a distinctly sphinxx way.

I don’t know about you, but if some goal-setting guru tells me one more time to stretch myself just a little bit more, I think I might just snap! We live in a world which is constantly raising the bar on our measure of success so that only the most audacious and ambitious goals are now considered worthy of pursuit.

We’re encouraged to network at ballroom breakfasts filled with hundreds of women who won’t even ask who we are and what we do. At the same time we work longer hours back in the office late at night, chasing stretch targets with fewer resources. Our houses and cars have never been bigger – and neither have our mortgages. And our self esteem has never been lower. Is there any link here?

Well sphinxx is speaking out! We think that little is the new big – and as a community – it’s time we celebrated the little things in life that are important to us. Like the little win that comes with freely speaking our minds. Like networking events with 20 participants instead of 200. And like supporting other each other in the challenges we face.

If you feel the same way you’ll love our new membership program which I’ll be launching on International Women’s Day. And to thank you for your support I’m giving you the early scoop now.

I’m sure you’ll agree – that within our little community of women leaders we’re achieving some pretty amazing things.

I’m in the throes of research for a new keynote I’m delivering to women leaders around Australia in the coming months. As you might imagine, academics and commentators around the world have tackled the issue of female representation in the workplace and specifically in leadership ranks. Which would be good news for us, if it was resulting in more women at the top.

But according to EOWA Director, Anna McPhee, and the EOWA Gender Income Distribution study, the increase in women leaders across our top companies is “glacial”. It makes you wonder: with all this focus by companies on diversity strategies and affirmative action, why aren’t there more women executives and board members?

An interesting theory I’ve uncovered in my research goes some way to explaining the great divide between men and women in the workplace. The research-based theory was developed by Dr Catherine Hakim – a Senior Research Fellow in the London School of Economics – to explain and predict women’s choices between the competing demands of work and family and it introduces some interesting – if controversial – thinking.

Termed ‘preference theory*’, Hakim’s approach examined the evidence of working patterns adopted by women today and, most significantly, looked behind the snapshot of employment figures to find out why these working patterns remain so different from those practiced by men. From an exhaustive analysis of the available research evidence on women’s work histories and life goals from the 1970s onwards, Hakim concluded that, contrary to feminist assumptions, women do not operate as a homogenous group, held back by sex discrimination from pursuing their ambitions.

Rather, Hakim reports that analysis of women’s preferences shows that women fall into three categories:
• ‘work-centred’ women, giving highest priority to their careers (15 to 20% of the population);
• ‘family-centred’ women, whose lives are devoted to home and family (also 15 to 20% of the population);
• ‘adaptive’ women, whose lives encompass both work and family (60 to 70% of the population).

This largest group, the ‘adaptive’ women tend to express their life-choice by working reduced hours at certain stages of their lives, and/or combining part-time work with child care, or taking career breaks in their children’s early years.

Hakim’s research indicates that the gender mix in the workplace may well be perfectly normal and explainable after all and, indeed, what women want. If this resonates with you – or not – please reply! Do you think female representation in the workplace in fact reflects our preferences, or are we influenced more by external factors?

Jen Dalitz, sheEO

* C Hakim, Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century – Preference Theory, Oxford University Press, 2000.