Meet the songbird that’s helping others find their voice in
business and in life!
Tania de Jong is a leading Australian soprano and
social entrepreneur at the forefront of creativity and innovation. She is the
Founder and CEO of Creativity Australia, Creative Universe, the Creative
Innovation Global conference, and numerous other creative initiatives and
outreach programs across Australia.
Tania has presented her leadership programs to organisations
such as BHP, Telstra, ANZ, Royal Children’s Hospital and various universities
to help them improve engagement, innovation and performance, and today she
gives Spark readers an exclusive insight into what you can do to grow your
business.
Monique: What is the driving force behind your
success?
Tania: Wanting to make a difference! My grandmother invented
the first foldable umbrella and was forced to sell her patent to the Nazis. She
and my grandfather arrived in Australia with nothing and rebuilt their lives
and made a huge difference. I feel enormous gratitude to be alive and it’s a
privilege to help people realise their potential. My mission is to inspire
people to find their voice – in work and in life.
Monique: As the founder of 6 successful
organizations with a number of new projects on the go, how do you find the time
to make so much happen?
Tania: I don’t
sleep much. I work in a very productive manner. I don’t procrastinate. I try
not to delay anything, and if I say I’m going to do something, I do it straight
away. And I follow up in a very diligent way. My advice is: don’t analyze or
sit there too long making plans. Act now, plan later.
Monique: Why is creativity so important in business?
Tania: Creativity
has been named the most important leadership trait for CEOs, according to the
IBM Global CEO study. Creativity
drives profits because it helps people to go beyond accepting the status quo
and imagine what could be, to imagine a bigger income… and ask “What if I did B
instead of A, could I create X instead of Y?”
Creativity is about going that extra step in your business
to be an innovator, not just looking at what your competitors do. It is also important to foster
creativity in everyday situations where the goal is improvement, rather than
just using it to problem-solve in reaction to a situation when things have gone
wrong.
Monique: What was your inspiration for launching
the Creative Innovation Global Conference?
Tania: I wanted
to create an international thought leadership forum here in Australia. I was
told by detractors that no, I couldn’t set up a conference but I didn’t accept
that and I did it anyway.
We wanted to create a conference that went beyond the
typical powerpoint presentation. We wanted to stimulate the right-hand side of
the brain as well. Get people into a different headspace with performers and
artists. People now feel they can go back to work and be a change-maker, they
feel the conference was a catalyst to change.
Monique: How do you create a culture of
innovation in business?
Tania: One of the
challenges to overcome is that people limit themselves. The key to all the work
I do is to help people lose their self-limiting beliefs about not being
creative or an innovator.
You need to strive to unlock other people’s potential. As a
business owner, think to yourself: “What if I DIDN’T limit them… what might be
possible? Listen to people;
acknowledge ideas before thinking you always have the right answer. Give people
a real chance to be a part of your business and empower team members to take
ownership to help drive change in the business.
Resist your natural inclinations to stay in control and
avoid risk. To grow, you must risk and you must trust. If you pick the right
people, your business will grow.
By Monique Parker