by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
managing director of Incorp Training Associates is a slender Australian
woman who literally radiates energy. Never at a loss for words, she
bubbles enthusiasm as she waves her hands in the air to express an opinion
or emphasize a point. This is Christina Dodd.
Christina was born in Sale, a country town in the State
of Victoria in Australia. With her father in the air force, this was not
to be home for long as she moved every couple of years, as is the fate of
service personnel’s families. “I went to fifteen schools,” she
assured me, but the frequent moves did not blight her academic chances,
ending up as dux of her final school.
Like so many other young people at that age, she had no
real idea of what she wanted to do. “I just went with the flow, followed
the normal pattern, as we were conditioned to in those days.” A
‘safe’ haven was considered to be the government public service, a
secure job where you were never sacked and slowly mouldered away doing as
little as possible. This image certainly did not fit the new junior clerk,
the enthusiastic young Christina.
Fortunately for her, the public service was going
through a monumental shake -up and the old guard were being weeded out.
Promotion was now being based on performance and bright young people like
Christina, who were devouring further education in evening classes at
universities, could see advancement.
She studied and began collecting diplomas like others
collect stamps. Her abilities were recognized and she began to get a rapid
rise up the ladder through the public service system, eventually being on
the board of directors, about as high as you can go. “I am very thankful
of that time as it gave me a lot of basic training. It was interesting and
they (the public service) gave me opportunities.” Here, what used to be
thought of as a dead end job was being called “interesting” -
Christina Dodd was already showing the difference that personal attitude
can make.
After getting to the top in her department Christina
began to look for something else. “New faces, new places, new visions,
new horizons.” She had spent two years in Penang (Butterworth Air Force
Base) as a schoolgirl and had later spent vacations in SE Asia, so she had
a good appreciation of the ex-pat life. Asia was chosen to supply all the
“new” items. It also offered business opportunities.
Bangkok was her first stop, where she spent several
years working as a “creative” in the advertising world. During this
time she also experienced other parts of the industry, from being a PA to
the managing director, to running personnel courses. Christina Dodd, as we
know her today, was starting to emerge.
The next “new place” was to be Vietnam. “It was
time for a change and Vietnam was mysterious, so I went to Hanoi.” There
she ran an enterprise called The Friends of Hanoi Architectural Heritage
Foundation, with one of Australia’s ex-prime ministers at the helm. When
I enquired as to whether Hanoi actually had any architecture I was met
with raised eyebrows and twirling hands again. “There was the French
architecture and Vietnamese architecture in the ancient city,” I was
told.
Restoring old buildings did not take all of her
energies, however, and she found herself giving seminars and workshops on
training. Her working life was beginning to mould itself to her own
training and experiences.
The next career move was back to Thailand, head-hunted
by a major personnel group - to be a head-hunter! This quickly changed to
being in charge of training programmes and then, after joining a Japanese
group, she became director of training for them. There she created her own
programmes, while at the same time continuing her own development,
attending seminars given by American inspirational teachers. This is in
line with her statement, “I am in a continuous learning process. Nothing
is easy, you have to work to get it.”
It is the faith in the learning process that carries
this woman along. “Every single individual has abilities they never use.
I have faith in people that given the opportunities they can improve.”
She has done this with herself, even now still researching training
methods and techniques. “The best way to learn anything is to do it
yourself.” She makes you believe her, the sincerity coming screaming
through. This is a woman who gives as her hobby, “Reading success
literature.” (Mention Napoleon Hill and she’s read them all!)
Around 12 months ago, she decided it was time to go it
alone and opened up her own training company (Incorp Training Associates).
While nominally based in Chiang Mai, this small (but expanding) business
takes her all over Thailand (and neighbouring SE Asian countries). “The
actual training is my passion. The thrill of being in that room and seeing
the faces when the penny drops!” Again, she was radiating that thrill,
while just talking about it, reliving the moments.
I asked her what her advice would be to the young
people just leaving school and like us all, unsure of the next step.
Christina Dodd was, however, quite sure and adamantly said, “Travel! It
opens your mind, gives you independence and makes you think, see the world
and other people. It is the best education you can ever have.”
For someone like Christina, success is an inner
feeling. “You have to have happiness within - the family and your
personal and business life. This does mean doing well in your job so you
can buy groceries without having to count what is in your purse before you
get to the check-out!”
So that is Christina Dodd, a woman who seized her
opportunities, made many more and has believed in self advancement since
her school days. A committed “people” person who says, “I love
people. I love talking to people. I am inspired by people.”
You are an inspiration to people yourself, Christina!
