Editor’s Note
An African proverb tells us that it takes a village to raise a child. If a Toastmasters club is like a child, then it certainly takes the efforts of each member to charter, maintain charter strength, and even rebuild. When Angela Geiger successfully coached the Achievers Club #7150, she employed a three-part strategy. She encouraged each member to be a leader accountable to themselves and to the club. She encouraged the club to celebrate and express their uniqueness. She taught the best practices for meeting roles and officer roles so that each member could be the best at whatever they elected to do. With a firm insistence on the contribution of each member, the club turned obstacles into opportunities. Just like a parent tries to teach their child life skills, Angela taught this club how to meet, address and overcome challenges. I am sure that Angela is just as proud as any parent because this club has mastered the tools it needs to function as a healthy Toastmasters club. To duplicate Angela’s successful coaching effort, consider teaching your club the skills it needs to thrive on its own and insist on the involvement of each member.
Background
I joined the Millennium Toastmasters Club in 2008. My club immediately asked me to serve as the Club President and I did so for two years. In 2010-2011, while serving as the President of the Millennium Toastmasters Club and Area 24 Governor, I received a call from Minnie Thomas, who inquired about a coach for the Achievers Club. Having developed and practiced my leadership skills in my military and civilian career, I volunteered. Subbi Matur, the District 58 LGE&T, was excited and shared information on coaching. I wanted to make a difference and really test my leadership ‘chops’.
My first action was to request a meeting with the Achievers Club President, Dwayne Ismail. I wanted to have an understanding of what was taking place in the club, prior to me meeting the members. What did he think was going well with the club? What did he think was not going well with the club? I wanted to assess if he would be willing to work with me; if he would be willing to take a step back and allow a different vision to be presented; and if he would be teachable. He said he needed to learn more about Toastmasters and was willing to learn.
I next arranged for a visit to the club. I wanted to assess the meeting, the members and determine if they were just as willing as the Club President to learn and improve. The club met on the second floor of a Kroger (supermarket) with seven members. Even though they were few in numbers, the willingness of the members to ‘stay in the fight’ demonstrated their potential to be more dynamic, collaborative and connected as a club. During this meeting and over the next few meetings, I conducted a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis.
This is what I observed:
- Strengths: Committed members who wanted to learn more about Toastmasters.
- Weaknesses: Members did not know the Toastmasters best practices for conducting quality meetings. They all were in need of the tools in our Toastmasters Toolkit.
- Opportunities: Meeting location was a high traffic area; yet the club hadn’t effectively networked with the management team of the supermarket to post fliers and meeting announcements.
- Threats: The club had a few dual members and there was uncertainty if they would remain with the Achievers Club or renew their commitment with another club.
Give Them the Tools to be Successful
My plan was very simple – give them the tools to be successful. A few basic principles provided a solid and healthy foundation to the plan. I wanted every member to be a leader. Each member would be responsible for preparing fully for meetings, striving to meet high meeting standards and achieving individual goals so the club could meet its goals. I wanted the club and its members to maintain their uniqueness. I would never ask them to prepare, act or become my home club. Each member joined this club because they each had their own objectives. The club had its own personality and I wanted that to be maintained. I wanted them to be the best at whatever they chose to do. I wanted them to find their own way while I provided the tools to help them do it. I wanted to teach the members the best practices for each meeting role. When a member properly learns to be the best Toastmaster of the Day, it will teach the member how to properly run a meeting, and during the same meeting the other members and guests will notice the improved quality of the meeting environment. By teaching the members how to be the best they could be, it empowered them to be leaders. In this way, I aimed to create a successful club, which could have long-term sustainability for years to come.
Lighting the Fire
I started my coaching appointment like a nice, caring teacher. I conducted a Moments of Truth from the Successful Club Series to help the club understand their current level of meeting quality. The main outcome of this exercise was to raise awareness among the members. Additionally, this exercise confirmed my observation that the club didn’t under- stand the Distinguished Club Program or how to properly perform in the meeting roles. Consequently, I presented How to Be a Distinguished Club from the Successful Club Series to the Club President, and he in turn presented the program to his club members. It was important for the club members to hear the Club President speak on where they were going strategically as a club.
After some teaching, I established some opportunities for me to praise or coach the club. Near the end of each meeting, I had 3-5 minutes to make some comments. I also attended the monthly meetings of the executive committee. If I needed more time, I would call or email the members.
My years of leadership training and practice in my military and civilian careers influenced the way I gave feedback to the club. Feedback is a great way to understand our current behavior and if needed, a great way to change our behavior. Toastmasters have a speech evaluator to help the speaker, a Grammarian to help our grammar and a General Evaluator to help our meetings. The clubs have a coach to help our members. If the members did something well, I praised them immediately. If the members struggled, I coached them with an approach tailored to the location. For example, whenever I needed to coach the members in a regular meeting, I reassured everyone and politely mentioned the behavior and reminded the members of their goals, and their promise to improve. The idea was to reassure the club and let everyone know that we’re all working together for improvements. At the executive meetings, I could delve into more detail. I would ask questions to find the source of the difficulty, remind the officers of their oath and commitment to the club and its members, and ask for a recommitment for improvement beginning at the next meeting. Executive meetings are designed to get things done, so I took the approach to resolve the action immediately and thoroughly.
Besides my approach, the club undertook many improvement efforts. At first, I had to initiate and encourage each effort. Later, the club initiated actions of their own. For example, I taught the club how to implement the Club Success Plan to win Distinguished (or better) in the Distinguished Club Program. Once the club completed their Club Success Plan, I encouraged the Club President to keep the plan in front of the club. Meaning, he mentioned it at every meeting, encouraged members to continue making progress and talked about how wonderful it would be to achieve the prize. Halfway through the year, I noticed the members encouraging each other to give that speech or work the Competent Leader manual because it would teach them the balance of leadership; give them an award; meet a DCP requirement; and thereby help the club. It was amazing! This was a great moment, which validated my efforts – I knew the members had the tools and they were using them. The members were personalizing the goals, it was no longer a strange concept, or even something the President had to remind them of during each meeting. The goals were theirs and it was their responsibility. This event was a key transition. The club began to function more independently and with more confidence.
The officers began to lead the club. Just like each member was learning the best practices for meeting roles, the officers were learning the best practices for their roles too. For the President, I provided tools on how to lead and support the club; without being the club. For the VPE, I provided an excel spreadsheet which assisted in tracking completion of speeches and roles. I, also, provided to the VPE the Full Circle Award template, which recognizes members who have completed the meeting roles. For the VPM, I introduced the process for conducting a membership drive and assisted the VPM in the planning and execution of the event. For the Secretary / Treasurer, I provided templates which assisted her in organizing her meeting minutes. For the VPPR, I introduced an external website (SC Highways) and encouraged the VPPR to update the Achievers Club website. For the SAA, I introduced the concept of forward planning for current and future meeting locations to accommodate the growth of the club.
The club initiated a mentoring program. Each new and experienced member had a mentor. The club allowed each mentor and mentee to define the terms of their working relationship. Some mentees chose their own mentor and others were assigned by the VPE. The mentors worked with their mentees on their speeches, time management, and an understanding of the meeting roles.
The club also took advantage of a key networking opportunity – they reached out to the management team of the supermarket. The club thanked them for allowing them to meet there and acknowledged the management team by awarding a certificate of appreciation. The dynamic of the relationship between the Achievers Club and Kroger changed, and the management team became more open to the idea of allowing the club to post fliers about club meetings and club special events. A simple Thank You can go a long way.
When I experienced my very first meeting with the Achievers Club members, my first inclination was to make a SERIOUS change. When they introduced the Word of the Day, they all clapped. I found this very distracting. But as they learned, I learned. This is one great tool I take away from my experience. Not only does it engage me to be an active meeting participant; I find the technique helps me to recall the word of the day.
The Achievers Club members were ready to learn and they held the key ingredients for their success – they were willing to stay in the fight; they were willing to accept a different vision; and they were willing to be teachable. A coach couldn’t ask for a better recipe for success. In 2010-2011, the Achievers Club members applied the tools from their Toastmasters Toolkit, and they earned the President’s Distinguished Club Award; reaching 10 for 10 of the DCP goals. The club has grown in size, since my first meeting with them. Eventually, they will need to secure a larger venue. I left the club with some advice: begin the year introducing the Distinguished Club Program and close out the year with the Moments of Truth. Every club needs to know where they’re going strategically and every club needs to have an Ah Ha moment when they’ve arrived.
Lessons Learned
- Demonstrate care. How you coach the club is very important. If you genuinely care about the members, then the members will be more likely to care about what you’re trying to do. The members will do everything they can to help you because they won’t want to let you down. If you don’t care, then the members will ask themselves, why should I care?
- Prioritize during your club coaching appointment, you have to make do with what you have and the time you’re given. I wish I had more time to help the club. I had to focus on the DCP and the best practices of meeting roles. If given more time, I could have helped the club in more ways. For example, I would have placed more emphasis on the mentoring program. Mentoring is a great way to incorporate new members into the club and teach them about the program. I also find that a mentor will reinvigorate a long-time member.
- Ask for the Help of Every Member . My initial philosophy was validated by the club. Each member understood their responsibilities and worked to fulfill those responsibilities. It may have been as simple as preparing fully for a meeting role, but when you add up 12 fully-prepared meeting roles, that is a meeting worth attending both for the members and any guest. Individual responsibility contributed to group responsibility. Whenever, we had an unexpected absence, every member was capable of picking up and running with that unfilled meeting role. The end result was a demonstration of what Toastmasters says it can do for you.
- Communicate, Lead and Extend Outreach to Others. I always find it great we excel in building our clubs and edifying our members, but if you never take it outside the walls of the club, who would ever know? To me, the mark of a true leader is the ability for that leader to pay it forward. When you learn to overcome your own obstacles, and can extend your outreach to assist others, who may be facing their own challenges, you are a leader. The Achievers Club demonstrated such signs of leadership. They assisted another club in a different division and area, (DORN VA/Division B Area 24) in achieving their Distinguished Club status, by offering a speaking slot to one of the DORN VA club members for the completion of her Competent Communicator award. The Achievers Club and its members experienced an Ah Ha moment. A coach couldn’t ask for a better coaching experience.
A Letter of Praise
I am writing to express the respect and admiration the club #7150 Achievers Toastmasters has for our club coach Angela Geiger. From the moment Angela and I meet for the initial meeting, I knew she was the perfect coach for our club. Her experience and her commitment to excellence were well demonstrated and continued throughout her role as our coach. Angela made recommendations that gave our club a solid foundation. She taught us how to operate efficiently by empowering our members. She also taught me [the Club President] to trust in the individual members to get their jobs done. Angela was committed to our success and she did the most powerful thing a coach could do, she committed us [Achievers Club] to our success. Our club became more involved with the District programs and goals. Our leadership team participated in full force at the TLI [Toastmasters Leadership Institute] both times.
Our club became a team. Although injured, Angela attended club meetings and participated as our CL Evaluator. Her role as CL Evaluator encouraged members to make sure they had their Competent Leadership manuals and received credit for participating on the agenda. This role is still and will always be an active agenda role. Angela fought hard to make sure we did not fall back into practices that led to our troubles which required a club coach to begin with. When she needed to be firm she was, but she also celebrated our growth which empowered us even more. Ultimately Achievers Toastmasters ended our 2010-2011 year as a President Distinguished Club and we are on track to meet that same goal for 2011-2012. This year we also participated in our Area and District contest, winning trophies in both. Our club coach [Angela Geiger] made the difference and we are thankful for her.
By Dwayne Ismail, President Achievers Toastmaster #7150