Editor’s Note
Bridget Elliot was the jello that held the Failte Toastmasters together. That’s a great analogy because each of jello’s six parts can teach us how to serve as a club coach. Water is the biggest component of jello and teaches us to go with the flow. Sugar is sweet and reminds us that persuasion is important in an organization of unpaid volunteers. Protein helps us build muscle to get the work done. Flavoring is the uniqueness that comes from the coaches’ experiences and background. Colorings in jello may be blue, red, orange; while coaches some- times get red faces from frustration. Preservatives keep us going, even when we’re left in less-than-ideal conditions. Be the jello that holds your club together.
Assessment
The Failte Toastmasters Club was chartered in April of 1995. It meets twice monthly in Charleville, a small town in the northern part of County Cork, Ireland. The club had 21 members and consistently earned the Select Distinguished Award from 2004-2006. However, membership dropped to 12 during the 2006-2007 year. The club struggled until 2009-2010. At the beginning of the year they were low on foot soldiers to keep the Club going for the year I offered to help as I had been a regular attendee at Failte meetings and an officer of nearby club West Limerick for three previous years. Meetings in Failte were always welcoming, entertaining and inspirational. Due to illness some members had lapsed and housekeeping was not up to scratch.
Planning and Implementation
In the beginning I did a number of educational spots all taken from the TM program – mainly the Leadership Excellence and Successful Club series . Education spots included – Developing a Mission, Motivating People, Meeting roles, How to be a Distinguished Club and Evaluate to Motivate. I set up a website and email address to get the name out there. I also joined some networking agencies – Facebook – Local news, i.e., local town newsletters, church newsletters etc and put the information out there. We had our website as part of District 71 website so it was easy to log on each week to keep club data up to date. This took care of some of the housekeeping issues as all this had lapsed in previous years. When the members saw that their progress was mapped for them they were eager to continue and achieve more.
Results
Failte’s growth is not due to me alone. It is due to the members’ desire to get their club back on track again. I was just the jello that held them together. The educational spots made the members and new members aware of the policies of TM and they became more enthusiastic to get the club thriving again. Our members were eager to get the club back on track and on the road to recovery and anxious to help with the task. To complement and expand our promotional efforts, our President Tom – spearheaded an advertising campaign. It did take some time to get the poster just right so we feel the benefits of these posters will be reaped in the com- ing months. As a matter of fact, since the club went for summer break, a number of emails have been received from people anxious to attend meetings. They will all get contacted prior to our first meeting to encourage them to attend. With this campaign and the enthusiastic approach of the members and incoming committee, I feel the club will grow more and more in the coming year.
Lessons Learned
My advice to other coaches is from day one to bring the committee on board to the rebuilding campaign:
- Plan their course of action.
- Delegate duties among the members and remind them regularly of their duties – email, text etc.
- Keep Club informed at all times of progress.
It is very easy to take all duties on yourself and not delegate them. A coach is not teaching the members unless they get the members to work for their club. This keeps them motivated. I sometimes feel that even though the goal of the coach was to rebuild the club, the rebuilding took over some of the Committee meetings instead of the coaching aspect. Overall we achieved our goal of a ribbon for the banner. It may only be Distinguished Club ribbon but it is the incentive our members need to get working for greater achievements for our Failte Toastmasters Club in the coming years. Even though I have been awarded my Club Coach Certificate from HQ I want to stay part of the Failte growth team for another year to see the advertising campaign come to fruition. We have an open meeting planned for September and the Committee is putting some new ideas into action to bring in the crowd. I was thrilled and honoured to be part of this great club and equally great Committee. I could not have done the job alone and I thank Failte Toastmasters for allowing me be their club coach last year and look forward to continuing to help them grow next year and into the future.
A Letter of Praise
Dear Bridget,
It is September 2009, the setting a Failte Toastmasters meeting in Charleville, County Cork. Failte was like a house in ruins, the candle quenched in the cracked front window, roof falling in, the foundation disappearing before our eyes, the Failte sign on the dusty footpath and no footsteps to the front door. You stood before us in a confident, friendly, honest manner and outlined your detailed plan of action for Failte. We all remember your famous line at the beginning: I am not alone in this task, we are a wheel and each one of us is a cog in the wheel. We each have a part to play. Alice Cagney, r.i.p, was a founding member of Failte Toastmasters and the Alice Cagney Award was created in her memory. Each year a Failte member receives it in recognition of their hard work during the year.Let’s move forward eight months to a Failte Social Evening on May 2010. Those present include Failte members, Toastmasters from neighbouring clubs and many guests. Tom Kelly presented the Alice Cagney award to you to a standing ovation. You were genuinely shocked and for once you were SPEECHESS!
We have given you laughter and life stories. headache after headache, struggle after struggle, tested your patience to extreme limits when you were pulling us “THE WHEEL” back on track. You never showed defeat, when many would have run to the nearest exit. You are so generous with your time, sharing all your many skills and knowledge in your talks that were extremely motivational in their content, educating us in the most pleasant and easy manner . You are humorous, a forward thinker and planner which resulted in our impressive website and successful poster campaign. You believed in us and now each member and guest shouts from the rooftop “I am a Failte Toastmaster!” YOU NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING IN US. You rolled up your sleeves, mixed the concrete, passed on the bricks to each of us to rebuild our Failte home.
MAY 2010: Failte is not a house in ruins. The candle is brightly lit in the front window, Failte sign polished with pride, roof repaired, foundation solid. Framed photographs displayed on the walls including one of you, Bridget our coach! I catch a glimpse of your face so happy and proud as you pin the Distinguished Club ribbon to the Failte Toastmasters banner. An entertaining night is delivered to a full house. You taught us Failte work is never done. It is ongoing! On behalf of Failte Toastmasters: “Go raibh mile maith agat brid” By Eta Quinn