Here you can read Part 1 and Part 3
Soon after that I wanted more. I became a deputy for one of the Club Committee roles so I could learn the ropes before taking on the role officially. A few months later, the club invited me to apply for the full role, and members voted me in. I was now accountable for 23 people’s happiness! Soon, I was hooked! This role offered practical leadership skills training, giving me clear feedback and examples of successes and areas to improve. This meant I could assess my progress and adjust my approach in the role. to become the best I could be. I thrived and the club thrived.
When was the last time you gave or received great usable feedback with specific examples?
In the Toastmasters training programme I noticed there were many opportunities there for me to lead on projects outside our club meetings. At the time, I planned to apply for the Project Manager promotion at work, so it seemed ideal. Excited to get involved, I dedicated myself to helping my community, which became the most rewarding non-work project.
My first Youth Leadership Program started with a set of 15 students in an Academy near where I lived. I led a small Toastmasters team, delegated full sections, and watched without correcting or interfering.
Over ten weeks we guided the students towards the delivery of a showcase event. They all delivered speeches of more than four minutes each on a variety of subjects chosen by the students themselves. The parents and school principal received it very well, and I was asked to repeat the success with a new cohort. 5 years later I am about to deliver my seventh program….
While all this was happening, I also delivered full training days using the Better Speaker and Leadership Excellence Series manuals. I trained both members and non-members, applying my High Performance Leadership Project to build and coordinate the delivery team. The project guided me from vision and mission through to lessons learned, using delegation so I didn’t do all the work myself.
Simultaneously I did get the promotion at work and I found the skills I picked up in Toastmasters were essential to my new role of communicating clearly at all levels with many different teams, colleagues, suppliers, stakeholders and customers. It taught me how to give effective feedback and how to delegate. I learned how to listen and lead.