District 46 Toastmasters | New York City, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk

Help is Here!

Tall order? The good news is that leadership skills can be learned, and even better news is the new Competent Leadership, (CL), manual from Toastmasters. I’ve worked my way though it, and I can tell you from personal experience that it has a lot to teach.

It is deceptively simple, but it works. At first blush, it doesn’t look like it would do much to make you into the wonderful leader you want to be. After all, the first many projects are just about ah-counting, timing, and other activities that are traditionally assigned to new members. Only about a third through the manual do we get to the “real” leadership roles, right? Wrong! Think again. Ah-counting hones your skill of listening. Timing does too.

And evaluation! Evaluation provides training in several leadership skills: First of all, listening. You have to hear and see to absorb the speech before you can evaluate it. Then you have to think critically in order to analyze the speech and have something intelligent to say about it. Now you are ready to give constructive feedback, which is what a Toastmasters evaluation is all about. Not only do you learn to give constructive feedback, but also to give the feedback on the spot. In that sense Table Topics and evaluation have a lot in common: They both teach you to think on your feet. Participating in Table Topics is also part of the CL manual projects. The ability to think on your feet is not only important for giving immediate feedback to your team, but also in situations where you have to negotiate, be it with team members or other leaders.

The first part of the CL projects offers you the opportunity to practice these very basic, but also very important, leadership skills. Then the manual takes you on to working with a team. First you get the opportunity to work on a team for a Public Relations campaign or other group effort. Later, after you have experienced working on such a campaign under the leadership of a more experienced member, you lead one yourself. This provides practice not only in planning, delegating and giving direction, but also in conflict resolution and other team-building skills. Several projects require that you take the role of Toastmaster of the Day. This is practice in planning and organizing a coherent event with several participants. It is also practice in flexibility and ability to handle last-minute changes and unforeseen problems.

All project assignments are to be completed within a specified time frame. Activities such as evaluation and giving speeches have to be accomplished within the time constraints of the meeting, and team efforts need to be completed in the time you and your team agree on. In this way, all of the assignments allow you to practice proper time management, even though one project has this as its specific focus.

Inspire to Success

There are two types of motivation commonly used: The stick and the carrot. The carrot gives better results in the long run because you inspire people to do their best and feel good about it; this gives you their support and trust. The stick builds resentment, which in the long term turns into non-cooperation. In fact, David Lynch says: “When people are in fear, they don’t want to go to work. So many people today have that feeling. Then the fear starts turning into hate, and they begin to hate going to work.”

David Lynch adds that if instead of instilling fear, a company offered a way for everyone in the business to start expanding energy and intelligence, people would work overtime for free. They would be far more creative. And the company would just leap forward. This is the way it can be. He says that it’s not the way it is, but it could be that way so easily.

What Are You Waiting For?

Bad leaders are not evil; they are not properly trained. Luckily, good leadership skills can be learned. And, luckily, Toastmasters offers you a way to practice and learn these skills in a safe and supporting environment. The CL program gives you a very real opportunity to hone your abilities in the carrot approach because you have no real power to threaten your subordinates with. They are just volunteering their time and skills, and if they don’t want to do what you’d like them to do, just too bad. Your only way of getting them to help is by providing motivation and proper rewards for their contributions. This brings out the very best in you as a leader and teaches you to lead in a productive and supportive manner, for the benefit of your team, without which your vision will not be fulfilled. Bring your CL manual to every meeting, and encourage others to do the same.

“It could be that way so easily”… So what are you waiting for?