September 11th, 2022

Part I: Leading with Excellence
 
The September meeting kicked off our 3-part Excellence Series.  This month focused on "Leading with Excellence." We had two inspiring presentations that connected how leading with excellence serves the members and leads to desired results.
 
Past International Director Roberta Perry, DTM kicked off the series with her presentation, "Leadership in Action." She inspired attendees to become part of the 3% of leaders who thrive during the COVID-19 post-pandemic transition with ideas from the book, Resurrecting Retail: The Future of Business in a Post-Pandemic World, by Doug Stephens. Like all organizations, Toastmasters was deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the book offers insight into navigating the recovery. To do this, leaders need to be aware of how they approach challenges and change. 

Do you focus on the past or do you use the opportunities as a catalyst to thrive and grow?  Research shows 97% of leaders look to the past and often fail, while only 3% look to pivot and thrive.  Roberta related the ideas to leading Toastmasters districts and connecting to member needs.
 
Next, Region 2 International Director Jesse Oakley III, DTM, PRA shared some important points on building your leadership team through his speech, "Developing Your Bench," and related this to his love of football. Like bench players, we prepare ourselves to be better leaders. On the bench, players prepare for their positions before taking on larger positions on the field. This helps to sustain the team and creates a continuous pipeline of players ready to take the field at any time. This ensures the team can continue being successful when a seasoned player moves on and that there is no downtime. It is the same in Toastmasters. It's important to recognize members who are open to continuing their leadership growth and position them for success. This helps members to develop their desired skills and creates the same pipeline of leadership to sustain the district. To prepare your leaders, Jesse used the acronym of F.E.A.R (Future, Expectations, Assess, and Repeat).
 
Moving into the active listening portion of the meeting, Founder's District Director Julie Murphy, DTM led a Q&A session to generate ideas for "Building Leaders."

The meeting concluded with members giving quick shares on recent accomplishments and we welcomed our newest members, from District 57: Carolyn Douglas, DD, Ed Cullen, DTM, PQD and Sally Philbin, DTM, CGD.

The 3-part Excellence Series continues in October with Part 2: Planning for Excellence.