1st Distinguished Toastmaster Award for EMC Ireland Toastmasters Forum

What exactly is the DTM?

The Distinguished Toastmaster award is the highest award the Toastmasters International organisation bestows. The DTM recognises a superior level of achievement in both communication and leadership. Toastmasters international recognise that by receiving this award I have…” developed and sharpened effective communication and leadership skills, and applied these skills in professional and community activities to the benefit of others.”

How did I get started in Toastmasters?

My journey began in April 2012 with an invitation to a demonstration meeting of something called Toastmasters. I had never heard of this before and, once I heard was it was, I had to decide did I want to put myself under that pressure of standing up to speak in front of other people! Well I took the plunge, signed up to EMC Ireland Toastmasters and gave my first speech, also known as an “Icebreaker”, on 15 June 2012.

What has been involved in attaining DTM?

As well as completing approximately sixty speeches, and a variety of meeting  roles, I took on a number of Club Officer roles, including VP Education in 2013, President in 2014 and the Area 49 Director role in 2015. I also completed the High Performance Leadership project in 2015 and ran a workshop for fellow toastmasters in 2016.

What are some of the benefits I have found from Toastmasters?

Joining Toastmasters is one of the best things I have ever done. Toastmasters has been of huge benefit to me, not just professionally but also personally. It is a great confidence builder and taught me excellent leadership and communication skills. As well as discovering a passion for speaking, I also learnt the benefits of servant leadership and being able to share my learnings as a mentor for new toastmasters and officers means a lot.

Now that I have achieved DTM, what’s next on my Toastmasters journey?

I have started the Competent Leadership award again, as I believe it is important to refresh skills learnt. It also means another point for the EMC Ireland Toastmasters Club. UCC (University College Cork) have asked me to return in October to speak to their Mature Students Group again about presentation skills and tips on how to overcome nerves. It is great to be able to give back what I have learnt to help others. The future is definitely bright for me and I urge anyone who wants to develop personally and professionally to join Toastmasters and discover the benefits for themselves!

 

Follow me on Twitter @elainebeare

 

 

To Lead Is To Serve

In service or servant leadership you need to lead both with a focus on service to those benefiting from the end result and on those who work to achieve the objectives. Service leaders are willing to place empowerment above personal power, contribution above their own ego satisfaction and the needs of the team above their own needs for credit and acclaim.

However this all means nothing unless you first know how to lead! This is where I found the High Performance Leadership (HPL) project in Toastmasters particularly useful as you learn by doing to develop your leadership skills when undertaking this project.  The project covers learning leadership skills, putting the skills in action and then receiving feedback on your performance and progress.

In June 2015 I completed my High Performance Leadership Project (HPL) in EMC Ireland Toastmasters Forum. This for me was one of the best leadership learnings on my journey, not only in Toastmasters but in Leadership.

The project focuses on vital leadership areas including:

• Developing a mission and vision
• Goal-setting and planning
• Identifying values
• Building a team

It is an evaluated project with feedback given on leadership skills at each of the following steps:

• Learning About Leadership
• Choosing Your Objective
• Winning Commitment to Your Objective
• Working the Plan
• Analyzing and Presenting Results

The first step you take is to evaluate and assess your existing leadership skills, and identify your strengths and skills that need improving. These cover six focus areas of Service Leadership, namely Vision and Values, Direction, Persuasion, Support, Development and Appreciation.

Once you have completed this assessment you need to choose a project or objective that will allow you to develop these skills. You also need to organise a guidance committee that will help and guide you through strategic planning and feedback on your journey. Members of the committee should include mentors and people whose experience will help you and whose opinion you respect.

A project will only succeed if everyone knows what they are doing and why. This is where developing a vision and mission statement is crucial. With a clear vision and a clear purpose you will create a project that is organised and successful.

When you and your team have created the vision and mission, and have your committee in agreement for your project, it is time to put the plan into action. During this process you will develop skills of a team leader through delegation, planning and conflict resolution. You will help the team members develop through appreciation and empowerment.

Finally when the project is completed you review what you have learned on the journey, and re-assess your skills again in the six focus areas. You should hopefully have learned more about yourself and how to work with others. And, of course, through learning by doing, you have improved your servant leadership skills.

My key learnings include teamwork = success, delegation = empowerment, and acknowledgement of great work is invaluable!

What #ServantLeadership Means To Me

I have a great passion for Leadership, and in particular for Servant Leadership. Let me give you one reason why.

I became a Toastmaster in May 2012 when I joined EMC Ireland Toastmasters Forum. (My first ten speeches, from the Competent Communicator manual, are available to read on my earliest posts on this blog).

Part of being a Toastmaster is about taking roles at meetings, all which count towards the Competent Leader award. While working through these two manuals I also took on various officer roles. These included VP of Education (May 2012 to June 2014) and President of the Club (July 2014 to June 2015).

I was honoured to then be elected as Area Director for Area 49 which covers five Clubs in Cork; EMC Ireland Toastmasters, Apple Toastmasters, VMware Toastmasters, Bishopstown Toastmasters and Powdermills Toastmasters. This role runs from July 2015 to June 2015. I am also currently serving as Assistant Division Director for PR in Division A, District 71.

For me all of the roles mentioned above have their roots in Servant Leadership. Consider the Toastmasters Missions below: –

Toastmasters International Mission

We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.

District Mission

We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence.

Club Mission

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

Key words from these missions are empower and support.

The description of Servant Leadership on Wikipedia is the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. 

You can see the similarities between the two. Why Servant Leadership appeals to me is quite simple. I want to share with others what I have learned to help them develop, and support and empower them to succeed.

Toastmasters International Values are Integrity, Respect, Service and Excellence. The skills I learned, and continue to learn, through Toastmasters are transferable and will always be of help to me, and if I can share those skills and what I have learned then how great is that!

Elaine Beare

Follow me on Twitter @elainebeare

 

 

 

Can you be a leader through STEM?

Can you be a leader through STEM? (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) When you think about leadership you don’t automatically think of STEM, and yet the principles of both are quite similar.

To be a good leader there is a science to knowing and understanding your team. You must work with them, find the mutual chemistry, identify and acknowledgement the areas that need improvement. Interestingly, the word science comes from the Latin word scientia meaning knowledge.

When you have the science of the team worked out then the technology follows. Forming the right team is an art or tekhnē. Communication is critical so the logia or words you use in discussions with your team are important to make your vision clear. This will ensure you are all working towards a common goal, and equally that you can resolve any problems that arise. After all, if you don’t talk about issues then how can you find solutions?

As a leader you must devise or engineer a plan on how your group will work best as a team. The vision you have communicated will be the basis of the plan, but, like any well oiled machine or engineered parts, the team must work seamlessly to make this vision a reality. Sometimes members or parts will need to be switched to make a better fit but this will ultimately lead to your team working as one, ensuring success.

Finally we come to mathematics. A team is like a complex formula. You as the leader or mathematician sometimes have to add or subtract parts or members, but if your equations or team members are worked out properly then the result will lead to a winning solution. Simply put teamwork = success.

Having run through the above similarities it stands to reason that leading through STEM can bring success not only to you as a leader but also to your team through your mutual collaboration. So I ask you now, can you lead through STEM?

Elaine Beare

Follow me on Twitter @elainebeare