The Courage to Seek Excellence

Since February 2009, it has been my honor and privilege to serve as president of Toastmasters Beckley. I’m rather proud of what we were able to accomplish.

The club achieved six of the 10 Distinguished Club Program goals during each of my two terms. The club’s members earned an advanced communicator award and two leadership awards, and the club recruited 15 new members, met its officer training goal three out of four times, and submitted two officer lists and four membership dues renewal reports on time.

During my two terms, the club’s membership grew by 18 percent, and the club’s treasury grew nine percent, even as we adopted a 40% reduction in club dues. Also, we launched a website, a Facebook page, and a blog as part of an ambitious project to harness the power of information technology in expanding the club’s reach beyond its members.

We did well.

I will be the first to admit that I like the pomp and circumstance of leadership. I think that being the president (of anything) means something. (For the record, I thought that before I ever became president). This has led me down some amusing paths, when I attempted to run the club as if it were Congress. My members, however, are good sports, and bear with me.

Yesterday, I officially became a lame duck, when my vice president for education was chosen to succeed me on July 1. To mark the occasion, I delivered a speech. The speech I chose was project five from the Advanced Communication Series manual Special Occasion Speeches, “Accepting an Award.” Because there was no award for me to accept, I chose to thank my club for giving me a very valuable gift: the opportunity to grow and develop as a communicator and leader.

I like to think that my speaking style is characterized by… gravitas. Accordingly, I don’t often get emotional at the lectern. As I gave this speech, however, I talked about all the times that the members probably thought I was going overboard with the pomp and circumstance I love so much—and I explained that I act big because I believe we can be big, and that if I’m not going to do something well, I may as well not do it all. I concluded by thanking the members for everything they did, no matter how trivial, because their contributions were essential to our success, and my own growth as a communicator and leader.

It was at that point that I became a little emotional. Looking at my audience, it looked like they might have gotten a little emotional, too, because when I walked away from the lectern, I received the honor of a standing ovation—the only standing ovation ever given in the history of our club. (I was fairly touched by their gesture).

Later that evening, I received a Facebook message from one of my members, saying how moving my speech was, and thanking me for giving it. There was one line in that message, however, that moved me.

“I was… reminded that it takes courage to seek excellence.”

Are you seeking excellence? As you do your job, help raise a family, mentor a new coworker, support a friend in need, or carry out whatever tasks may be on your agenda, are you doing your best and giving your all?

That one line crystallized a lesson that I believe I have learned during my tenure as a club president. So many times, we do only as much as we must, and never as much as we can. What makes this doubly regrettable is that so much of our hesitation isn’t because we want to avoid the work, but because we want to avoid the judgment of our peers.

We live in a world in which overachieving still carries a stigma. But I ask you, why do we fear success? Is it possible to achieve too much? Is it conceivable to succeed too well?

I don’t believe that I am an overachiever. If anything, I’m an underachiever. But I do believe in setting big goals, hoping big hopes, dreaming big dreams, and then believing that I, and the people who support me, have what it takes to accomplish whatever it is that we set out to do. That’s not “overachieving.” That’s just “achieving.”

If you’re going to do something, do it well. If you’re going to organize the church picnic, visualize it as a church banquet. If you’re going to give a presentation about a new project at your company, look at it as the State of the Union. Don’t pretend to be somebody you aren’t. But don’t fear becoming somebody you are.

The most important leadership lesson I learned is one I didn’t know I was learning, until somebody explained it for me.

It takes courage to seek excellence.

My hope for you is that you’ll find the courage to seek excellence, as well. Look for it in everything that you do, but mostly, look for it inside yourself. We each already have what it takes to become more articulate communicators and more dynamic leaders. Embrace your potential. Discover the speaker and leader within. Most importantly, live up to your potential without hesitation, without embarrassment, and without regret.

And now (of course), I remind you that our organization can help you. Go to http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/ and begin your own search for excellence at a Toastmasters meeting near you. Or, if you’re in the Greater Beckley area, come to the Region 1 WORKFORCE West Virginia career center on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month, at 6:00 pm, and we’ll point you in the right direction.

The journey begins within.

Let’s take the first step together.

Joseph L. Chambers, CC, ALB
Area 63 Governor, TI District 40
President, Toastmasters Beckley

What's in a mission statement?

“The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”

Every Toastmasters club in the world is guided by the above mission statement. By custom, we (club presidents) are supposed to read it aloud at each meeting. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t lived up to this expectation. I suspect, for the record, that I’m not alone.

I was browsing the Toastmasters website, however, when I came across Toastmasters International’s mission, vision, and values statements. I read them, which made me look up my own club’s mission statement. I read it, and that made me start to think.

Why are we here? (By “we,” I mean “we Toastmasters”). For many people, the lure is the opportunity to polish one’s delivery skills by practicing the oratorical arts in a supportively and friendly environment. For others, the lure is the opportunity to be a leader by serving as a club or district officer. Other still may be interested in the networking opportunities that come with membership in a Toastmasters club. Some may just be bored—but we’ll take them, too, because everybody benefits when a club is growing.

A few months ago, I was visiting the Charleston Toastmasters Club in Charleston, West Virginia (it meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 5:45 pm in the Charleston Public Library, if you’re interested), where I heard a speaker ask a profound question.

Do you have a personal mission statement?

Think about it. What are your goals? What are your ambitions? Have you taken the time to decide for yourself what path you want to take as you make life’s journey?

In a job interview, you might be asked the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Can you answer that? It’s more important than you might think. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there?

A leader is tasked with answering these questions for many people—an organization, a division, a department, or a team. The first and greatest challenge that you must meet to be a successful leader, however, is to answer these questions for yourself.

Toastmasters can help you develop the competencies necessary to succeed a developing a personal mission. Our time-tested programs, with their emphasis on participatory learning, teach you valuable leadership skills—agenda-setting, team-building, time management, constructive criticism, and mentoring.

Many people see these skills as valuable when leading others. Developing the agenda for your Toastmasters club’s next meeting teaches you skills that you can bring to bear at your local parent-teacher association. Judging a club speech contest helps prepare you to deliver employee evaluations. Planning a club awards ceremony equips you to put together a graduation party or a retirement luncheon. The possibilities are endless.

What we don’t realize is that when we lead others, we’re growing ourselves. When we participate in determining a group mission, we also determine our own place within it. It’s true, what they say—when you give to others, you’re also enriching yourself.

Do you have a personal mission statement? Maybe it’s time to develop one. Your local Toastmasters club is a perfect place to think about where you are, where you want to be, and what path you’ll take to get there. We have the tools and the techniques to make you a more articulate communicator and a more dynamic leader.

The best part is that when you join a club and interact with others, you’re slowly becoming the best possible version of yourself. Who doesn’t want that?

If you’d like to take the first step toward discovering your own mission, go to http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/ and search for a location near you. Or, if you’re in the Greater Beckley area, come to the Region 1 WORKFORCE West Virginia career center on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month, at 6:00 pm, and see our program in action.

You can do it. We can help.

We’ll see you there.

Joseph L. Chambers, CC, ALB
Area 63 Governor, TI District 40
President, Toastmasters Beckley

ABC whaaaat?

CC. CL. ACB. ALB. ACS. ALS. ACG. DTM. AS.

No, my keyboard isn’t broken—and no, I’m not beginning this post by describing a bowl of alphabet soup.

Toastmasters International is, at its heart, an educational organization. Like all educational organizations, we exist to foster growth and development—in Toastmasters’ case, as communicators and leaders.

What makes our organization different from many other educational organizations is that, rather than droning on and on about the same principles you can learn in any college-level communication class, we embrace participatory learning.

Anyone can listen to an expert give a lecture. When you leave the lecture hall, however, you may never again think about what you just heard. At a Toastmasters meeting, however, you will learn not only by listening, but also by doing—and the lessons you learn will be for a lifetime.

Toastmasters International offers more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling of unspecified accomplishment, however. We also offer concrete recognition, in the form of numerous awards that you are eligible to achieve.

I work in higher education, which means that describing Toastmasters as a metaphor for the campus experience comes naturally to me.

Think about a Toastmasters club as a very tiny school. “Toastmasters U.” offers only two “majors”: communication and leadership. The “students,” in this case, are the members, who pay “tuition,” or dues. Club officers fill the role of “faculty” and “staff,” taking on challenging tasks and heavy responsibilities because of the reward they perceive in helping other people grow.

When you join a Toastmasters club, you receive two manuals: Competent Communication and Competent Leadership. Each manual contains 10 projects. Like in high school, to complete all 10 projects, all you really need to do is show up! (And if you’re giving a speech at the next meeting, maybe you have to do just a little bit of homework). Complete 10 projects, or “earn” 10 “credits,” and Toastmasters International gives you a “Competent Communicator” or “Competent Leader” award—giving you a certificate to hang on the wall, and some letters that we place after your name. From now on, you’re “John Doe, CC,” or “John Doe, CL.” If you want, you can “double-major,” completing both manuals simultaneously, in which case you would be “John Doe, CC, CL.”

The awards only begin there, however. Each manual in the Advanced Communication series contains five projects, and if you complete two of those manuals, you’ll receive the “Advanced Communicator Bronze” award and the post-nominal “ACB” abbreviation (think: “bachelor’s degree). Completing two more manuals, as well as two presentations from The Better Speaker Series or The Successful Club Series, earns you an “Advanced Communicator Silver” award, making you an “ACS”—the Toastmasters equivalent of a master’s degree. If you persevere, completing two more manuals, presenting a special seminar in communication or leadership, and coaching a new member through his first three speeches, we’ll give you our version of a post-master’s certificate: the “Advanced Communicator Gold,” or “ACG.”

For members more interested in polishing their leadership skills, serving six months as a club officer, attending district-sponsored club officer training, helping prepare your club’s annual Club Success Plan, and making two presentations from The Better Speaker Series or The Successful Club Series will earn you an “Advanced Leader Bronze” award, or “ALB.” If you really want to grow as a leader, you can serve as a district officer, help start or save a Toastmasters club, and complete the High Performance Leadership program. Do these things, and you’ll be recognized as an “Advanced Leader Silver,” or “ALS.”

Finally, when you’ve earned your “ACG” and your “ALS,” you’ll receive the highest honor our organization bestows: recognition as a “DTM,” or “Distinguished Toastmaster.” Continuing the higher education metaphor, I like to think this award as the “doctorate in Toastmastering.” It’s tough to earn, but well worth the effort, because earning this award shows that you have made the biggest and most noteworthy contributions possible to our organization—helping not only to grow yourself as a communicator and leader, but also helping to grow others.

The final abbreviation from the opening paragraph, “AS,” stands for “Accredited Speaker.” If you have experience as a professional speaker, and you’re willing to submit yourself for evaluation by some of the finest orators in the world, you can be given this immense honor as a testament to the breadth and depth of your talent.

Toastmasters International works when we each participate. What’s great is that our participation is rewarded in so many ways. There are tangible symbols of our accomplishments that we can hang on the wall. There are post-nominal abbreviations that we use within the Toastmasters community to recognize members for their accomplishments. Most importantly, there is the ever-present opportunity to learn from each other, to take charge of our own growth and our own development, and to become the best possible versions of ourselves.

If you want to get it on the action, visit your local Toastmasters club! By going to http://www.toastmasters.org, you can find a club in your area. I can speak for every Toastmaster, everywhere, when I say that we would love to see you at our next meeting. By all means, come, and join us on a journey of leading—and learning—together.

Joseph L. Chambers, CC, ALB
Area 63 Governor, TI District 40
President, Toastmasters Beckley

Welcome!!

Fellow Toastmasters, friends, and guests:

Welcome to TopicsMaster: A Toastmasters Blog. The latest development in my year-long "President's eToastmasters Initiative," this blog represents another outstretched hand to you, the reader--or, as I prefer to think of you, "you, the not-yet-but-hopefully-soon-to-be-member."

What is a blog? Wikipedia, that fount from which all knowledge springs, describes a blog as "a type of website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or videos." While such a description is accurate, it certainly won't do this project justice.

Toastmasters is about one thing: you. With over 200,000 members belonging to more than 12,500 clubs spread across 106 countries, we are the world's largest organization dedicated to communication and leadership development.

Some people have a wrong impression--namely, that Toastmasters is a class. While we do have teachers in our ranks, and while we do learn at every meeting, a Toastmasters meeting isn't a single speech, a seminar, or a symposium. In fact, Toastmasters isn't an event at all. It's an experience.

At Toastmasters, we like to believe that every person already has what it takes to become a more articulate communicator and a more dynamic leader. Accordingly, we're just here to help you discover the speaker and leader within. My goal is for this blog--with its regular entries and its commentary and its graphics and its videos--to be far more than just a website. I want it to be part of a conversation--about who we are, why we're here, and how we can help you.

For the last year, our district theme has been "Helping Every Member Shine." At the district spring conference, we learned that "S.H.I.N.E." is an acronym for "Showing How Initiative Nurtures Excellence."

Even if you're not a member (yet!!), it's never too early (or too late) to take the initiative, to take charge of your personal growth, and to focus your energy on a voyage of discovery that ends with you becoming the best possible version of yourself. You're already making the journey--but we can help you learn some lessons along the way.

Don't be afraid to leave comments. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to come to a meeting. Remember, your potential is limited only by the number of your excuses.

Join the conversation, and start becoming the speaker and leader you want to be!!

Joseph L. Chambers, CC, ALB
Area 63 Governor, TI District 40
President, Toastmasters Beckley