the lead - july 2010
DESCRIPTION
July 2010 newsletter for Meewasin Valley LeadersTRANSCRIPT
the LEAD...July 2010
A Message from the President
Hello Leaders.
I am very pleased to begin the new Toastmasters year with the very first edi�on of the Meewasin Valley Leaders newsle�er. Great ini�a�ve and enthusiasm Don!
We have a stellar execu�ve team of Liz, Joan, Don, Vi, Trevor and Corinne. We have met and begun work on the Dis�nguished Club Plan. There are big plans and exci�ng ideas all around. I encourage each member to spend �me this summer considering your own person goals. In the next few weeks Liz, our VP Educa�on, will be asking each of you about these goals and how the club can help you achieve them.
I am delighted with the growth the club
has achieved thus far – and we aren’t about to slow down! More members require more space. In order to accommodate the projected growth and have adequate presenta�on space for our members, it may be �me to consider a larger mee�ng loca�on. Ideas and comments are most welcome – I would be happy to hear from each of you.
As club President, I hope to be able to use this opportunity to serve each of you in the way you desire and deserve. With infrequent mee�ngs it can be difficult to stay connected, so please keep in touch.
I wish you a rejuvena�ng six more weeks of summer. Bring on the sunshine!
— Jennifer Falastein
Meewasin Valley Leaders meets the third Saturday of the monthTime: 11:30 amLoca�on Nino’s Restaurant 801 Broadway Avenue Saskatoon, SKWebsite; h�p://[email protected] Club Contact: Don FrancisPhone: 306.382.7813Email: [email protected] are always welcome. Come out and discover the leader within you.
This month’s th
eme:
Timing/Tim
e Management
Message from the President …............... Pg 1Welcome to New Members ..............….. Pg 2Who Are We? …............……………….….….. Pg 2Recommended Reading ......................... Pg 3Educa�on …….............…………………………. Pg 3Competent Leadership Opportuni�es … Pg 4Beyond the Club …………..............………… Pg 4
In this Issue
Your 2010/2011 Executive Committee
PresidentJennifer Falastein, CC
[email protected] President Educa�on
Liz Gadzella, CC, [email protected]
Vice President MembershipJoan McAulay, DTM
[email protected] President Public Rela�ons
Don Francis, [email protected]
SecretaryCorinne Haack, ACB, CL
Vi Hawkins, ATMS, [email protected]
Sergeant-at-ArmsTrevor Kehrer
Who Are We?
Meewasin Valley Leaders is an amazing club. We have an unusual amount of experience and diversity among our members. Our members’ length of �me in Toastmasters ranges from 2 months to 41 years, but on average our members have 11 years of experience (approximately 200 years of experience in total!) What a pool of knowledge and experience to call on. Each of us has the opportunity to draw on as much of that experience as we wish. Each of us is willing to share what we know and to help others to learn some of the lessons that we have learned.
Some sta�s�cs say that less than 0.1% of all people who join Toastmasters ever earn their Dis�nguished Toastmaster (DTM) designa�on. Sta�s�cs also say that at any �me less than 2% of the ac�ve members of Toastmasters have a DTM designa�on. Given that sta�s�c, and our membership of 19, we would expect to have a maximum of one member with a DTM. But our club is different. Of our 19 members, 9 of them have a DTM designa�on! What a wealth of experience! Our less experienced members should,
indeed, consider themselves fortunate. They are in an environment that is built for learning, for drawing on the wealth of knowledge that is available to them.
And that’s what leaders do. They share their knowledge and experience so that others might have an easier �me learning some of the lessons. This enables them to con�nue to learn and move on to even higher levels.
Meewasin Valley Leaders should take pride in the makeup of the club. Our members have proved themselves to be leaders, and we will con�nue to help develop new leaders as we con�nue to grow in our own journeys.
Each month we would like to feature one or two members in the newsle�er. A short biographical informa�on sheet/ques�onnaire will be distributed electronically. We ask that you fill it out and return it to Don Francis at your earliest convenience. We would like to include a picture with each featured member, so we ask that you also include a picture that we can use for that purpose. Thanks for your coopera�on.
Welcome new Members!
All of the members of Meewasin Valley Leaders extend a warm welcome to our newest members. We look forward to your contribu�ons to our club and to being a part of your Toastmaster journey. Congratula�ons on taking this step in the development of the leader within you.
• Dana Ritchie – Dana is a new Toastmaster, having joined in May of 2010. Her home club is MBS.
• Lynne Marr – Lynne has been a Toastmaster since May of 2008. Her home club is Innova�ve Toastmasters
• Kate Davies – Kate joined Toastmasters in February 0f 2009. Her home club is Campus Howlers
Recommended ReadingGung Ho! By Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles
When I approached this book review, I was torn as to which booked I would use. Then, as I perused my bookshelf, I came across an old friend. It brought a smile to my face as I immediately sat down to re-read the book. I have owned the book Gung Ho! for several years. I have revisited it on occasion to refresh my mind.
This book is an extremely quick read. It consists of 185 pages wri�en as a story of a
business that needed to do something about produc�vity of the employees. There was one bright light in the whole company, one division that outperformed any other by far. That division was managed by Andy Longclaw, using advice
that his grandfather had passed on to him during
his younger years.
Andy found that using his
grandfathers methods, he was able to turn the people in
his division into raving fans of the company – they loved the work that they did and couldn’t wait to come to work. The three cornerstones of Gung Ho! are: The Spirit of the Squirrel, The way of the Beaver, and The Gi� of the Goose.
The story takes the reader through the transforma�on of the en�re plant as the new General Manager, Peggy Sinclair, having been set up to take a fall at the failing plant, works with Andy Longclaw to transform the a�tude of the employees (management included) to become recognized as one of the best places to work in the United States of America. The reader learns the lessons along with Peggy. The principles are simple, yet they have a profound effect on the performance and produc�vity of the plant.
These three principles are universal. They can be used anywhere, in any organiza�on, they will even work for an individual or a very small group. Although they are simple, the principles are, indeed, powerful and profound. Adap�ng the methods outlined in Gung Ho! takes some work, but any organiza�on consistently pu�ng them into prac�ce will find that they have gained in many ways.
I encourage everyone to read this book. It is an easy read, and you will come away inspired. I have a copy that is available for any of our members to borrow, so please let me know if you wish to do so.
—Don Francis
Education
Next month’s theme: Characteris�cs of Leadership
Our Mee�ng in August will have a different format. Our VP Educa�on, Liz Gadzella, will be presen�ng a session on the Characteris�cs of Leadership. This session is based on the Success/Leadership educational “Leadership, Part I: Characteristics of Effective Leaders”
Liz is looking for a fairly accurate count of people planning to a�end (this includes all members and guests) so that she can prepare an appropriate number of copies of the exercises involved in the presenta�on. Please let Liz know as soon as possible.
September: Table Topics Contest & Humorous Speech ContestIt is �me to start thinking about your involvement in the fall club contests. We will hold the contests at our September mee�ng (September 18, 2010). Anyone who would like to compete please let Liz know by the August 21st mee�ng, so that we can plan accordingly. We are also looking for a volunteer to chair the contests and all kinds of helpers and officials. Again, please let Liz know what role you would like to take. Don’t forget that taking on some of the organiza�onal roles or helping with the organiza�on can count toward credit in your Competent Leader Manual.
Website TipsDid you know?Any club member can send an e-mail to all club members by sending the e-mail to: [email protected] can sign up for roles in upcoming mee�ngs by visi�ng: h�p://meewasinvalley.freetoasthost.org/members/roster.cgi (login required)You can edit your member profile by visi�ng: h�p://meewasinvalley.freetoasthost.org/members/memberprofile.cgi (login required)
Beyond the Club
Division E Club Officer TrainingWhen: August 28, 2010
Where: Salva�on Army Temple, Saskatoon, SK
Who: All Club Officers and other interested Toastmasters members
Details: To Be Announced
Division E DayWhen: October 30, 2010
Where: To Be Announced
Who: All members of Division E Toastmasters Clubs
District 42 Fall ConferenceWhen: November 12-14, 2010
Where: Canmore, AB
Who: All members of District 42 Toastmasters
To learn more visit: h�p://d42tm.org/fallconference/fall2010.htm
Smedley AwardProgram Dates: August 1 – September 30It all began in 1924. Ralph Smedley invited a few men to meet in the Santa Ana, California YMCA where he conducted the first mee�ng of what would eventually evolve into Toastmasters Interna�onal. One person ini�ated a program that would go on to affect millions of people. In his honor, can your club add five new, dual, or reinstated members between August 1 and September 30? By doing so you’ll qualify to receive a “Smedley Award” ribbon to display on your club’s banner. Membership applica�ons and payment for members who join between August 1 and September 30 must be received at World Headquarters or online no later than September 30. Each members join date as listed on the applica�on must be no later than September. Transfer and charter members do not count for credit. Effec�ve July 1, 2009, in addi�on to the ribbon, qualifying clubs will also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order.
Toastmasters Interna�onal Conven�on
When: August 11-14, 2010
Where: Palm Desert California
Who: All Toastmasters members worldwide
To learn more visit: h�p://www.toastmasters.org/2010Conven�on.aspx
Competent LeadershipOpportunities
The Competent Leader manual has the requirement of performing many roles to complete it. Some of these roles are: Assis�ng the Club Newsle�er Editor or Assis�ng the Club Webmaster. Currently we are looking for people in both capaci�es.
Pu�ng together a newsle�er is a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of work. If anyone is interested in helping with the Newsle�er, please contact Don. He will be happy to accept any assistance.
We are also pu�ng together a team to work with our club website. We plan to examine the site to determine what we would like the website to be like – any changes or addi�ons, frequency of updates, etc. Once these changes are determined we will ensure that they are implemented and a plan is put in place for regular review and updates. We also intent to develop documenta�on around the administra�on of the website to facilitate ease of transferring du�es and control. If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Don.
the LEAD will be published monthly this year. We are looking for ar�cles of interest to our members, links to resources that pertain to leadership, especially those that pertain to the current or upcoming themes.We are looking for book reviews. Each month we will publish a review by one member of a book that they have read that might be of interest to our members. We would also like to publish these on our website, building a recommended reading list.The deadline for ar�cles is one week prior to our mee�ng.Please submit ar�cles to Don Francis at [email protected]