District Governor's Report - April 2012

District Governor's Report - March 2012

District Governor's Report - February 2012

District Governor's Report - January 2012

District Governor's Report - December 2011

District Governor's Report - November 2011 

District Governor's Report - September 2011 

District Governor’s Report – August 2011

Russ Steele, DTM, DG

DISTRICT GOALS

What a great first month.  I would like to recognize each and every one of you for your hard work, your dedication and your enthusiasm for Toastmasters.  I believe we are on our way to Distinguished District by May 21 as well as a record number of Distinguished clubs, areas and divisions.  Remember, keep your head in the clouds and let’s do everything that you wish you could do this year.

It’s too early to attach too much meaning to the numbers yet, but the initial results are looking fantastic.  In the first 6 weeks, we are in the process of chartering two new clubs and we are in the top 20 districts in the world for CC’s earned (#3), AC’s earned (#14) and Leadership Awards earned (#20).  July has been a somewhat slow month for building membership and we need to take that into account by encouraging membership drives, early dues renewal and the chartering of new clubs  before the September 30 Triple Caps cutoff and the October 1 dues increase.

Outstanding Service– In late July I met with several of the Past District Governors to talk about my plans for this year and to solicit advice from each of them on what they believed made them successful.  I was particularly affected by one piece of advice from Gary Pettigrew:  Recognize at least one person every week for doing something great, it will build your morale through the roof.  I am a little behind right now, but I intend to do just that, and I encourage each of you to do the same in your Area and Division.

The way I am going to do it is with a Toastmaster of the Week award.  The Toastmaster of the week will not be a member of the District Trio and will have done something I consider particularly noteworthy.  There will be a prize for everyone who earns it at the Conferences.  I may or may not disclose what that is when I figure it out. J  But for now let me catch up!!!!

Toastmaster of the Week

July 7 – Sena Loyd

July 14 – George Jarosik

July 21 – Bill Inman & Carmela Porcella

July 28 – Emma Santa

August 4 – Jerry Nolan

August 11 – Louise Houdelette

Strategy – I love the game Scrabble, a word game where all of the players draw seven tiles at a time and try to spell words on a board for points.  I usually did especially well because I have what most people would consider a huge vocabulary. When I played, I would almost always win and as a sophomore in college I hadn’t lost at a game of Scrabble in many years.   I thought I was one of the best Scrabble players in the world.  My delusions of grandeur were quickly crushed when the world championship of Scrabble came to the hotel I was working at and got to watch the actual best players in the world.   I quickly discovered that in the big picture I was actually a terrible Scrabble player!  The players I was watching routinely scored double and on one occasion even triple the highest score I had achieved in my life.  To make things worse and rub in my failure even more, the top 10 players spoke next to no English and not a single one was from an English-speaking country.  So what was their secret?

They did very simple things that made all the difference.  For instance, they memorized words.   Every two and three letter word in the English language.  Every word containing the high point letters like Q, Z, X, J and K.  They didn’t speak English very well, but they could write it and put it on a Scrabble Board.  Several of them had developed an English vocabulary of 25,000 English words – double the vocabulary of a typical PHD.  Finally, they had the board memorized and they would immediately take or block all of the triple and double word scores as soon as they could to maximize their points and minimize their opponents.

In Toastmasters, we can accomplish OUT OF THIS WORLD things by simply doing simple things that make all the difference.  I find that most of us are in the position I was in, doing what we think is the best job possible without being aware of the simple things that make all the difference and can take us to the next level. For instance……

Training – Training four officers during both officer periods is the most important DCP goal and the success of the club and therefore the area, the division, the District and Toastmasters International directly depends on whether clubs go to officer training. Let’s talk statistics for a second:  In the last 5 years 90% of the clubs that have achieved any level of Distinguished Status have received the DCP point for Officer Training.  Amongst President’s Distinguished clubs, 98% of them received the training point.  During every single one of the last 5 years, no more than 8 clubs that missed the training point achieved any level of distinguished.  Do you see the pattern here….

Clubs that do not train get no exposure to the DCP program.  They do not become aware of their administrative deadlines.  They do not know about the Club Success Plan, so they don’t make one and they don’t become distinguished.

We must do our best to make sure that as many clubs as possible get first round training, or we will take our clubs out of the DCP game.  We can’t afford to have the attitude that if they don’t go to TLI, we don’t care if they get trained.  We are servant leaders charged with making sure that any club officers that want training will be given a chance.  If they get trained, they will become Distinguished Clubs.  If we don’t get the Distinguished Clubs, we won’t have Distinguished Areas, we won’t have Distinguished Divisions and we most certainly will not be a Distinguished District.  It really is that simple.  The next 18 days are truly going to be the drop dead determination of our success.  Use them wisely!!!!

Dues and officer lists – This is a very important DCP point because, in theory, it should be a giveaway goal that 100% of our clubs achieve.  They are also our canaries in the mine shaft.  If a club does not collect minimum dues on time, the dues become less likely to be collected and it becomes more and more likely that members or the club itself will be lost every day.  If a club does not submit its officer list on time, it is a sure sign that the club is suffering and it is very likely that not even one officer out of the 7 is actively trying to do the necessary things to maintain a quality club.  We need to let the clubs know how important these goals are and, if they are missed, these are the clubs where we know we need to intervene now.

            Giving Away Educational Awards – Our clubs give away far too many educational awards that could easily be earned and applied for and make the clubs more successful.  Every member in every club that gives only off-manual speeches is costing themselves and their clubs awards needlessly.  There is no speech that could not be worked into a Competent Communicator Manual.  If we assume that 150 clubs are giving two speeches every week, we should be entering over 1,500 communications awards.  Most of them are being lost because we don’t remind our clubs to do the simple things.

The loss of leadership awards is even more staggering.  Right now the latest training report indicates that our club officers have decided to leave 838 ALBs on the table because they are not attending officer training.  Every week, clubs that do not at least have their officer groups work from the CL manual leave those awards on the table too.    This District has the potential to earn 3,000+ leadership awards every year.  Most of them are being lost because we don’t remind our clubs to do the simple things.

Building Membership – The most effective way to build membership is word of mouth.  The best way to keep members is recognition.  We spend so much time figuring out how to market, where to place ads, how to spend money, how to tweak the website, how to get everyone to like us on Facebook, etc., etc.

Do we remember to tell people how Toastmasters has helped us and invite them to a meeting with us?  Do we congratulate our members in the club when they achieve something inside or outside of Toastmasters?  Once again, the simple things will save us.

Growing Clubs – Do you know where the gaps are in your local schedule?  Do you know any companies or organizations that need Toastmasters?  We are nowhere near a saturated market, but we need to find the people who need Toastmasters.  Too often we are like a hunter waiting for our dinner to walk up to us and sacrifice itself. J  We are district leaders and growth is one of our goals.  Yes we need to answer when opportunity knocks.  However, when it is not going door to door, it is our job to seek it out.

Rebranding – You are allowed to present the rebranding presentation located on the District Leader Portal to any club you belong to.   You have access to the portal and should be able to look at all rebranded material that is available.  We have been asked not to share certain specifics until August 17, so please read before you proceed.  

THIS MONTH CONCENTRATE ON DOING THE SIMPLE THINGS THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

District Governor’s Report – July 2011

Russ Steele, DTM, DG

Welcome to the 2011-2012 Toastmasters year.  I am honored and humbled that you have given me the opportunity to serve as your District Governor. 

Unique Opportunity – I am especially excited because I feel that we have an opportunity that we have not had in nearly two decades and may not have again for a while, the chance to compete for a spot as a Select Distinguished District, one of the 12 top Districts in the world.  I have to thank my predecessor as District Governor, Louise Houdelette and last year’s Lieutenant Governor of Marketing, Dianne Bish, for making some tough, unpleasant decisions that ultimately took us out of the running for Distinguished District for the 2010-2011 year.  Their willingness to take a hit in the short term has set us up to have one of those “once every 20-years” type of successful years this year.  More importantly, I think it has turned us in the right direction so that we can continue to be a Distinguished District for years to come.  Louise and Dianne, you have allowed us to rebuild the District 39 Franchise and your sacrifices will not go unnoticed.

Goals – Dianne and Joe have set SMART goals for the district.  They are Specific, they are Measurable, they are Achievable, they are Realistic, and they hold you to the Timeframe of our Toastmasters year.  That is what their job calls for.  It is my job to convince you that they are expecting too little of you.  20 new clubs, we have 38 Area Governors and 8 Division Governors and every single one of them has an idea or an opportunity that can allow them to create a great club.  700 new members – we have 170 clubs and they all should be trying to grow by 8 members, we could grow by 1,360 members!  300 CC’s – we need 700 for DCP! 180 AC’s – we need 340 for DCP!  Leadership Awards – we could hit the 4 digit mark if we put our minds to it.  It is Dianne’s Job and Joe’s to keep you grounded.  It is my job to get your heads in the clouds.  What would you dream of doing with your personal goals, in your club, in your area, in your division, in this district if nothing was stopping you?  Here’s the big secret:  NOTHING IS!!!!  Tell us what you want to achieve and we can help you figure out how to do it.  There is nothing wrong with setting a very high goal that you miss, while there is nothing right about starting with the bar set too low.

Rebranding – For those of you that have been in District 39 leadership for a while, it is a noticeable change that I have not given you a District theme this year.  That is because Toastmasters has decided to create a nationally recognizable brand with a brand tagline.  For those of you who may not have seen it, the new tagline is Toastmasters-Where Leaders are Made.  I am excited about the organization trying to build brand awareness and I think you should be too.  It will drive members to our clubs maybe in a couple of years you will not have to explain to anyone that you do not “make toast” or “make toasts.”

My Focus – My district theme, had I been given the opportunity to create one would have simply been-“Grow.”    Even though that will not be my theme, it will be my focus as a District leader.  That is because everything we do in Toastmasters that is important is aimed at growth.  Individual members are looking to Grow as leaders and communicators; clubs are looking to Grow larger and more vibrant so that they can provide the opportunities their members seek; and the Districts, Divisions and Areas are looking to Grow the membership in existing clubs and to Grow new clubs so that more members can have the opportunities they seek in more clubs.   

How Do We Grow? - I believe that we grow by making ourselves uncomfortable, by getting out of our comfort zone.  The funny thing about comfort is that if you focus on staying comfortable, your abilities will diminish and you will grow increasingly uncomfortable.  However, if you put your focus on constantly being just a little bit uncomfortable, you will grow in ways that you may not even be able to imagine.

 Are you happy to speak to your club, but petrified to speak outside of it.  It’s time to be a model speaker or an area governor, or both!!!!  Are you happy earning one educational award a year?  Maybe it’s time to try for the Triple Crown!  Are you happy that you are finally serving as an area governor and can check off that box on your path to DTM?  Perhaps you need to consider aiming for President’s Distinguished Area Governor with all of your officers trained.  What excites you and makes you a little uncomfortable?  DO IT!!!!

The GAME Plan- Growth is much easier to accomplish if you take it in small steps and make it fun.   You have to make it a game.  To win at any game, you need a good plan.  These are the essential elements of my GAME Plan for District 39’s Success:

Growth – The foundation.  Members grow, then clubs grow, then the District grows.  This year, District 39’s main priority will be growth.

Action and Strategies – We have to take the right actions and do the right things at the right times.  We have to be familiar with the rules of the game so that we can create the strategies to win it.  Are you familiar with the DCP?  Are you familiar with the Distinguished Plan for your area of leadership?  Do you know the strategies for success and the tricks of the trade?  Surround yourself with people who do and make it a goal to learn.  Use the resources provided by Toastmasters International and District 39.   We can’t grow unless we have a plan and execute it.  This year, we will use every means at our disposal to communicate with leadership and with the club members in District 39.  We will share our knowledge and develop strategies and I know we will be “head in the clouds” successful.

Mindset – What do you think you can do or can’t do?  You’re right in both cases.  The ability to believe in and visualize your own success is crucial.  The desire to grow and the plan to do it will never be successful without the belief that what you want to accomplish is possible.  This year, we will develop leaders and clubs that know they can do anything they want to do.

Empowerment – No one will ever thank you for doing their job!! – Dr. Joe Velky, DTM, PDG   The District needs to allow its members and leadership to grow by allowing them to contribute and to do the job they signed on or agreed to do in their own way.  Empowerment also means that the district provides what is necessary for you to accomplish your job.  What good is it if you have goals for growth, you develop a plan to achieve them, you believe they are possible, and then I step in as the District Governor and do your job myself or insist that you do it my way or I leave you on your own to reinvent the wheel and buy your own supplies.    This year, we will empower people to do their own jobs in their own way, as long as it is not illegal or harmful.  We will also provide the support and tools that you require to achieve success when we can and we will reach out to each of you to see what those tools are.

 More ways to Communicate with Me- You can contact me by phone (775) 830-3627, by e-mail russ.steele@district39.org, or through the website at www.district39.org.  I will be posting blogs regularly at http://www.d39tm.wordpress.com/.  I am also on LinkedIn and Facebook and accept all friend requests.