ShareThis July 2, 2010 The “Learning Leadership Skills” Seminar was recently presented by the Addison & Elmhurst Area Toastmasters Club #1604. The event took place at the Addison Park District Community Center, 120 E. Oak St., Addison, IL, on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 and was wellattended. This was the first merged meeting venture with the P.E.S.O. (Pilipino Engineers and Scientists Organization) Toastmasters Club.
Refreshments were served, beginning at 6:30 P.M., while the visual projection was finalized. Tom Yakowicz, President of the A&E Toastmasters, orchestrated the assembly of the meeting, which came together without a hitch.
The seminar included five modules from the Toastmasters Leadership Excellence Series. These modules are designed to help members learn the skills they will need to be successful leaders inside and outside their Club. “Goal Setting and Planning” was presented by Keith Essex, DTM (Distinguished Toast Master), Past District Governor of the Greater Chicagoland District 30 Toastmasters. The module reviews the processes that leaders use to set goals and develop plans to achieve these goals.
“Motivating People” was presented by Mahfooz Kahn, Area 34 Governor, and explained how to be sensitive to your team members’ needs and create an environment that will motivate them. Mahfooz’s personal story explained how his daughter was inspired to become a lawyer.
“Building A Team” was presented by Carol Garner, a Human Resources expert, and explained how to create and lead a team. Carol described the process of taking a team through the five stages of Team Development. Carol’s process explained how to develop High Performance Leadership.
“Delegate To Empower” was presented by Tom Yakowicz, ATMS, CL, and explained the difference between delegating and empowering with the emphasis on Empowerment. Tom further explained “How” and “Who” to delegate both tasks and responsibilities with the emphasis upon results. The meeting, itself, was an excellent example of the principle of empowerment.
“The Leader As A Coach” was the highlight of the evening as Tony Chatman discussed how to work with a team to help them improve. When Tony also discussed conflict resolution, the audience became highly involved in the discussion and continued to probe Tony for many answers to their questions. Tony’s experience as a relationship builder tied together, with aplomb, many levels within an organization, including both upper and lower management.
Each presentation built another layer of leadership upon the previous topic, like the construction of a 5-story leadership building, only the structure was abstract and wasn’t visible. The topics were integrated with a logical progression of thought, emphasizing the fundamental knowledge, skills, and motivations, necessary to pull together as a team. The Addison & Elmhurst Area Toastmasters Club conducted themselves, likewise, and exemplified the principles which they presented. They indeed, “walked the talk.”
Immediately after the meeting, plans were formed to hold another merged meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010. The two clubs will present “How To Improve Your Presentation Skills.” For more information, please contact Keith Essex at DTM3848@aol.com.
Since its founding in 1924, Toastmasters International has helped four million men and women develop their communication and leadership skills. Because a growing number of people realize the importance of communication and leadership skills for career advancement, Toastmasters International has doubled its membership in the last ten years. The organization now has approximately 250,000 members in 12,500 clubs in 100+ countries.
For more information about Toastmasters International, visit www.toastmasters.org