02/01/2021
Impact 21 Toastmasters a Mentorship Journey!
Have you ever noticed that there are certain teams in sports, music, associations, and the like that are always successful?
Wining is not an accident, but the result of a purposeful commitment to achieving excellence by practicing the disciplines one must master. At Impact 21 Toastmasters Club, we believe that our members deserve the opportunity to become a better version of themselves. The executive team has had many sessions and conversations around the topic of mentorship. Yes, this is a work in progress, and the results and the lessons are real.
Mentoring benefits both the mentor and mentee. Mentees gain self-confidence and achieve their goals at a higher rate because of the encouragement and support provided by their mentor. Mentees gain the opportunity to advance their hidden talents. And mentors gain experience with one-on-one communication, counseling, and coaching.
Impact 21 Toastmasters is a dynamic and diverse club, and for the last few years, it has consistently achieved year after year a Perfect 10 score under the Toastmasters International Distinguished Club Program. The leadership at the club is strong and members are always engaged in attending meetings and presenting speeches toward the completion of their educational goals. Within the club, we have members who have served in District 83 top-ranking positions and beyond. Impact 21 is home to Toastmasters International Region 9 Advisor Cyndi Wilson. In addition to having a strong leadership presence, several club members have participated and won at the district level speech contests and the International Speech Contest. Lastly, one of our members have been a finalist multiple times at the Toastmasters World Championship of Speaking contest.
To attract new members, the club’s meetings are advertised on Meetup and other social media platforms, which generally brings a lot of guests interested in learning about the club. The club has had a steady number of guests and visitors for years and this year is no exception. The real work is ensuring that visitors return, join, and remain engaged with the club. One of the reasons for the investment in time and energy in organizing a mentoring program comes from the fact that some guests do not stay long with the club. Some of the reasons could be attributed to personal conflicts or lack of motivation to achieve their communications goals. Some challenges occur when a new member joins and has problems delivering their speech and starts to feel discouraged. It is at this juncture that a mentor can assist in accelerating their learning curve. Understanding the new Toastmasters Pathways educational program and learning all club meeting roles helps to further clarify members’ goals. The more the mentee learns, the more likely it is that their confidence will increase and the ease of navigating the program contributes to membership retention.
Armed with the understanding that there is always room for improvement, one of the co-authors of this post, Lorraine Campbell saw the need to strengthen the club’s mentoring program. She has utilized the High-Performance Leadership (HPL) project as a tool to re-launch and enhance Impact 21’s Mentorship Program.
A committee was formed, a project plan was created, and the committee met on a bi-weekly basis. The mission is to assist both new and existing members to accomplish their goals of becoming strong communicators and effective leaders both in Toastmasters and in their personal lives. Since Q4 2020, she has been coordinating with her HPL Committee which consists of the club’s Executive Board and Club Mentorship Chair, yours truly. We discussed issues new members face when becoming acclimated to the club. Guidelines were developed to help accelerate a new member’s integration and retention within the club. The process has already proven to be successful. During this period, five new members joined our club and have either delivered their ice breaker or participated in a meeting role. Our goal is to enhance the mentorship process and integrate lessons learned along the way. We believe it is important to provide the tools and resources to ensure both new and existing members reap the full benefits of not only being a Toastmaster but also in achieving their communication and leadership goals. In the end, not only does the member benefit, but the, division, and the district benefit as a whole.
