Area Governorship - Leading in a volunteer organization

We held our Toastmasters Area B2 Fall Contests this evening, in District 53. It was only possible with the help of 10 or so ordinary people doing extra ordinary things. We had a Contest Master, Chief Judge, 5 Judges, Ballot Counters, Timers and a hosting club all give up their evening, and work together to create the environment for ten contestants to compete.

And compete they did. It was a very good contest this evening.

I am amazed with Toastmasters. So many people work together with strangers to keep this organization functioning. Truly amazing.

For me, personally, I am learning leadership skills as an Area Governor. It seems that as a club officer I was only concerned with filling the roles for the next meeting. Now as Area Governor, I need to be concerned with planning out about 1 to 3 months in advance. For the first time in my life I am applying the theory I learned in my MBA, namely that the higher you go in an organization, the longer into the future you need to plan.

Our next events are the Division B Contest on Oct 11 in West Hartford and then the District Conference on Nov 3 in Fishkill, New York. Then we have Winter Training and the Spring 2008 Contests. We will also watch the DCP plans for each club start to fall into place over the next few months.

Area Governorship is a blast, now that I am getting the hang of it. I have been in the job 3 months now, and learning to lead in a volunteer organization is fun when you have a good team of club officers in your Area. And I have the best team working with me in Area B2!!!

Have you experienced Toastmasters yet? If not, why not? Post one good reason not to join Toastmasters for the Communication and Leadership training.