Coaching Touchpoint: Back to Basics

Have you taken some exercise to remind you of what you learned in being a Coach? I don't think I have... or maybe more like, if I did... I don't remember. :D But really, if I dig deep into what Caoching is, I would probably revert back to my Accenture days where I taught Coaching in the Workplace for years. It isn't problem solving, it isn't therapy, it isn't taking on the person's concerns and correcting them - well, okay, maybe that is a possible gray area...

What Coaching definitely is, is the steps, actions and mostly listening and exploring of the person - their awareness of what their life is - while practicing self awareness as well. We don't want to be biased for their sakes, we don't want ot give easy suggestions, sharing empathy - to see where they are coming from, and to understand their point... not to agree, but to really appreciate where they are coming from. We do this to tackle limiting beliefs - things that may be affecting the other person. Lastly, the need for collaboration. As I said, we're not there to solve their problems - but we're there to help them solve things for them. Guide them... make them realize that they knoew the solutions after all. Or maybe, ask questions so they can explore ideas that will lead to their growth.

That in a nutshell is coaching. But what else does it entail? Well for starters what is it you are willing to help them with. There has to be an understanding of what your coaching conversations (which is to be private between you two, at least in a traditional one-on-one coaching manner), what is it about, and what is included - likewise, what is out of bounds. The out of bounds will also include time limits. You, as a coach, need to set boundaries between your coaching sessions and the rest of your life.

As to what the conversation can be about... that is where you decided what you are capable of discussing. In my case, I can easily discuss Leadership, Communication, Team-building, Self-awareness and Coaching in the Workplace... the latter more like creating Coaches for the work area. I can also discuss some IT stuff... like how to be a Project Manager. I have in my background, a wide range of both People-skills and Technical skills. So I can possibly coach others on these topics. I have a bit of a hybrid knowledge as well... since i cover both It and non-IT stuff, I can connect one with the other.

So... that's me. Need I refocus? Specialize? I don't see the point. At least, not yet.

HOLA's Secret Sauce 7? Celebrating as a Community

I've shared Six Secret Sauces of HOLA so far, but the glue tht holds them together is the something itangible and found in each member. It's our heart, or attitude. Think about it. We have a program, a process, sone idea of sharing things to each other; even our Excom being cooperative with each other... all this may, or ma nor be present in oher clubs. But how man clubs can say their members are mostly, of not all, dedicated to servant leadership?

How does one imbibe a culture of positivity - of cooperation, team-building in each and every HOLAn?

I'd like to think we started with the right people. Director Joyce had a inkling of whom whe should invite to be part of the core 20 members. Leaders, Influencers, People who get things done. No egos here, just a willingness to help others, to focus on the members. She pitched the idea, and invited specific people whom she knew she could work with - who could easily work with each other. Toastmasters who imbibed the organization's core values of Integrity, Respect, Service and Excellence.

We chose people who were genuinely compassionate for others, and this made cooperating, coordinating and conducting projects so much easier. We never did things to gain popularity; and it was not a game of one-upsmanship. We reveled in being part of something bigger to help each other. We shared ideas, cosidered best-practices... but not to keep, but to share with our mother clubs.

Perhaps it was an advantage that we had no history, nor traditions - yet could start our own practices. We collated knowledge, and shared willingly.

We celebrated wins, we celebrated acievements, we celebreated transitions - heck, we celebrated life and firendship. We were buiding our culture of posivity, of resilience, of trust. We took it upon ourselves to cooperate wit each other, knowing that what we were doing was for our and or co-HOLAns' benefits. When we could, we could be wacky; have fun; let our hai down. When we should be became serious, efficient, inspiring, and caring.

Our members were known as reliable Toastmasters when it came to the need to tap some of them for certain Division or even District positions. These were not even asked - but offered. Goes to show that others saw us as approachable, and easy to work with.

Many of us have been either Area, or Division Directors - a testament to serving for others. But the great thing is... none had an oversized ego about it. When we attend meetings in other clubs, we lead by example by being helpful - showing no role is too small.

A DTM has as much right as the newest member. RISE, the cre values, are presented. We're friendly and aproachable. Hey, with smiles like these, can you blame others about that opinion?

When we meet face-to-face, it's a woderful time because we know how rare a situation this is (we often meet online and we can probably count on one hand. okay... maybe two, how many times we've had a face-to-face. But even if we're meeting via Zoom, we are still able to have some fun.

We're known as mentors, coaches, and I don't know if it's an illusion - but when I see our line-up of members, we feel like an all star team. Not the largest, nor most prestigious... more like the up and coming squad that everone may want to be a part of. That last part... that is no fluke. You see, I've been a member of other clubs - and I saw the struggle of filling up roles for our meetings. It made many feel that this was not what I signed up for. o're overworked with several roles for the night, and meeting quality starts to deterirate. In HOLA, it isn't hard to fill roles.

Knowing how hard it can be for other clubs to fill roles made us even come up with Friends of HOLA, a group chat where Toastmasters can ask for help, and otehrs can offer said help. I mean, if you're free anyway, why not help, right?

Oh yeah, I may sound like a broken record, but with fun meetings, you somehow build on and make the community stronger. I'd like to think the HOLA community is strong indeed.

HOLA's Secret Sauce 6? Educational Talks

In Toastmasters, we are here to learn - and Pathways is the usual path we take to start our learning. However, there are times we want to konw more about certain topics that the manuals gloss over - or we would like to listen to others (non-Toastmasters, even) who've been working in their respective industries, perhaps able to share their experiece, stories, tips.

These talks can also be easily shared by our members; wanting to spread the ideas and practices. HOLA usually had these talks in our first year, and we continued with it on our second year.

Now, one of the things we learned was that if we had a full line-up of three speakers, plu table topics, their conterpart evaluations and E remarks - that would easily become a tw-hour meeting. With teh eduational talk that can easily last between twenty minutes to an hour, we're looking at 3 and a half to maybe three hours of meeting time. No matter how interesting things were, that can be a long meeting - and even our members were pointing it out.

So we moved our Eductional talks to or Pocket meeting schedules, which sould accomodate the time, and still not exceed two hours. Overtime meeting problem solved.

As for the reason behind all these educational talks - well, it was two-fold. We wanted to share some knowledge - ones we thought as useful to the members of HOLA, plus we also opened the talks to non-HOLA members. Why so? So we could be known by other Toastmsters. As we made these Educational Talks a regular thing, we started attracting guests. We also wanted the Division (at least it started that way) to grow with all these communication and leadership pocket lectures. As we expanded beyond H, the Educational talks became open to any Toastmaster.

As can be seen by the picture - all this started out as special topics by guest speakers, but it turned into our Honing Excellence Series. This allowed us to learn, practice and stretch our capabilities as either speakers/communicators, or leaders.

HOLA's secret sauce 5? Collaborative sessions

We hear it all the time, teamwork makes the dream work. I believe that is by John Maxwell again. But in Toastmsters clubs - this is true. And the main team of any club is its Excom. The President is the main leader, of course - but the different officers have important roles to play. The President is just given the spotight, so (s)he must ensure (s)he always shows a great impression to the public. After all, like it or not, the President represents the club.

Next in order, but definiely the officer with the most things to do is the Vice President for Education. Of all officers. the VPEd carries the greatest responsibilities - that is to monitor and ensure all membs a ers are progressing in teir respective Pathways. Now, to continuosly do this for 20 members... that's a lot. I ould know because on HOLA's first year of exstence, I got bumped up to said role (from the VPPR position), so my focus and responsiilities shifted. CHalk up the fact that I was stil getting to kno everone - so I did not know their current Pathways status yet... an add to that the added challenge of monitoring their progress knowing full well that the members were dual members, so an progress they did in their mother clubs was invisible to me.

I'm just glad we had our regular meeting once a month. Imagine having to prepare the program, invite the GE and convince people t take on roles... it can be quite a lot. Our first VPEd had to beg off due to health reasons, so I got the responsibility. Another added consideration... we wanted HOLA to have a guest speaker every meeting - a chance to get our members to learn something. So looking for and inviting guest speakers was an added challenge.

Luckily, I did not hae to do this alone. The rest of the Excom even some members heped with suggesting guest speakers. So we were lucky in this. BTW, those guest speakers, and education talks were, I would think, another plus factor in getting HOLA visible. I'll talk about it more in the next Secret Sauce entry.

Suffice it t say, we learned a lot, and our meeting themes were likewise great. In our 2nd year, there was trepidation in taking on the role of VPEd, so we experimented wiht having two VPEds they would both carry on the roles and responsibilities of the VPEd - unfortunately, oly one fo them was aolwed access to the VPEd's 'officer' access to the TI website. But haing them support each other was a sight to behold, or in my case, a communication and coordination to monitor online.

The VPMembership is important in two ways:

- make sure we recruit new members
- keep the current members happy

The one reason for both roles? Losing members... be it for whever reason, all clubs will experience attrition. Some members will be active this season, then missing the next.s to constantly seek new potential members. In HOLA's case, as an Advanced club we have to recruit existing members - not newbies. SO it makes the life of our VPM a bit more complicated.

Before we get others interested to joining us, do we have an attractive image as a club? Are our meetings wonderful to attend? Are our members known for various reasons? Do we have a well known program? What else do potential Toastmasters look for? In short, is our club making waves, so people will want to join us? The latter responsibility is not just that of the VPM - nope... it takes a collaborative effort for all officers and members to accomplish such a positive image and get out club to answer 'yes' to all those questions. That way, whenever we approach and invite someone into joining HOLA, we have something to show.

On membership retention - are we giving our memebers their money's worth with respect to what they expect as members. Is the Membership Interest Survey being used to capture what they want? Are there three or more similar interests? This could mean an educational talk needs to be scheduled for the entire club. If the interest is unique to a member - perhaps they can better achieve this with the help of their C.A.R.E. mentor.

The point is, we discover a member's interest, and show them that their membership is important with us by helping then achieve their interest - be it by coaching or giving Eductional Talks. We want them to think we are not a waste of their $60 per semester.

The VPPR (public relationship); basically the last of the VPs in he Executive Committee

I've already mentioned he importance to the club of letting people know 'they exist'. I always tell any VPPR, they have to make noise... to be noticed, for wihout said noise, no one will realize the club exist - HOLA is no exception. Ad an advanced club, however, the focus is on recruiting existing Toastmasters; though we have lately changed the criteria to include Toastmasters alumni - so long as they are either a DTM, a past District officer (at least an Area Director / or Governor) who fulfilled their tenure, or a 'Division' level contest winner. Reason? HOLA is after experienced Toastmasters who've shown effort to improve.

If we don't constantly show activities that the club is directly involved in, or where HOLA;s members can be seen helping out at otehr activities, if we don't show them meeting activities - pictures or even videos; if we don't share articles or memes that target teh interest of our members and Toastmasters in general... then how will other Toastmasters think we are a club worth joining?

That is why I insisted that we have something to share at least once every week - we need to show that our FB an Intagram pages are dynamic... that there are things consantly happening in HOLA, even during those 'in between meeting' times. Then we share these to the larger community - let them know we're here. The remaining officers - the Secretary, Treasurer an Sargent-at-Arms have their respective roles to play, and are equally important with their duties and responsibilities, but they have been covered quite well in other places like the Club Officer's Training. I just wish to add that they not forget that they are still necessary cogs in most Toastmasters meetings. Aside from th Sgt at Arms who normally sets things up, and handles club properties, their presence as role-takers are important. They can help in projects, and as part of Excom, get to discuss and decide on club-related concerns.

All seven oficers - eight if you incude the Immediate Past President, are there to act as a cohesive team. In HOLA, we do that a lot. At least, I'd like to think so. We don't always agree with each other, but we communicate, listen, then vote even. Once decided, the President enacts - knowing full well what was dicided was properly considered as for the benefit ofthe membership.

Always for the membership.

HOLA's Secret Sauce 4? Meeting Themes that stretch capabilities

Let's face it. All Toastmasters meetings (at least those I've attended) have the formulaic way of doing things. We start with the usualy stuff... a call to order, invocation, promise, intro to the TM of the meeting... then we go through the usual routines of having Table Topics, Prepared Speeches then Evaluations. We end with the GE giving some words of inspiration, parting thoughts, then the TM of the meeting wraps up - then the President, or highest officer present, delivers the adjournment.

As I said... Formulaic. It just differs as to who does what role. Unless you are a prepared speaker with intent to deliver a speech and check one more project off your Pathways assignments, there is a tendence that you'll just watch and react to whatever comes along. If things seem repetitive, you just might want to leave early - but don't, out of politeness, or sneak out when you can. If it's online, then you can just camera off and let them drone on as you seek something else more interesting to do like maybe update your stamp collection.

Okay, I exagerate with the last example, but you get the point... if the meeting isn't meeting my interest, then I will simply zone out. A few more of this and I might start looking for excuses not to join. I am now a possible member on the way out of this club.

What's worse, I will (again) wonder if I'm getting what I paid for.

So... how do we address this?

How about themed meetings? Wait... aren't we doing this already? We have a meeting for Mothers, Teachers, Love, Graduation... and anything else the calendar mentions as an obvious holiday or celebration. Yes we do have these... year in and out. It's worse if you club hop... same theme again and again. This is what happens when we just choose the next obvious things to celebrate based on the calendar.

So what themese are we talking about? It should be something different... preferably, something we rarely experience. Maybe even something crazy - something where we might go... 'no way'... and then answer, 'oh yes way!'

So what are examples of such crazy, audacious, stretch-type themes? Well have you tried the revere meeting? In HOLA, we once flipped our meeting - this meant that everything goes in reverse order. What I mentiond above earlier? Now read it from the adjournemt to closing remarks to GE overall comments, etc...

Huh? But the evaluators didn't see anything yet. The Evaluators have yet to watch the speaker perform their speeches, the Table topics evaluator has yet to watch Table Topics happen. The technical evaluators, more so... So how can this happen?

They all invent their comments - and anything they say, the other speakers e.g. the prepared speakers, table topics speakers who were named with what topic, and even the Toastmaster for the day - they all needed to integrate these comments/feedback and reenact these when they were finally called to speak. In other words, aside from knowing what they need to say, they have to do improvisations to make what the evaluators said, come true.

We did this, and believe me, as the meeting was about to start, we were questioning our sanity for even considering, let alone execute such a meeting. But execute it we did, and we were all amazed that we were able to pull it off. It was done online, and no one wanted to leave the meeting after - yes, we had headaches, we were drained... but we all felt a collective feeling of fulfillment. We needed to share the moment - talk about the funny stuff that happened, the faux pas, the brilliance, the sheer guts.

After we finally ended the meeting, we were still talking about it in our group chat the next day. I mean, when was the last time you felt this thrilled with your collective experiences in a meeting? Even if you do such an audacious thing once a quarter, it would still be remebered as a highlight for the TM year. But in HOLA, we did not rest there.

Sure, we had a back to the '70s theme - complete with fashion and music, plus a bit of nostalgic discussions (for those that were old enough to do so), but we also had such things as a Shakespear night. Imagine everyone talking like actors in Bridgerton - that was how we were all doing. Some were clumsy, others were a discovery. Our GE, who was surprised - but game, presented his report quite well, but wnated to kill whoever's idea it was to do the theme.

When our meeting fell on May 4, the geeks took over and we had a "May the Forth be with You' night... again complete with background theme, music, and members in costumes - yes, even our GE came prepared. It was a Star Wars night to remember (all other clubs were focused on Mother's Day as their theme - and although we love our mothers, a meeting rarely falls on My the 4th. So Star Wars won out this time.

We had a meeting wehre we explored our 'might have been's had life taken a different turn. Our alter egos... we discovered we had an 'almost judge', two 'men of the cloth', an army officer, a fashoin vlogger... and we all acted out our roles. Oh yeah, and a Viva Hot Babe too! Imagine the Monsignor evaluating the Hot Babe. It was fun, and again we had laughters aplenty.

One face-to-face meeting was in itself, an improv night, and we had the Oracle of Delphi dishing out funny answers to any one's questions. This meeting was graced with the presence of our District dou, DD Jot and CGD Sucit. They found the evening different... and because of that, memorable.

We had a come as your favorite Super hero theme -though no one wore a full on costume, we were a bit subtle with what we wore, but the props (Captain America's shield, the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver) were present.

THe point here is we kept our meetings lively, fun, interesting, and different from the usual type of everyday meetings. Our memebers were curious as to what was next, and our ExCom were enjoying coming up with such themse.

BTW we also let our CARE groups handle one meeting, so they chose the theme, and were eager to test their creative juices.

Highly fun, different, wacky meetings remove the hum drum, 'same thing again' feeling. It maes our members excited to see what happens. We release teasers of our themes, so everyone has an inkling of wht is to happen next. HOLA avoid staying mundane, and predictable, and that is what makes our members want ot continue attending meetings.

The VP fr Education can be the officer responsible for this, but the entire Excom, or even the memebrs can suggest themesthat may seem ot this world - but if you decide to do it, you'll be surprised with what you are capable of - and he thng is, this can be done by any club. You just need to be daring and creative. Make a meeting theme tht everyone is escited to get behind. In fact, why not start doing it now?

HOLA's Secret Sauce 3? C.A.R.E. Teams

>People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care - John C. Maxwell.

C.A.R.E., at least in HOLA context, stands for Connect - Affirm - Reach Out - Engage. It was a model for group mentoring, introduced by Director Julius Cruz to District 75 during District Director Ninio Sepulveda's term, Then Divsion Director Joyce Delovieres liked what she heard about it, and suggested that HOLA adapt C.A.R.E. to help guide the club's membership.

This was important because back then, the club, was just newly formed. So we were a group of Toastmasters invited by Joyce to form an advanced club for Division H Toastmasters. But it was not enough to just group 20 members together. We needed a program to move us forward with our journey - not to mention that we were still getting used to the new membership fee increase to $60/semester.

We already had the OMOL (One Member- One Level) program in place as an internal target for each member - and this was discussed in another blog entry. However, we also recognized the need for mentors to help these disparate members - some of whom were complete stangers to each other; get thm to work together as small C.A.R.E. teams, and help each other out.

On paper, it sounded great. Definitely had potential. Form a small groups - say with four to five members, and have a C.A.R.E. mentor lead the group. Easy, right?

Not really.

The question of how to implement this.

With C.A.R.E., we break the club into small, mamageable groups. These groups are meant help each other with their goals. Not just being watchdogs to each other, but support - be it as cheerleaders, or even help in any way possible, so the member does not feel alone in their Toastmasters journey.

This helps the member gain friends, and connect with their club colleagues. It is hoped that with these friends, their journey is not a lonely one. The members are also co-mentors with each otehr - a decidely uniqu situation when compared to the one-on-one traditional mentoring style. The C.A.R.E. mentor / CAREbear helps run the meetings, and can facilitate discussions. If there are learnings to be shared, based on one or more of the members needs - everyone else rides in the learning process.

Now where do we start, and what do we look for as a starting conversation. Each C.A.R.E. mentor (whom we later dubbed as CAREbears) would start the conversatoins with each group to start getting to know each other - in fact, the first meeting is the letter 'C' of C.A.R.E., which is to connect with each other.

What tools can the C.A.R.E. mentor use? It has to be something that would be useful, relatable, accessile by our members.

We have the C.A.R.E. script, of which the CAREbear would have to start the conversations with. Example... 'Why did you join Toastmasters?'; 'What was your reason, or purpose?'; 'What keeps you in, what makes you stay in Tostmasters?' Next questions could be 'What do you want to happen - both within and outside our club(s)?' Our CAREbears lead this discussion, and they all (the group that is) learn more about each other, and find similarities - or realize that the CARE group member has a good idea. Maybe even adopt the same idea.

After this initial meeting, and having gotten to know eahc other, the CAREbear will now use this to guide their succeeding meetings. The Mentor Affirms helping the mentees.

One tool that Toastmasters already has - one that seems underutilized because many clubs just pay the tool with lip service, is the Memebrship Interest Survey (MIS). This is readily available in the organization's online collection of tools. The Membership Interest Survey officially starts the focus on each member's 'why'. The tool captures these (assuming the member fills it up diligently) - and preferably, at the start of the new Term (July), the C.A.R.E. discussions begin.

With the MIS as the CARE group's starting point, each member's interests are discovered, and shared, it will not be the CARE mentor's role to help guide the members in fulfilling these goals for the member - more likely guide discussions, and each CARE group member can also contribute ideas, support and even share empathy. Everyone in this discusison, comes up with collaborative ideas to help each other, let them meet their stated goals. If the goals can't be reached within the CARE group's timeframe (or the TM calendar year) the goals can always be continued the next year.

If the goal is met early, then the member can always come up with their next goal. It is hoped that the group eventually transforms into a team. One challenge that HOLA gives the CARE teams is that hey need to organize a HOLA regular meeting - from concept to execution. They handle the theme, the Table TOpics, and even the Toastmaster for the Evening role. They have to make sure the meeting is HOLA standards interesting.

The C.A.R.E. group format also makes the life of the VPEd a lot easier. Instead of waiting for the VPEd to finally visit you to have their developmental discussions, you become part of an autonomous group of HOLAns who can decide how, when and where they will want to meet. It may seem difficult at the start, but in fulfilling all these, the team's camaraderie is tested (and strengened). The CAREbear is a facilitator - not a problem solving know it all. All these activities, meetings, discussions are meant o Affirm the C.A.R.E.'s purpose to help the members become better leaders and communicators. So basically, the facilitator Reaches out to the team regularly - be it once a week or month, and discuss how each member has prgressed with their goal.

By Affirming and Reaching out, the last letter of C.A.R.E. is getting fulfilled. Engaging actively with the member makes them feel they are part of the club. HOLA gets to help them get better and via the CAREgroup, the focus their goals. They have a dedicated mentor (CAREbear), and beyond their CARE group is, of course, a club that cares for their members.

C.A.R.E. is definitely one of HOLA's secret sauce. It makes each member feel that they belong. Even Toastmasters who need to leave HOLA for differing reasons, say they had a great HOLA experience. One of the main reasons I can think of is the C.A.R.E. program we have.

BTW, just liek the MIS, C.A.R.E. uses as many Toastmasters tools as much as possible. This allows us to remain within the Toastmasters orbit. The C.A.R.E. program is not meant ot subvert the Toatmasters mentoring program - I would posit the prefernce that the C.A.R.E. mentor needs to have gone through the Pathways Lvel 2 speech on Mentoring, and even better - if they could go through the Mentoring path that insists on the Toastmaster mentoring someone in real time for 6 months. Thsi way, they will have an idea of what Mentroing is before they try the C.A.R.E. group mentoring style.

HOLA is on it's second year of existence, and likewise, is on it's second year of C.A.R.E.ing. On our third year, we hope to ontinue this - and even go beyond HOLA, by helping other clubs adopt C.A.R.E. into their program.

HOLA's Secret Sauce 1? Social Media

You need to make noise to be noticed.

It would have been a bit presumptious of me to title this as "The Hall of Learners Advanced Tostmasters, a.k.a. HOLA's winning success formula", but that is what I will try to explain here in greater detail. I will mention the goals of HOLA - and why we did them.

First, and foremost, our leadership's driving principle has always been giving our members their money's worth in joining the club. We cannot escape the fact that Toastmasters has increased it's semi-annual joining fee from $45 to $60. For a country that has it's currency much lower in value to the US dollar, this represents Philippine members with a double whammy. How much is a memebrship worth these days? Let's put it realistically at one dollar being equivalent to 60 pesos - though it hasn't hit the 60 mark yet, unless our country does something really great, or the US does something stupid, we'll peg the exchange rate as such. So... that would be 60 x 60 or P3,600 per semester. P7,200 annually.

Not exactly small potatoes when you think that not all members are rich. Many are employed, so to enjoy the continued benefits of Toastmasters, we need to set asside money for this every March and September (to beat the April and October cut-off). But wait... here's another consideration. That is for one club. Early on, to be a member of an Advanced Club like HOLA, one would have to first be an active Toastmaster (with their current home club), and then join this one with an additional $60 again. So that P7,200 is now multiplied by two. Each HOLA member is paying that semi-annually to be able to enjoy HOLA.

We forget this at times. It bears reminding.

Back then, we thought, well... since HOLA is goiing to be the second Advanced club in the Metro Manila area - this one being situated in the southern part of the metro, we could offer the club as an alternative to those attending the other advanced club on the northern part of the Metro. But this is little reason in times where having virtual meetings became an acceptable norm some recent years past due to a global pandemic. One could atttend any of these meetings while lounging at home.

So what else could we use to make HOLA unique? The club's founder, Joyce Delovieres, initially focused on a select number of leaders and doers from Division H. It was a way to pool together the best and brightest into one club - an advanced club. Of coursem we had our 'now what?' moment. What makes an Advanced Club. Far as we knew, it was a Toastmasters Club - yes... still following the Educational and Leadership norms of the organization. Thing is, just being invited to be part of the Charter membership of this club, and all it's promises, was enough for me to pay the extra membership fee. Even if I already was a member of two clubs back then.

Social Media

I was tasked to be the Vice-President for Public Relations - timely, I though, more so since I was silently stewing at how hard it was to get members for the other clubs I was with. I felt back then that both clubs were not doing enough to get known... recognized. There was passive Marketing at best. As HOLA's VPPR, this would be my chance to try on a few ideas. The goal would be to make noise - be recognized... first with the Division, then later, beyond it. The cheapest way to make noice? Social Media.

So I set up, within my limited knowldge, a Facebook group page for HOLA and an accompanying Instagram page. I would make sure contents were placed every week - these would not be static pages... rather I would fill these up with content - be they just forwarded, but highly useful links. If I could add unique contents - either mine of coming from other members, that would be great too. THe intent was to connect to other Toastmasters - be visible, make noise enough to be considered interesting... then invite them to attend our club meetings; which would be a selling point showing we have of fun, yet learn. The Instagram page would be where we would highlight toastmasters memes, pictures of activities, links to articles - anything that a Toastmaster willl find amusing or useful, or preferably, both.

One of my first Instagram poster was a meme from TI reposting it at HOLA's page - and I invited some friends to see it. One happened to be District Director Ninio Sepulveda. He liked it. Shared it with his council, then wrote a quick message to Pres. Joyce thanking her for the initiative. Division Director Abe later shared the screenshots of DD Ninio to the council. That was a bit of surprise. I just wanted to amke a noise... not realizing the repercussions in D75. But hey, this showed that we were on the right track - and now most District Council members were made to realize that there is HOLA. We exist. PR success.


Believe me when I say, I forgot about that tidbit of HOLA hsitory until just now. Must be my age catching up with me. You see, the goal was to make noise. To let Toastmasters in H and beyond, know HOLA existed. WHy? Because unlike regular Toastmasters clubs that can recruit any non-Toastmaster, we had to rely on recruiting Toastmasters - more of this later. :D

Before we could invite members to join, they would first need to know we existed. THen they would need to see that we were worth another $120 annually. The frist was doing fine. This plus inviting our members to always post HOLA activities on their FB pages, so theri freinds could see it. If we wanted to attract memerbship, we would have to prove that we were a club worth knowing and being a part of.

At around the same time we wereletting Toastmasters know who we were, we though of having an image. One that, hopefully, when they see, they will recognize it as the HOLA mark. We asked our mmebers to start coming up with designs for the HOLA logo. In the end we had roughly 13 submissions, and chose the top three, then asekd our members to vote a second round, to choose one design. The design chosen was the one submitted by TM Abby, It is the logo we use in our meeting program, in our certificates and in our meeting background slides. We palce it proudly beside the Toastmaters logo in every chance we get to promote something of HOLA. Then again, there are times we don't feel the need to place the image of HOLA. It can be a tricky situation - but I consider the use of the HOLA logo as something for official use. For insider materials, we nca dispense with showing the logo - just like some project announcment need not have a politician's mug shot displayed.

HOLA's Secret Sauce 2? One Member - One Level (OMOL)

One Member - One Level (a.k.a. OMOL) How does HOLA encourage it's memebrs to grow? Move forward with their Pathways journey? President Joyce came up with one of two starting propositions to make HOLA different - each member would commit to finishing one Level a.k.a. OMOL. Let them deliver and finish one leve per term. That shouldn't look too daunting a task, specially if you have the enire TM year to plan for it. We're just looking at (at most), five speeches for a year. Perhaps a project with a timeline for the higher levels.

Why this? As we said earlier, one main focus of HOLA has to be our members - we needed to prove we were worth it. One way was to help nudge them to move forward in their Pathways journey. Life can get in the way of anyone planning to deliver speeches, so plans easily change - the immediate (though maybe not important) hijacks a person's time. Unfrotuinately, creating and delivering prepared speeches do not fall into the 'immediate' category, so it can be easy for members to adjust schedules until the next meeting or free time. Before you know it, the TM year is almost done, and you wonder why you were not able to move forward in your Pathways journey. Worse even, you start to question whether your membership dues are worth renewing because nothing happened.

With OMOL as an internal membership target, we hope to get our members moving. What Measurement will we determine to see if the member has improved?? Simple. They accomplish one level. If they wish to continue moving forward then they are welcome. We just hope to start their momentum - maybe counter any inertia. Just get our members moving towards the next level... and the next... and maybe even aspire for a Triple Crown.

Even if they don't accomplish one Level, at least they are able to move forward.

The officer in charge of monitoring this is the VP for Memebership - yes, the VP for Education schedules the talks and monitors progress, but it is the VPM who monitors if a member is able to pace themselves with OMOL - those are the internal (or existing) membership management. After all, if the members feel that their VPM is monitoring and helping them move forward, there will be a great chance for retention.

Also, I don't know about you, but I think it would be a better effort to retain members than seek out new ones.

The VP Education can schedule the members' speaking slots, and floow up before the designated date and time of the talk. That was, should anyone not be able to make it as scheduled, the VPEd knows ahead - and in time to make the needed adjustments.

Lastly, OMOL is, of course, capable of letting the club move forward with it's Distinguished club program. Though it is not a direct connection - it does help ensure that some points in teh Education Program part gets completed. But even if the rediculous situation of having 10 Level 1 finishers happen - with only four counted as part of the DCP, so long as the member is moving forward, that is what really counts.

Remember, with five speeches spread over ten months - that gives us an average of preparing for your next speech within a 2-month timeline. Not a hard timeline, right?

THat is OMOL in a nutshell, if you still have questions, let me know, and I will anser them.

Being the Hall of Learners Toastmasters President

This was the plan. After handling the VIce-Presidency for Education, and a bit of Public Relation at the start (this was my first role, then I had to rise up to the challenge of being the VPEd, and handle two roles concurrently for at least two months before I became VPEd full time. Being VPEd meant I wsa number 2 in the heirarchy of club officers - one heartbeat away from the President. Joyce, our President said amongst the members i was the only one who could handle the position and challenge. I don't know if she was kidding... but there also seemed to be some semblance of truth to the statement. You see, being the VPEd a.k.a. EVP was a tough act to do. THere were a lot of thigns to do. Records to monitor and update.

There was a bit of help though... I organized a CARE group and turned them into small groups of mentors to the memebrship - this way, they became my assitants in helping the members progress and grow. That said, instead of monitoring 20 menbers, I just got status updates from five CARE mentors regarding the members progress. I focused on guiding the mentors to guide the members.

As VPPR, I created the FB page and instagram page of the Hall of Learners Advanced Toastmasters, and I made sure there was somethign new every week. These would not be static pages with nothing happening. I wanted dynamism - when people visit, theyw ould always see something new. I also came up with Friends of HOLA - a chat group where people in need for role takes could reach out to people shoe could help.

All this prepared me for taking over the role of President for HOLA - the Advanced club for H (initially). I recruited members across other divisions until we had representations from A, B and H. As president, I wanted to give HOLA clout. I wanted people to hear about us... see us as a valid Advanced club.

As VPEd, I used to create the program theme... now the role went to two people - Abby and Marge. They were reluctant to take the role alone (which gave credence to what Joyce said before). THe Friends of HOLA was s venue for others to know about us. This was how we were able to get other Directors from K even. How we were able to let others know of our unique factor as an advanced club. One new member said the membership looked intimidating with all the leaders in the club. I wanted that to happen. We may not be the best of the best for D75, but we were not pushovers either.

We had good ideas on our first year - the OMOL - which stand for one member one level - a way to make sure everyone progresses in the TM journey, and helping the 's Distinguished Program points was secondary - but a good side goal. We ended as President's Distinguished on our first year, and I am striving to repeat the goal this year.

My suddenly becoming Divsion N Director - though unexpected, raised my image. Although I sometimes have to consider... how do I want to be remembered in a certain situation? HOLA's President? Or Division N's Director? Times were I would have to stradle both roles in one location. IN others, they both helped separately, but collectively.

Still, when the year was about to start, and it was announced that I would be Division Director, there was concern if I could handle being HOLA's President. Honestly, I felt more at home with leading HOLA because knew the people well. Heck if I could just transport HOLAns to my N council, things would have been a lot easier. As it is, Director Dan, my counterpart for H, and likewise a HOLAn, tapped people for his council, and it was peppered with HOLAns. Ienvied Dan in that regard. There would even be times where I see my ExCom tired because of Division duties.

Still, my team persevered. We were able to work thigns out. Get things done, and now...we're on the cusp of being President's Distinguished again. I intend to go our with a bang. I intend to make sure HOLA's prestige spreads some more. I'm surry to see some members leave, but I'm glad to see new members - new leaders take thei place as well.

I'm proud of HOLA. I'm proud to be it's president. Wonder what next year will bring - but at least we already have our next set of oficers. My tansition started months ago - I'm glad it's falling into place smoother than last year. It shows we are maturing as a club.It proves CARE works, it proves OMOL helps, and it allows us to come up with out of the box ideas to keep our meetings's interesting. Our idea of using the Membership Interst survey to come up with Educational Talks also helped prove we listen to our members.

We continue tweaking... improving... but at it's heart, we continue being a community of friends. Did I say I'm proud of this club?

My Division N Journey

Expect the unexpected, for it is often in the twists and turns of life that we discover the most.

How did I end up being the Division N Director for TY year 2024-2025? How indeed...?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I happen to be the current Division N Director for Toastmasters International, District 75 (the Philippines). So how did this happen? If you asked me maybe 18 months ago, I would tell you that the only Leadership aspirations I had was to be the Incoming President of the Hall of Learners Advanced Toastmasters. After all, I was then the Vice President for Education (a.k.a. the VPEd, a.k.a. the number two position for any Toastmasters club... and normally the next in line to be the club President.

So where did my becoming the Division N Director come about?

It was a typical day for me. Noting extraordinary - no prelude to what would happen in a few moments. I was driving in South Super Hi-way, on the way from Cavite to BGC. I would normally be doing this on a near daily basis to fetch Barbie from her workplace. I was - as it would usually be the case, be listening to music of the 80's, my go to era for music hits I prefer (actually, I cover the 70's to 80's, maybe a bit of 90's as well - these hits definitely outscore the current top hits of this current era... hands down.

Anyway, as I was driving, my phone rings. No problem, the phone is connected tothe blutooth speakers of the car, so I can converse while keeping my eys on the road. The indicator tells me it is a call from Tisha Timbang, A Toastmaster friend. So... I press the buton to accept the call.

Hi Tisha, wassup? (I'd like to think that we're close enough to excuse being more casual when speaking with each other). Tisha goes, "Butch, hihingi sana ako nang tulong sa iyo." In my mind it most porbably is to tackle a GE role for a club meeting. So I say. "Okay, what is it?"

Then the unexpected... as she says "I would like you to sit down before I tell you." I inform her that I am sitting down, as I'm currently driving while conversing with her. But what is this? It's definitely not a GE role favor then. A brief pause, then she tells me... "I want you to be the Next Division N Director."

Backtrack a bit. He last time I was a Division Governor (which was how we called Direcotrs back then, was 1999-2000. More than two decades ago. I've rested on those laurels often enough when people ask me my Toastmasters background. It was, after all the highest role I took back then. So much so taht when others ask me if I was interested to take on a Division Director's role, my usual response would be 'been there, done that', followed up with 'give others a chance'. I did really think that therre would always be others being groomed for such, and I would rather help in the background these days.

That kind of helping in the background led me to be nominated as Toastmaster of the Year for Divisions B and H in one term - the current one. It's not because I did superhuman things, I just helped where I could. Simple as that. BTW, those nominations themselves was a surprise.

Anyway, I naturally asked why me? Is there on one else?, and Tisha explains that Division N (the Taguig clubs, as it turns out - yes, at this time, I was unsure what constituted Division N becasue it was never on my mind.) was still a young Division - going on it's fifth year. So it was still unable to cultivate new sets fo officers. Plus the supposed people being groomed for the position back out for personal reasons. This left Division N with no candidate to present in the nominations, and no candidate to interview by the Quality committee (a committee that I was a part of just last year, btw). Interviews were over, and still no cnadidate - so to say the least, it was crisis mode for N's leadership.

Tisha asked me maybe out of desperation because she had to look outside of N for a viable candidate. Now why me? I don't know. Her come on was that I would not have difficulty with the club visits because I would just be limited to BGC - with a straggler or two, but nealry 95% of the clubs were at BGC.

I said okay, I'd help - even when Tisha asked me to think it over. I have this nasty habit of wanting to help where I could, and this was one whole Division in trouble - even if their membership did not know it yet. Those who knew me asked an all important question. "What did Barbie (my wife) say?" A question I could not answer yet because I said yes without letting her know.

Tisha and Troy the current and outgoing Division N Director took Barbie and me to dinner, where Tisha officially borrowed me from Barbie :D and that was how I got to be Director candidate for Division N. Tisha asked if i could go to the Davao Discon, but unfortunately, that was an expense I did not consider - both for plane ticket and hotel accomodations purposes, I simply did not plan for it - how could I, this just fell on my lap.

Things started happening. The Distict Run-offs were being done in Ortigas, and it was there that I met Jot Chiongbian, the next District Director. He saw me and gratefully welcomed me to the 'team' Score one for the welcoming committee. Others who had heard the news would either text me or apprach me to ask if what they heard was true. Me stepping into the Division Director's role for N was a surprise to everyone. I received congratulations and comments that N was in good hands. Was my reputatoin that good? Can I live up to the legend of my background? :D I hope so.

b1YkabXhNOKABTTuuKQeLaj5Nmzv9EI6wFgY2hOyS6KZK48uy2tMobClMxTvzHhEjWlOxgYNP-ltSqNp2nopwRsnov7QXU__X1cBdL_1Pp_r9b8Tbp_bub-VJ6w8T_xt7Q0EcZI242XVzlM7oOJxK-hHbUXqCZPN-g/s2048/10.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; ">

HOLA SocMed formation... and realizations

Project: Hall Of Learners Advanced (HOLA) Toastmasters Social Media Group

Purpose:
Priority 1 - To act as the voice of HOLA for it’s members – letting them know what the club is up to;
Priority 2 – To be HOLA’s sounding board to other Toastmasters who may be potential members in the future. Let them know that HOLA exists and thrives, and is a wonderful Advanced Club to be a part of. And;
Priority 3 – Make the club and Toastmasters known beyond Toastmasters’ circles - maybe even get some people interested in knowing more about Toastmasters, and should they contact us – refer them to the other clubs in the Division.

The VP for PR is often a role that has not achieved it’s potential in many Toastmasters Clubs. Yet I see the potential for what this role can offer.

I envision the SocMed team as the brains behind promoting all activities that can be HOLA related. Excom members can get HOLA to help with announcements – be they for membership focused activities, or recognition; for educational talks; for reminders from the club / area / division / district

This will be done by way of Social Media tools, talents, and technology. We will set up dynamic sites to share static messages like memes, or video shorts that are both entertaining, and exciting to read / watch. If anything focusing on members will show them that we care about them, and learnings – even trivia can likewise be shared to everyone – including TMs beyond HOLA.

Projected Team Members:
Members who can use and take full advantage of any Social Media platform – FB, Instagram, YouTube come to mind. But maybe later, even Podcasting? TikTok? For starters I would need at least one person who can focus on static work; another for dynamic (videos). Ideally, we will need someone to check their work (editorial – not just for content, but for dynamic designs.

At least Two SocMed content creators
One Editor / likewise also a content creator
One (or more) visionary person(s) who knows the necessary look and feel of a SocMed team’s output – this can be the ExCom with the ScoMed team reporting to the VP PR. Team will work in conjuction with VP Mem, VP Ed and Pres. For announcements or needed directions regarding club plans. The team will also work with other AdHoc teams, when the need arises, in the capacity of club news and SocMed content creation

We will set up a HOLA FB and Instagram site (soon as we figure how to set one for the club vs. just an individual) – we actually have one of each, but they aren’t that dynamic in content creation yet.

We will need (already have) a centralized storage for all HOLA- related SocMed files (e.g. pictures and raw videos)

We will also discuss what our uniformed look and feel will be
We will assess what tools to use – leaning on ones that can offer what we want for free – but if any payment services (e.g. storage options) are needed, we will first rely on a member initially paying for said service.

Deliverables (in no particular order):
Announcements – club meetings, district / division trainings, contests, birthdays, anniversaries
Trivia – fun facts about the members (e.g. Three things you did know know of
News from the Pres and VPs
AdHoc activities (e.g. CARE teams news / progress

Milestones:
Creation and organization of SocMed team
Assess needed training / cross-training of SocMed team
Set up needed team logistics
Work on Deliverables schedule
Stick to Deliverables schedule, check team’s ability to deliver adjust accordingly
End Goal: Have a stable SocMed team, running smooth -ideally by end of first half or TM YR

For Now, the flowing Toastmasters have volunteered their time to be part of the SocMed team…
- - TM Daisy Reyata (editing, team mentor, design consultant)
- TM Abby Espiritu-De Guzman (stills, memes)
- TM Kathleen Rosario (videos)
- Excom (contributors when needed)
- Pres Joyce (guidance and direction)
- VP Butch (in VP PR Capacity – project leader; with TM Abby in co-project lead capacity)

Unplanned... but ready to Lead (sort of)

Way back when - some time in the late 90's, I joined Toastmasters. It was through an invite by Roy Niclolas - we were both members of Capitol Jaycees, and I was expereincing a limiting factor in the Jaycees as far as being a leader was concerned - I rose up the chapter's ranks, but could not see a path to being the president. I didn't have the numbers or support... it was that simple, and honestly, I didn't really see myself on that path. But fater being a shapter's VP, there was little else to grow on. This was when I took Roy's invite to heart. I was ready for change - away from the world of Jaycees. It was time to try Toastmasters.

How did I like it? To be honest, joining an orgnization that focused on communication was, to me, child's play. I was very fluent in English, having grown up in a family that spoke it at home, so I knew the nuances instinctively - I simply knew what was right grammar, and had a vast vocabulary. So how would Toastmasters help me? Well, they had this program - and modules and ranks (CTM, ATM, DTM) that you earned upon accomplishing a number of projects. Okay... that shouldn't be hard. But what I started to notice was the feedback process... how others listening to you would then give you tips on how to get better next time.I found this useful - though in some cases, a bit superficial. But the speech projects covering various ideas were likewise worth doing.

There were thigs I left forgranted - that Toastmasters gave me a forum to focus on. THe 'ah' count being one of them. I knew I had them - but here, I practiced not doing them. Timing... not going over one's alloted time - that too, was a worthy thing to master. So my being a Toastmaster helped me get better at speaking. I guess it should be noted that I was - by profession, a corporate trainer assigned in the Asian Development Bank. Not a small feat, either.So speaking in front of strangers wasn't new to me either. But self-imporvement was always a worthy goal.

What i did not expect, though, was to be thrust into the leadership position at so early a time. Yes, the Jaycees taught me to be a leader - but to be a club's President on my first month as a Toastmaster? Talk about tht coming from the left field. Let me share some atatements I heard back then. "kaya mo yan!" (i.e. you cna do it), "We'll help you", "we'll support you", "We're behind you" and some other alternative statement saying similar things. Needless to say, I agreed. Call it a need to prove myself, a curiosity to see if I could be President, the need for a larger challenge than just speaking better. All these cound have been reason to agree.

How did I do? I won't deny truth and say that things went smoothly - after all, I went in blind to the Toastmasters organization, philisophy, set of cativities. But then again, my role and goal was lead the club to be stable - get it our of it's leadership crisis, and membership funk. Transition smoothly to the next President... and not fuck things up in between. I would receive letters from some stranger named Pawe Uy congratulating me on achieving this or that... huh? So what? I did not understand half of what he was mentioning. But I got some congratulatiosn, so I guess I was doing somethign right.

One of my initial challenges? Membership attendance and seeking speakers for every meeting. Not having a full complement of officers to help - and even if I had some, we were unclear as to who needed to do what. Everything had to be decided by me. Were I to describe my leadership style back them, it would have been 'Let's try this out and see what happens. Oh look... we didn't foul things up - cool. Guess we did right.

I was always the back up speaker - and because of this, I accomplished my Competent Toastmasters norm in record time. I luckily was president when 10 people from SGS decided them needed Toastmasters - and hoined our club. So you could say, I doubled membership because we were meeting at the right place (Makati Sports), at the right time. Speech contest? What's that? Fine, I'll represent the club in Table Topics. Cool! I won Table Topics - okay. done. What? Not done? Another competition? Forget it?

Yes, I backed out from the Division contest because... it would not have helped me with my goal of stabilizing Diamond's emvironment. Competing, and Winning in the contest would not help improve the club's status. So I thight, that was just a distraction. Dulce Ranosa, who was then our Area Governor and Immediate Past President of Diamond, accepted my reasoning. So, yes... i had a goal, and stood by that goal - ignoring the noises. Had I been placed in the same situation again, I might have done exactly the same thing.When I was finally done with my term, I simply wanted to turn-over my role to someone else. I was able to lead Diamond for almost an entire year/ The club survived it's tenth year, being a Distinguished Club. Don't ask me how. Like I said, I did not consider the matrics - I just wanted Diamond to survire to it's 11th year. But... I doubled the club's coffers, doubled the club's amembership, won in the Tbale TOpics contes, anddid not implode. Were there days I thought it wasn't worth it? Oh yeah. Did I question why I accepted the Presidency? On occasion. But did I give up? Never.

I listened to advice. But I decided. I learned what I could, then acted. That... in a nutshell was my reluctant leadership style. I took on the role that no one wanted. Then did what I could for the club's sake.

Oh yeah, and just when I thought I had finished being a leader, Dulce... who was going up to be Pawe Uy's Division Governor (yes, there's that name again - he must be important), wanted to tap me as the next Area Governor, because I turned a dying club into a healthy one. So my journey continued.

Oh yeah, two years later, during the Financial crisis - when no oe wanted to be Division Governor, I was asked to take on the role... so, here I went again.

Time jump, 2025 - what has changed?

July 2024 usually starts the new Toastmasters year. This means I started to take the leadership reins of the Hall of Learners Advanced Toastmaasters club - something we had planned to do by way of transitioning between Joyce and myself

What was not planned, but happened to fall on my lap, was to be the Division Diretor of Division N! How did this happen? Let me backtrack a bit.

When I was still the President of SETSI and Friends, I was in team-building activity for our Area. In this workshop, Area Diretor Dan Agapay asked me if I was willing to take on the role of Area Director again - basically be his successor. I olitely declined, having been there - done it, albeit decades ago. Still, I pointed out that there could be others - we eventuall convicned March Nacino to take on the role.

Similarly, in 2023-2024, when it was time for Division H to seek a new Division Director, people were wondering if I wold consider taking the role. Again I said I'd been there and done it (as Division Governor) and they should seek out someone who has not yet been a Division Director - give that someone a chance to take on the role. By then, I would say I would have my hands full with HOLA as it's VP for PR - which would later morph into VP for Education (the busiest role in any Club ExCom). This time, Abe was chosen to be the next Diretor; somenoe who many thought as deserving to be Division Director long time in waiting, and I felt glad.

.

Some time April 2024 - at the tail-end of the Division Cotests, I got a call from a oastmaster friend, Tisha. Normally, I'm used to suc calls - thinking I would be invited to be a General Evaluator for a club meeting. She jokingly asked me to sit down first. I was driving with hands free communication via car stere, so yes... I wa sitting down. I told her so... wonering where this conversation was going.

"Can you be Division N's next Director?", she then jumps into the bacground and reasonng for why she was asking me to suddenly do this. By this time, the nomination for candidates - and the succeding interviews by the District Leadership Committee had already been done.. and apparently, Division N cold not find a viable nd willing candidate. I'm sure there were some of the former, but apparently a lack of the latter.

The Division was relatively young, so they still had no time to cultivate the next set of leaders. Hence the need to find candidates elsewhere - outside the Division. Thoe hey were eyeing either had other plans (migrate elsewhere), or felt the task daunting, and had no confidence to jump in. THIS... was N'ds dillema, and Tisha was N's mother hen, Charter Direcor, spiritual guide - and she had just asked the District to stave off possible plans to dissolve the Division. I later learned that the need was indeed true - no exageration at all.

I always thought about being a Toastmaster willing to help. This was a major ask - and I knew that Barbie needed to be pulled in to this idea, because it would eat up a lot of my time. To cut a long story short, I agreed, and Tisha, with the current Division Director, Troy, agreed to have dinner with Barbie and me. Call it a formality, a treat to show their appreciation (and to score some brownie points with Barbie :D

I agreed to be Diviion N's incoming Division Director, albeit skipping all he inerview processes. Then again, I was a past Division B Governor, so m qualifications were not questionable. I was also, I'd like to think, seen as a competent personality in Toastmasters circles. I later found out that another friend suggested to Tisha that she ask me to take on the position. Not sure about the validity of this - but I have no reason to doubt this friend.

So... President of the Hall of Learners Advnced Toastmasters, while concurrently being Division N's Director. I slowly started telling my HOLA colleagues, insisting that I would still focus on being their President. I needed to explain why I accepted Directorship for N, when I politely declined possible discussions of accepting H. I even, a week before agreed to join the H counil - but now, I had to let incoming Direk Dan know I had to remove myself from H's council, because I now had to form N's council.

I will discuss the journey for oth of these separately in a different entry. This was just a quick update of my two major shifts as a leader / mentor / coach.

Definitely, more to come.