We are very keen for members to develop their leadership skills. You can do this informally by volunteering for roles or getting involved in the running of the club in a number of ways outlined below.
There is also a formal leadership track which can be pursued as part of the toastmasters education programme.
The Competent Leadership Manual
This manual can be used concurrently with the Competent Communication manual. It has 10 different projects – for instance, critical thinking, organising and delegating, motivating people – for you to participate in, leading to the award of Competent Leader. Each project has a number of roles, out of which you choose from 1 to 3.
For example, Project 1 – Listening & Leadership – suggests four roles: speech evaluator, grammarian, ah counter and table topics speaker. You need to choose 3 of the 4. You sign up on ClubPlan for your chosen roles, bring your Leadership Manual to the relevant meeting and ask another member to evaluate you. When you have completed the three roles (having been evaluated for all of them), you will have completed Project 1. You don’t have to complete the projects in order, you can pick and choose, but be sure not to do more roles than are required for a particular project.
One of the roles, which starts appearing in Project 3, is General Evaluator (GE). This is the person who evaluates those people who haven’t been otherwise evaluated during the meeting, i.e., the President, the Timekeeper, the Grammarian, the Evaluators, the Topicsmaster and the Topics Evaluator. Most GEs come from other clubs to evaluate us, but Riverside GEs make their debuts with us. There are two guides to General Evaluation, which are available from the President or the VP – Education. This guidance, combined with shadowing the outside GES, can help you get a head start on this interesting role which will allow you to evaluate other clubs and meet lots of new people.
Becoming a Club Leader
We are always on the lookout for people willing to devote time and effort towards the running of Riverside Communicators. Please contact us if you would like to help in any way. Some activities, like helping to organise a club special event or serving as a contest chair, count towards the Competent Leader award.
Mentoring
Mentoring is a vital role in the club. Mentors provide support, constructive feedback and advice to help less experienced members build on their strengths and improve on areas which need work. There is a section on Mentoring in the Competent Leadership manual.
