If I were an incoming Division Governor meeting my Area Governors for the first time at the District Officer Training, my little pep talk would go something like below. Unlike my post on how to be a Division Governor which I had no business making, I was a (in my opinion) good Area Governor. I actually know what I’m talking about here. I’m writing from point of view of Division Governor just for style.

 

You’ll note that I’m not spending any time schmoozing here. That’s because I’ve spent considerable effort already winning my team over if I were the Division Governor. This little pep talk would be delivered late in the day of the District Officer Training and I need to have won my team over by now.

 

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First, thanks again gang for volunteering to be Area Governors.

 

You may have seen the Toastmaster organizational chart, where the member is on the top - not the TM International President. The TM International President is at the bottom, since it’s his job to support us, not our job to serve him. I’m below you on the chart because it’s my job to support you. You are below your clubs and members because it’s your job to support them. This is a really cool model for running an organization and why I love Toastmasters so much.

 

What does supporting your members mean? You could join every club in your Area, attend every meeting and event, and setup a twenty four hour life-coaching hotline that is free of charge for anyone in your Area. I did all that when I was Area Governor, and I mowed the lawn of everyone in my Area and drove all of their kids to school. But I understand if you aren’t as dedicated as I was.

 

Seriously, if you try and do even a fraction of what you possibly could, you’ll roll over and die from exhaustion. There are Area Governors who join every club in their Area - I don’t know about the lawn mowing - but that’s rare. You can still have a really big impact and have a life outside Toastmasters at the same time. You just have to make sure you have the right priorities.

 

As I see it, there are three big things that need to be done for your Area. Support your president, visit the clubs, and run the contests.

 

First, support your club president. The president is a unique officer role and can be overwhelming for a lot of people. Even if they’re well able to handle what’s coming at them they may not feel like they are.

 

When I was Area Governor, I had a club president watch her club shrink from seventeen members to three due to no fault of her own. It was a company that was getting re-organized. In three months, she single handedly (literally, she was the only club officer) saved her club. By the end of my term, they were at fifteen members.

 

So what did I do? I listened. We had coffee a few times and I offered her advice, but by and large she knew what she needed to do already and obviously she did it. Since she couldn’t really complain about what was happening to people in her club, I was the place where she could let out her difficulties. She would have done fine without me I’m sure, but I hope I helped out some.

 

Other presidents you may have to do more for - you may have to do leadership 101 even, especially in clubs without good officers to play this job. But since the president has such a large job to play in the success of the club, giving them tons of support helps you and is one of the best bangs for the buck for your effort.

 

Be very careful in giving your presidents feedback and never do it in front of others. If the club is floundering, if the president cares they’re frustrated enough and likely feeling the burden already. Ideally you’re the shoulder to cry on when things go bad; keep the feedback on how to accomplish specific objectives (like how to get more members in a member drive) and not on their leadership style unless they’re really making a mess of things.

 

Obviously you should support any and all club members as best you can. But since you probably won’t be mowing laws or running a life coach hotline like I did, the president comes first when setting your priorities of who to give the love to.

 

Secondly, do your club visits. You get Area Governor points for doing the visits, but this isn’t the reason to do it. Your visit first of all is to see if anything is seriously wrong in the club. If only three people are showing up that’s a red flag. Or if someone is being verbally abusive and the officers are paralyzed and not asking for help. It’s not your job to save a failing club. It’s your job to let me know a club is failing and then we can get a team together to help rescue. You don’t have to be on that team, but you need to be the catalyst for its creation.

 

Next, you need to let the club know about the stuff outside their walls. Toastmaster Officer Trainings and contests and the District Conference. When people get involved outside their club, they’re far more effective inside their club and more likely to be life-long Toastmasters.

 

One of my clubs when I was Area Governor wasn’t into any District stuff at all; they got occasional emails about it (maybe) but they ignored them. I did a sales pitch to the officers and I got them excited. So excited that both the spring Area Contest Toastmaster and my assistant contest chairman were from that club. Beyond being a good experience for them, it made my life easier.

 

Your club visit is also about the future. I was lucky to have a number of strong presidents in my Area who I pushed into becoming future Area Governors. Especially in springtime, let the incoming District Governor know who the all-stars are and begin the sales job on the Joy of Area Governor. Hopefully you don’t hate the job by then!

 

Contests - I don’t have to say a lot about the contests because they’re much more in our face than supporting the president and the visit. It’s your responsibility to make sure they get done for your Area. We’ll talk more as the time comes.

 

The hard thing in contests are finding a venue and getting judges, because the judges have to be outside your Area so they won’t be biased. The sooner you get going on these things, the better. Getting judges for you is my job since I have the connections across the District to twist people’s arms that you may not yet. You need to schedule the Area Contest two weeks at least prior to the Division Contest. I don’t know when that will be yet but I’m working on it. You’ll know the details as soon as I do.

 

Another trick with the contests is to find someone who wants to do their High Performance Leadership project and get them to be the chairman for you. You’re still responsible for it at the end of the day, but the chairman (if they’re good - recruit good people!) can handle all the nitty-gritty for you

 

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Unfortunately we spend most of our time on the contests, less on an individual club visit, and even less working on a personal connection with the club president. To my mind this is backwards. A good president who feels supported can be the difference between a thriving and dying club, whereas the area contest only determines who’s the biggest smartass on any given day at Table Topics.

 

I’ve said “you need to do this and that” all up above. It’s more accurate to say, “This and that need to be done by someone and you’re responsible for making it happen.” That someone often times will be you, but it doesn’t have to be. We talked about delegating the club contest for someone’s HPL. You can even delegate the club visit! I’d prefer it if you could find your own lackeys (I, uhm, mean valued assistants), but if you can’t please let me know.

 

I don’t want anyone to get burned out and feeling like they can’t come to me for help. Recall the super-president I described earlier who saved her club. She was slated to be my replacement Area Governor but she had to drop out due to serious health problems. We’re talking to the point of having blackouts where she couldn’t drive a car. I don’t blame this entirely on her TM experience, but the stress I’m sure made things worse for her. Don’t overdo it.

 

Remember the Toastmasters org chart. You have made a commitment to support your clubs and members as best you can. It’s my job to support you. Please don’t be an Area Governor that drops off the grid or who burns out. Let me know the good and the bad. I trust you all to do your very best in your new assignments. I’ll try real hard for you guys, too. We’re going to have a great year! Let’s make it happen!