Dr. Lorraine Haataia served as
TLI Chairman for Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) on February 6, 2010. Her
High Performance Leadership (HPL) guidance committee members included Shari Cartwright, Bob Haataia and Lenny Dingman. Here's what Lorraine appreciated about her guidance committee members:
Distinguished Toastmaster,
Shari Cartwright, had a lot of great advice to offer me, but the most notable was one memorable email she sent me. When I was in the middle of rushing to answer the many emails that were going back and forth among the chairmen the few days preceding TLI, I received this advice from Shari. It stopped me in my tracks and made me think:
You are doing a great job! One suggestion on your email below – the first sentence feels harsh so for the future, I suggest you try to “soften” it a little. For example, I saw this as something you would handle and I apologize if I failed to inform you. If you don’t have time before tomorrow, please ask someone on your team to help out.”
One thing I learned from a past, great manager I had, if someone doesn’t know they were supposed to do something then it is your fault for not telling them. That’s why that statement with the apology. Even if you know you told them, then the apology would be something like “I apologize if I was not clear…”.
Shari reminded me of a universal truth--that regardless of how busy we get, we need to take the time to be considerate of, and thankful for, our leaders. And as a leader, we need to remember that the ultimate success of any project is a reflection of our own communication and leadership skills. Great leaders become great one activity at a time, repeatedly done well.
One other good piece of advice from Shari was to "cut the bananas in half."
When I first read this short email that Shari passed on to the Food & Hospitality Chairman, it struck me as funny. After I thought about it a while, however, I realized that we all have good ideas and prior experience that we bring to large events like this and this one little piece of advice can help to reduce food waste and cut the banana budget in half!
Thank you Shari!
Distinguished Toastmaster
Bob Haataia served as Area 11 Governor last year and led the last TLI held in summer 2009. From July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, I had the opportunity to see him carry out not only his duties as an area governor, but also take on the additional role as TLI Chairman.
Sitting in on his guidance committee meetings gave me a good preview of the many details involved in running TLI. Since it was still fairly fresh on his mind, he was a likely candidate to serve as one of my HPL guidance committee members.
Toastmasters is a fabulous organization, in part because it attracts people who are on a personal growth mission, people who are willing to humble themselves through feedback from peers, and people who are willing to laugh at and learn from their mistakes. And Toastmasters is even more fun if you have the privilege of sharing the experience with your spouse, when you have the opportunity to share the
Toastmasters mission and credo to "have fun doing it!"
Not only did Bob serve as a daily sounding board for me as I planned the most recent TLI, he also conducted a TLI session on Social Networking.
Thank you Bob!
Area 11 Governor,
Lenny Dingman, is always willing to roll up his sleeves and help out however he can. That's exactly what he did once again. Not only did he serve as one of my guidance committee members, he also served as the
Greeters & Photographers Chairman, and as one of the TLI presenters. And if you know Lenny, you know that he did it all with a smile!
What strikes me most about Lenny is his willingness to serve fellow Toastmasters. His wife, Division A Governor, and Distinguished Toastmaster Stacey Dingman, is just the same. Between the two of them, they will do whatever it takes to get the job done. You can count on it!
Lenny, Bob and Stacey were all instrumental in carrying out the last TLI and were equally helpful in making sure that everything went well with this TLI. In fact, I got a two-for-one deal with Lenny on my guidance committee because I got just as much help and guidance from Stacey in the process. And because this event was held at UF Shands, Stacey also went the extra mile to make sure everything related to our site went over well from start to finish.
What do I remember most about Lenny? Well, I think it's the funny tie he wore with blue scrubs when he showed up at one of our
Baywood Toastmasters meetings for his area governor visits in September. He reminded all the guys about the importance of dressing for success!
Seriously though, what I think of most when I think of Lenny, is that regardless of what we choose to do, we need to remember to "have fun doing it!"
Thank you Lenny, and thank you Stacey!
The Division A team has a goal to start 5 new clubs this year. One for each area. If you have ideas for new clubs, make sure to contact your area governor. We are working several leads, but it’s never a problem to have more.
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