Toastmasters and the "Real" World

Team Building and High Performance Leadership.  These are two projects that popped up in my Toastmasters Pathways curriculum that tied in very nicely with things I already planned to do in my work place.  Thanks to Toastmasters, I can get awards for completing these items, and I get access to additional resources to help me make my efforts more successful.

Team Building is a requirement for me to complete Level 5 of my Motivational Strategies path.  An interested thing I saw in this project was that I am encouraged not just to organize a team building event on my own, but to work with a small team to organize an event with a larger team!  This "requirement" prompted me to seek out input from teammates in my workplace as we plan an event for the fall.  Thanks to Toastmasters, I have been encouraged to not just "go it alone" in planning something, but to work with others.  After all, a team building event is most successful if the team it is serving is bought in on what we are doing.  And that is more likely to happen if multiple people are helping to plan the event, not just me acting alone.

High Performance Leadership is a requirement for completing Level 5 of my Persuasive Influence path.  This project reminded me of the important of exploring all Toastmasters has to offer because I had already started working on my High Performance Leadership project before I realized I was doing so!  I am working with a team to get an "official" Tech Mentorship program (Tech department employees mentoring other Tech employees) at my workplace.  This project has specific goals and involves accountability to other individuals as well as actions taken not just by me but by members of a team.  By taking the initiative to "lead" this project, I embarked on a "High Performance Leadership" project.  I wish I had realized this from day 1, but fortunately I realized it before the project was done and am now able to leverage Toastmasters resources to evaluate how I am doing as a leader on this project and to carry the project through to completion.

If you are enrolled in Pathways, I encourage you to look and see if you have opportunities to take on initiatives or plan events in your workplace or community that match up with projects on your path.  You will get the benefit of additional insights and resources provided by Pathways to help you succeed, and you will get Toastmasters recognition for completing the project.

If you aren't enrolled in Pathways, consider signing up (or joining Toastmasters if you aren't in a club yet).  I think you will find multiple opportunities to use what you learn from the Pathways program in the "real" world and to bring the "real" world into your Pathways journey.

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