HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP Guidance Committee Workbook TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL PO. Box 9052 - Mission Viejo, CA 92690 - USA Phone: 949-858-8255 « Fax: 949-858-1207 www.toastmasters.org/members international Al iohs serve TearastsimemationaNTRODUCTION ‘The world needs strong, competent leaders now more than ever before. Progress can happen only when someone assumes a leadership role ~ when someone decides there isa problem,a need, or an injustice, and takes action to solve the problem, fulfil the need, or correct the injustice. ‘You have been asked to assist a Toastmaster wishing to develop his or her leadership skills through, participation in a Toastmasters International program. As part ofthe learning process, the Toastmaster ‘will study a text, practice leadership skls through a project of his or her choosing, and receive feedback on progress. This feedback comes from a guidance committee selected by the Toastmaster, Periodically the quidance committee meets with the Toastmaster to give advice about the work involved, evaluate progress, and offer helpful feedback based on their perceptions of the Toastmaster’ learning process. Your participation on the guidance committee will lay an important role in helping the Toastmaster develop leadership ski ‘As a member of the guidance committee, you are required to do the following: > Meet with the Toastmaster and other guidance committee members at least five times during the duration of the leadership project, for one to two hours ata time; > Prepare for each meeting by reviewing in advance the appropriate material in this Guidance Committee Workbook: and > Participate in discussions with the Toastmaster and other committee members about the Toastmasters leadership project, offering advice and guidance as necessary. HOW TO USE THIS WORKBOOK ‘As mentioned earlier, for part of the learning experience the Toastmaster studies a text, High Perfor- ‘mance Leadership. The texts broken into five parts; each part includes leadership theory, written ‘exercises oF activities to complete, feedback information and an agenda for the guidance committee led by the Toastmaster, To help you understand what the Toastmaster is learning and be better able to fulfill your re- es, each part in this Guidance Cornmittee Workbook briefly summarizes the corresponding the High Performance Leadership text and lsts the exercises or activities the Toastmaster must Aso included are discussion questions to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance comrnit- 9g, and space for written commentary on the Toastmasters responses. OF course, you are 10 make arrangements with the Toastmaster to review the High Performance Leadership text twill be of assistance.THE GUIDANCE COMMITTEE MEETING The Toastmaster is responsible for caling and making arrangements for each guidance committee ‘meeting, including the location, date, and time. The Toastmaster also prepares an agenda for each meeting. As @ member ofthe guidance committee, you must plan to arive early at the meeting and remain until itis finished, Be sure to read the appropriate section of the Guidance Committee Work book beforehand, and feel fiee to ask questions about other matters not addressed in the workbook. ‘Although the goals set forth in High Performance Leadership are within reach of all Toastmasters, ‘his program has been designed to challenge and is not easly completed. Only when the participant has stretched to complete each project will learning take place. As a member of the guidance commit- tee, it's your responsibilty to challenge the Toastmaster’ thinking as well as the means and methods Used in carrying out the leadership project. Be ready to provide guidance and advice if necessary. Remember, you do not have to be an expert in leadership theory; your own common sense and ‘experience are among the most valuable components in this program. ‘The edlucational process has always been one of mutual enrichment. Through your efforts to help the Toastmaster develop leadership skils, you will discover @ new level of personal growth as well GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK 3LEARNING ABOUT PART! LEADERSHIP ‘As populations increase and people from diverse cultures are brought together by way of a continually shrinking world, more issues - and more problems face us than ever before, That is why the world needs strong, competent leaders, Progress can happen only when someone assumes a leadership role - when someone decides there isa problem, a need, or an injustice, and takes action to solve the problern, fulfil the need, or correct the injustice. History relates the story of many leaders: Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, come quickly to mind, as well as Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and General George S. Patton. How- ever, you don't have to possess the legendary stature of these people to be a leader. Average citizens, working together under a unified purpose, ae just as capable of making contibutions as the most empowered word leaders Some of storys leaders had a formal ttle or rank that commanded respect and attention. People followed them because they were the boss; ths is called formal authority” Other leaders have not had this authority. Authority has instead been “informal” or “eamed,’ derived from personal relationships built with others, Although these leaclers were not designated as bosses, other people considered them to be leaders who could help them achieve their goals. ‘The ideal way to influence is to have both formal authority and eared authority. However, if you have little or no forral authority, you can still be effective fyou have high earned authority. This, program's design is based on the assumption that the Toastmaster wants to accomplish something in an area where he or she does not have formal authority and focuses on ways to earn the authority needed to influence others. “Today leaders are being asked to provide a special kind of authority: service leadership. People ‘expect positive personal relationships with their leaders that give them a sense of satisfaction in what they have done. Service leadership invalves leading with a focus on service both to those benefiting from the end result and to those who do the work in achieving the objectives. Their role is enabling or empowering others to accomplish something worthy. A good service leader is one who is effective in six major areas or dimensions: VISION AND VALUES Leaders imagine or envision what they would lke to have happen, understand what is happening ‘now, and decide what needs to be done to make their vision reality. They convey their vision to those ‘who will be helping them. Leaders also identify and personify the basic belie or values which guide their actions as leaders, DIRECTION Leaders help people accomplish tasks necessary to turn the vision into reality. Leaders set goals, establish priorities, and delegate responsibilty as necessary.PERSUASION Leaders persuade others to see, understand, and believe in their vision. When others believe as their leaders, they are more likely to commit themselves to achieving the objective SUPPORT Leaders make sure everyone functions well asa team, is equipped with the necessary resources to ‘accomplish tasks, and has effective systems and methods to work productively. Leaders encourage creativity. When the team encounters problems, leaders provide the guidance necessary to resolve the problems quickly and effectively DEVELOPMENT Leaders are aware of the personal needs and gosls of team members and provide opportunities to fulfil these needs and goals, Leaders challenge team members to learn new skils oo. APPRECIATION Leaders recognize tearn members for their efforts and accomplishments. Effective leaders need more than a goal to pursue or a pleasant personality. They need a combination of knowledge, attitudes, skils, and habits that will help them chart a course, win the support of others, help them accomplish the necessary tasks to achieve the goal, and then derive personal satisfaction from being part of the enterprise, EXERCISES/ACTIVITIES ‘The Toastmaster has been asked to: > Complete the quiz, “Assess Your Knowledge of Leadership.” > Assess current leadership skills by answering a questionnaire and plotting results on @ model. > Develop a list of leadership project ideas to be discussed with the guidance committee before Selecting one. The project should be one that promises to make a postive contribution to a cause, is clear, specific, focused, reasonable and realistic, and involves several other people with whom the Toastmaster can workin a leadership capacity. > Recruita guidance committee GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK 56 GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKSHEET Part I: Learning About Leadership Toastmaster’s Name! Date of Meeting: Following are some questions you may want to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance commit tee meeting, with space for writing comments or making notes. You are welcome to ask additional questions if you wish, Remember, your rle isto challenge the Toastmaster and offer advice and quidance if necessary. 1, Please describe the six dimensions of leadership included in the theory you have been studying. 2. What were the results of the quiz you took concerning your knowledge of leadership? 3, What were the results of your selFranking of personal leadership skills on the model’ six dimensions? 4, What leadership projects or missions are you considering for your learning experience? HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIPCHOOSING YOUR PART OBJECTIVE Leaders create visions for their organizations. They imagine what they would like to have happen in the future. Their vision gives them purpose and direction, which they tur into goals, plans, and activity Once a leader has a vision, the next step is to define the mission. A mission statementis a simpli fied version of the vision. The statement defines the purpose of the project clearly and concisely and provides the foundation forall efforts It indicates the benefits offered, who will receive these benefits, and why these benefits are important. Far example, fora project conceming establishing a church program to feed local homeless people, a mission statement might be: We will provide one nutritious hot meal for homeless people in our community once a week. The meal will be served by caring church members in a friendly environment that promotes felowship and contributes to the self-esteem and well-being of our guests. ‘Once a mission statement has been established, values must be considered. Values are beliefs about ‘what is good or bad, important or not important, and — put into play - they are capable of affect- ing your everyday lfe. Cansider the dry cleaner who loses your suit and replaces it with a new one; she understands and values the importance of good service and correcting mistakes. Then there's the auto mechanic who charges for work he did not do, demonstrating that he values money over personal integrity, Beliefs which help to clarify the standards necessary to achieve @ mission are termed core values, Core values for the church program might be: Each meal will be hot and nutri- tious; all quests will be treated with respect and courtesy; no needy person will be turned away. (Once a leader has a vision and a mission, he or she needs to persuade others to help make ita reality, Itis essential that the leader communicate the dream in a positive, compelling manner, so others may understand it and wish to work toward achieving it, to. EXERCISES/ACTIVITIES ‘The Toastmaster has been asked to: > Describe in writing his or her vision for the project. > Write a mission statement based on the vision. > Define in writing core values for the project. > Plan a speech about the vision for the leadership project for presentation to the Toastmaster’s club, discuss the plan with the guidance committee, then present the speech to the club. GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK 7GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKSHEET Part Il: Choosing Your Objective Toastmasters Name: Date of Meeting: Following are some questions you may want to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance commit- tee meeting, with space for writing comments or making notes. You are welcome to ask additional {questions if you wish. Remember, your role is to challenge the Toastmaster and offer advice and guidance if necessary. 1. What is your vision for the leadership project you wish to accomplish? 2, What is our mission statement forthe leadership project? 3. What core values do you intend to follow in carrying out the project? 4, Please tell about the general content and approach to the speech you will present to the club, sharing with the guidance committee members your approach to the project. 8 HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIPWINNING COMMITMENT TO Cy YOUR OBJECTIVE ACTION PHASE #1 Toaccomplish a mission, a leader needs the help of others. Begin by finding people who have an, interest n your efforts and stand to benefit by them, or whose support or cooperation you will need in order to accomplish your project. These people are called stakeholders. The church program's stake- holders are the homeless people themselves, fellow church members who volunteer their time, and businesses that donate supplies. ‘Once you have identified interested people, start assembling a team, Size depends on the project: Convene a team meeting and get input on the vision, mission, and core values as you determined, Be ‘open to suggestions for improvement. Once your team agrees on the vision, mission, and core values, the next step is to decide how to ‘accomplish the mission. This action strategy sets the direction for your work, Your own action strat- egy will depend on the person or organization you wish to influence or change, as well as the overall results you want to achieve. Regarding the church project to feed the homeless, for example, you would first need to get the support of the pastor and other church officials. Then you would consider participation from the congregation (Once an action strategy is determined, the next step is to develop an action plan. Break up the work into key result areas ~ smaller areas requiring specific actions. For the church project to feed the home- less, some key result areas might be: Getting church commitment forthe project soliciting donations for food and other necessities; obtaining any necessary health and food service permits recruiting helpers. Next, assign people to specific key result areas based on the various skill or other contributions each person can bring to the project. Then have members assigned to each key result area identify at least one specific goal for thelr area. A goals a specific objective the team must achieve. For example, cone goal concerning the church project could be:"To meet with the pastor by April 15 to discuss the propos regarding a program to feed the homeless” A goal is specific, measurable, realistic, time- bounded, and action-oriented. Finally, assemble al ofthe project information ~ vision, mission, core values, action strategy, key result ateas, coals, deadlines, and responsible tearm members ~ in one document called the Action Plan. EXERCISES/ACTIVITIES ‘The Toastmaster has been asked to: > Recruit an action team, > Meet with the team and reach agreement on the vision, mission, and core values that will guide the project. Create an action strategy with the team, Identify key result areas Set goals and deadlines for each key result area and assign responsibility for each area. Use the worksheets provided to assemble all ofthe information into an Action Plan, GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK10 GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKSHEET Part Ill: Action Phase #1 -Winning Commitment to Your Objective Toastmaster's Name: Date of Meeting: Following are some questions you may want to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance commit tee meeting, with space for writing comments or making notes. You are welcome to ask additional questions if you wish, Remember, your role is to challenge the Toastmaster and offer advice and guidance if necessary. 1. Please share with us the experiences encountered and the results achieved in recruiting people for your project. 2. Please tell the results of your efforts to form an action team. 3, What strategy have you and your tearm developed for achieving the mission? 4, What general plan have you and your team developed for achieving the mission? 5, What specific goals and overell timetable for the project have you developed? 6, Please show the written plan you have developed for the project. HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIPWORKING THE PLAN ACTION PHASE #2 ‘Once you have written the Action Plan, it’ time to carry out the plan, Concentrate on the key result areas and their goals, then monitor progress closely. At times it may be necessary to provide psychological, logistical, or monetary support for the team. The support may also involve coordination of efforts and improvement of communication among team members. Sometimes the situation may require trusting team members’ judgment and giving them the freedom to act and take responsibilty for the results. Leaders also help to develop team members, providing learning opportunities for them. They also show appreciation. Team members need to know their contributions are valued, whether things are going smoothly or not. A good practice isto hold periodic review meetings. That way everyone ray offer input and be kept up-to-date on the overall progress ofthe project Sometimes personality conflicts or other personal disagreements can affect the quality of the team members’ work. In order to avoid these people problems, leaders need to encourage open lines of communication. Conflicts should be addressed immediately and resolved by the individual members whenever possible, However, as leader you may use your authority to settle such conflicts if necessary ‘At some point you may discover that the project’ original approach just isn’t working, Perhaps the project was too ambitious or the chosen course of action misjudged. On the other hand, maybe the team does not have the necessary skills or knowledge needed to achieve the projects mission. Or possibly the situation has changed dramatically, making the original plan inappropriate. If this, happens, reevaluate your direction and revise as necessary. EXERCISES/ACTIVITIES ‘The Toastmaster has been asked to: > Review progress against the plan for each key result area > Describe any obstacles, problems, or setbacks experienced and explain how they were handled > Describe any people problems encountered and how they were handled. Reevaluate the overall plan —the vision, mission, core values, action strategy, and Action Plan, Got feedback from the team about its performance and the performance of the Toastmaster as leader. > Reassess leadership skils by completing the questionnaire and comparing results with the results from the questionnaire in Part | (GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK uGUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKSHEET Part IV: Action Phase #2 - Working the Plan Toastmaster’s Name: Date of Meeting: Following are some questions you may want to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance commit- tee meeting, with space for writing comments or making notes. You are welcome to ask additional questions if you wish, Remember, your role is to challenge the Toastmaster and offer advice and guidance if necessary. 1. What progress have you and your team made in carrying out the plan you established? 2, Describe any problems, obstacles, or setbacks you may have encountered; how cid you and the team cope with them? 3, What people problems did you encounter; how did you handle thern? 4, How do you feel about the original purpose and the plan you and your tear have developed for the project? Are they still valid? 5, What feedback did you receive from team members about the team’s work and your leadership skill? 12 HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIPANALYZING & PRESENTING BART, YOUR RESULTS ACTION PHASE #3, By now you have learned something about each of the six components of service leadership and have worked through all of the seven leadership steps: creating a vision, developing a mission. iden- tifying core values, recruiting an action team, developing an action strategy with key result areas and oals, preparing a written plan, and working with tearm members to achieve the mission. At this point, you have more than likely achieved your mission —or are well on the way to doing so. ut ifyour efforts were unsuccessful, don‘ be discouraged, Leaders are not always initially successfull ‘Whether you were successful or unsuccessful, take the time to analyze your efforts Ifyou were successful, to what can you attribute the success? Ifyou were unsuccessful to what can you attribute the failure? In either case, what, if anything, would you do differently? ACTIVITIES/EXERCISES ‘The Toastmaster has been asked to: > Plana speech to the club > Review the speech with the guidance committee > Present the speech to the club ‘GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOK 134 GUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKSHEET Part V: Presenting the Results Toast master’s Name: Date of Meeting: Note: Ideally, the Toastmaster has successfully completed the leadership projector is well on the way to doing so. However, in some cases the Toastmaster may have experienced some setbacks. In either case, he or she needs to have completed all ofthe leadership steps and ‘worked long enough with the tearn members to have had a solid leadership experience. (Once the Toastmaster has completed al ofthe activities and exercises, he or she can ‘apply forthe Leadership Excellence award using the application in the back ofthe High Performance Leadership book. You will be asked to sign the application to confirm that the Toastmaster has accomplished all the necessary task. Following are some questions you may want to ask the Toastmaster during the guidance committee meeting, with space for writing comments or making notes. You are welcome to ask additional ques tions ifyou wish. Remember, your roe is to challenge the Toastmaster and offer advice and guidance ifnecessary, 1. Were you successful or unsuccessful in achieving your mission? fyou were successful, to what do you attribute your success? If you were unsuccessful, to what do you attribute the failure? 2. Please share with us what you've learned about leadership, people, and yourself during the project. 3, What key points do you plan to cover in your speech to the club? HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIPGUIDANCE COMMITTEE WORKBOOKNOTES 16 HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP