Club Health

The Distinguished Club Program (DCP) is a set of goals for clubs to meet that ultimately indicate club strength. They are divided into Education, Membership, and Administrative objectives. Toastmasters is all about the member experience; clubs bringing strong value to their members have their effort reflected in the DCP points accumulated throughout the year, because members of these clubs are completing manuals and receiving recognition, and the clubs are continually growing and improving.

The club executive should regularly review the club DCP progress paired with Moments of Truth to see where things are going well and what areas need more focus.

There are 10 goals in the DCP. In Pathways, to be Distinguished, your club must have:

1. Four members complete level 1
2. Two members complete level 2
3. Two more members complete level 2
4. Two members complete level 3
5. One member complete level 4
6. One member complete level 5
7. Four new members
8. Four more new members
9. Minimum 4 club officers trained in both training periods
10. Prompt member due payment, with the names of eight members (at least 3 renewing) for one period, and on-time submission of one club officer list

You can present this program to your club to create an awareness how your club performs in various aspects of the member experience. Areas include:

• First Impressions
  Are guests welcomed into a positive and professional environment that entices them to join?
   
• Membership Orientation
  Do members get mentorship and help establishing growth goals?
   
• Fellowship, Variety, and Communication
  Is the club environment fun, friendly, and supportive? 
   
• Program Planning and Meeting Organization
  Are meetings well-prepared with rich and varied content?
   
• Membership Strength
  Does the club attract and retain enough members to have healthy club operations?
   
• Achievement Recognition
  Do members get recognition for their achievements to encourage further both their and the club's growth?

Coaching is the process of guiding and encouraging team members to achieve superior performance and results.  To perform effectively, team members need to know what is expected of them.

Specifically, they need to know:

• What they are supposed to do.
• Why they are supposed to do it.
• How they are supposed to do it.
• How well they are expected to do it.
• How well they are doing.

A coach’s responsibility is to provide team members with the direction and feedback they need.  Specifically, a coach:

• Sets high but achievable expectations.
• Guides team members.
• Offers support.
• Gives advice.
• Provides feedback.
• Encourages team members.

All coaches use similar tenets and tools to help others excel. Coaches might implement these tools in different ways, but the common denominators present in most coaching relationships can have lasting effects on club members’ performance, as well as on your own.

Apply these six strategies to boost your effectiveness as a coach:

Have a game-plan: A clear vision and action plan ensure that all “players” are focused on the same end-result: a vital and dynamic club. As the coach, this will help you more quickly see when the group is off-course and needs to re-calibrate its efforts. What happens if you lack a vision and action plan? Just imagine a football coach trying to coordinate each player’s movements without a predetermined play.

Associate the game-plan with individuals’ goals: A personal coach is only as effective as the client is motivated. A coach can recommend approaches and tools until she is blue in the face, but if the client isn’t genuinely focused on attaining the expressed goals (rather, his boss told him to go to the coach), little change will be made.

Do drills: Isolate the key skills required to succeed, and develop exercises that hone those specific skills through practice. Use the exercises provided in the Successful Club Series, theSuccessful Leadership Series and/or the Better Speaking Series.

Put people in roles that suit their aptitude: Discuss natural propensities with club members. Learn what they like to do and why. Then ask them to carry out some of the tasks of a successful club officer.

Use appropriate communication modes and content: The best coaches in any arena know how to mold their communication style and content to befit the person they are coaching — leading to greater understanding, better rapport, and longer retention. This applies to word choice, voice tone, personal space boundaries, and the way you explain required actions and expectations. For example: When explaining how to cup your hands properly when swimming, a coach might toss out all explanations and visuals directly relating to swimming and instead say, “Pretend you’re petting a cat.” Since they have stroked a cat before, the person will better understand how to use the correct swimming form.

Celebrate: Achieving goals and surpassing milestones deserve credit. Celebrating these accomplishments underscores the value that each person brings to the table and confirms expected behaviors — all while serving as motivators for future learning.  As the club improves, invite district leaders (Area and Division Governors, members of your District trios (District Governor, Lt Governor Education and Training, Lt Governor Marketing) and show off the club and celebrate (not your) but the members’ achievements.

The difference between a successful club and an unsuccessful club is the quality of leadership within the club.  Leadership abilities are not inherited.  Just like communication skills, leadership skills are learned and honed through experience: facing challenges and learning from failures and successes.

As a leader, you are recognized and rewarded not for what you do, but for the achievements of the people you lead. You are measured by the accomplishments of your team.

Ideally, your team will function effectively and make great progress toward its goals (no less than distinguished club). But what to do if one or more team members are not performing to your expectations?  In these cases, your role as a club coach becomes even more important. Your responsibility is to help the member or members perform to your expectations. Many leaders are uncomfortable with this aspect of coaching.  They don’t like to give what they consider to be “negative” feedback. But coaching is important since it results in better performance.

Five Steps to Effective Coaching:

Compare performance with expectations

Take an informal survey and note where the team member is not meeting your standards, and then try to determine the reason. Does the team member know what is expected? If not, tell him or her. Is the problem beyond his/her control?

Meet with the team member

If the problem is within the control of the team member, meet with him, explain the problem as you see it, and the effect it has on the team and its goals. For example, suppose our Club’s Vice President Membership was not sending applications for membership and dues to TI when new members joined. As a result, new members were not receiving their manuals and other materials to help them get started in the educational program. As coach, you would meet with the VP Membership, point out this fact and give specific examples.

Ask for acknowledgment

For coaching to be successful, both parties must agree a problem exists. When the team member acknowledges a problem, determine why he or she is not performing to expectation. You may suspect the cause, but you could be wrong. Listen to the team member’s response

Work toward a solution

Both you and the team member should work together on a solution. What actions can the team member take to resolve the problem?  What actions can you take to resolve the problem? For example, if the VP Membership needed funds for purchasing envelopes and postage stamps for mailing membership applications, you could help by speaking with the Club Treasurer. Discuss the possibilities and agree on an acceptable course of action.

Follow up

Monitor the team member’s performance to ensure the problem is resolved.

In your discussion with the team member show care and concern.

You will be more effective – and avoid making the team member defensive if you:

1. Talk with them, not down to them.
2. Admit when you’ve made a mistake.
3. Keep it simple.  Elaborate descriptions are not necessary.
4. Listen.  Don’t Interrupt.
5. Keep it short and specific.  Address the issues directly.
6. Be sincere.
7. Be timely. Don’t wait weeks or months to address a problem.

COACHING RESULTS IN IMPROVED PERFORMANCE – there are other benefits too:

• High morale. When everyone is working together and achieving goals, team members feel good about their work.
• Empowerment. People feel confident and willingly accept more responsibility.
• Development.  Team members learn and improve. As they grow, they become more creative and are able to contribute even more.

As a leader, you benefit from coaching. Team productivity increases and the team completes tasks to your expectations. As their skills increase, you can delegate more so you have more time for other leadership responsibilities.

You have a duty as a leader to ensure you do everything possible to improve team members’ performance. Few things motivate people more than praise or help from their leader. As a leader you can always show them how they can help themselves and their clubs do better.

The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority!!  Leaders see problems as challenges and opportunities.