Right Wisdom

On Tuesday October 1st the Frontier Division Speech contest was held. What a fantastic event it was! We had 6 contestants for the Table Topics contest and 6 contestants for the Humorous speech contest. We packed the facilities with guests, contestants and helpers from across District 6. There were even a number of Toastmaster dignitaries there to enjoy the festivities. As Division governor I have the task of putting together this contest. However it could not be possible with out great helpers and quality contestants. Leaders must always find those people who have the vision to take things to the next level. Whether you are leading a project at work, coordinating a special event or leading a department the most difficult thing in leadership is making sure you have quality people surrounding you. The six area governors for the Frontier Division put on fantastic contests and sent quality contestants to the next level (The division contest). A big thank you to my 6 area governors,...

Contest season has begun all across District 6 Toastmasters. Clubs are finishing their contests and the Areas are conducting theirs. One Division contest has finished and nine more lay ahead in the coming weeks. The culmination is a trip to Thunder Bay for the District 6 Humorous and Table Topics contest. In the Frontier Division Area 26 completed their contest on Wednesday evening. It was a fun and exciting contest. The winner of the Table Topics contest was Stephanie Morse-Nolund and the winner of the Humorous contest was Sonja Froyen. All contestants did an excellent job. A big thanks you to Janice Janes the Area 26 governor for a great contest. The Frontier Division has three more area contests this week. Tuesday is area 24, Wednesday is area 21 and Thursday is area 23. It will be agreat week for the Frontier Division as three more areas crown their representatives for the Division Contest. The division contest will be held on October 1st at Deluxe Corporation. Please join in...

It has been a long time since I last wrote about my journey as the Frontier Division Governor for District 6 Toastmasters. We have been in the throes of officer training and is has been a hectic month of August. August 31st spells the end of officer training and it is time to evaluate how the Frontier Division did in getting their officers trained. I want to first commend my Area Governors for a job well done on training officers. They did a great job and they also encouraged and club officers to attend. Our goal in the Frontier Division was to be 7 for 7 for every club in the Division. I know what you are saying, "That is a tall and almost impossible task". It may seeem daunting but we thought we could do it. If we couldn't reach taht goal maybe we could get all the clubs to have at least four trained so they wouldn't lose their DCP point. How did we do? These numbers may change as some final day numbers and adjustments may be made. As it stands now the Frontier ...

I held my first Frontier Division Council meeting on Wednesday 7/24. I spent the first 30-40 minutes training on how to put on a contest. Thanks to some previous material other Toastmasters had created I only had to create my powerpoint with my perspective and use the information previously created. We then spent the remaining 50-60 minutes talking about challenges and how each of the area governors are doing with their areas. We talked about the contest dates. The Frontier Division contest is on 10/1 and all the areas need to have theirs done before that date. We also talked about officer training. All officers from each club within the District should get trained and the Division and Area Governors do the training. Part of being a leader is making sure those you lead are well trained and ready for their leadership roles. The Frontier Division will work as a team to make sure we service all the clubs and their members within the Frontier Division. Looking forward to my continued...

I spent Saturday at the District 6 TLI (Toastmasters Leadership Institute). I got the opportunity to training the VP Education officers. Had a lot of fun telling them about the DCP (Distinguished Club Program). I handed out index cards and those who didn't have a card had to put the group in order of the DCP points. I think they had a lot of fun learning about the DCP this way. I really enjoyed the keynote speaker, Roger Revak. He did a great job and it was a great speech on taking your Toastmaster talents outside of your club. I also took in an education session on a program called "Strive, Revive and Thrive". A proven program that helps clubs grow and stay strong. Also attended the awards luncheon. As division governor you are expected to attend as many of these district events as possible. that is a good thing it helps grow your leadership skills and gives you an opprotunity to share your knowledge and network with other Toastmasters. I'll be back bloggin...

Now that you may have listened to my speech on my vision for the Frontier Division you may be wondering just what a Division Governor does? The hirearchy within the Toastmaster structure is as follows. District - Within the district there are 10 Divisions Division - Within Each Division there are 4-7 Areas Area - Within each area there are 4-6 clubs Club - each club should strive for 20 members but there is an average of about 14 members per club. As Division Governor I oversee 6 area governors. I mentor and train my area governors. I conduct 2 Division Contests each year and I work with my  area governors to find new clubs and help build up and grow existing clubs. I also conduct and help area cgovernors conduct officer training. Today I met with one of my area governors to discuss his plans for his area. Looking forward to my final three one on ones that I am having I had two of them last week and one today. On Day two I found out that all the clubs in the Front...

Today, July 1st starts my 365 day journey through the Frontier. Not the final Frontier but the Frontier Division in District 6 Toastmasters. I am starting my year as Frontier Division Governor and looking forward to it. The year for me didn't start today it started a while back when I made the decision to run for Frontier Division Governor. Then I thought about my vision and what I wanted to accomplish as division governor. I decided that this year I will journal my journey and I want to welcome all of you along for the trip. Check back frequently for updates on how the journey is going. To kick off the Toastmaster New Year I have attached a link to my vision speech I gave. I hope you enjoy it.  Frontier Division Speech

I have been away from blogging for a while. We moved to a new house in February and about that time I started working a second job. Sometimes as a leader you have to do things for a season that you might not normally do. I am going to try to blog more but you may not see it on a consistent basis. I will try it once a week but with the number of things I have going on that may not always be the case. As I said earlier Leaders have to do things for a season and sometimes they do things to grow their leadership and expand their circle of influence. On Saturday I was elected to be the Frontier Division Governor for District 6 Toastmasters. We had a great time at the dinner and International speech contest. I am looking forward to my growth as a leader by being the Frontier Division Governor for the 2013-2014 Toastmaster year. Look for more blogs in the coming weeks on other things leaders can do to expand their influence and grow their leadership.