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...

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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 wrote and gave this speech last fall. This is honor of my dad on fathers day! It was Thanksgiving Day 2002 and my wife, kids and I had just arrived at my in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving. You could smell the turkey and hear the sound of football in the background along with young cousins jabbering about the fun they were about to have. I just settled down on the couch when the phone rang thinking nothing about it until my brother-in-law tells me the phone is for me. Someone calling me at my in-laws is not a good sign especially on a holiday. It was my oldest sister and the moment she spoke I knew it wasn’t good news. She went to pick up my dad for Thanksgiving dinner and found him dead in his bed. He passed away the way he always wanted to go, in his sleep. It didn’t make it any easier for the rest of us. My mom had passed away 6 years earlier on New Years Eve so it was now left to the three of us to be the leaders of the family. The drive that day from Andover to Eagan was ...

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.

I am watch the show " The Men Who Built America " on the History channel and they were talking about JP Morgan investing money in an unproven commodity, electricity. They said that JP Morgan saw opportunity where others saw risk. Any time a leader is about to invest time, money or energy into a venture they want to weigh the risk and reward of that venture. They need to determine if the opportunity far outweighs the risk that is involved. JP Morgan was a banking man and he didn't find success by investing in bad ventures. When he saw Edison's light bulb he knew that the opportunity was too great to pass up when compared to the minimal risk. We still to this day use the Edison light bulb and electricity so JP Morgan seized that opportunity and it paid off. Pay offs don't always occur you have to make sure what you are investing in seems worthwhile and will establish itself as a strong comsumer commodity. For instance if someone approached you to invest in a n...

Last time I blogged I gave you the first 7 of my 13 life changing habits for 2013. The nice thing about life changing habits is that you don't have to make the changes all at once. They will occur over time. As long as I have made the steps and I am working on those life changing habits in 2013 I am successful. Here are 8 - 13. Read my previous blog for 1-7. These first two may seem like they contradict each other but they really don't and I explain. 8.  Follow more and lead less - In some situations you have to be a follower and not a leader. That is how we learn and grow. 9.  Lead more and follow less - In other situations you have to lead more especially in areas of your expertise. 10.  Pray more worry less - Instead of worrying about things it is better to pray about them and let God be in control. 11.  Work more efficiently - Make better use of my working hours by finding ways to be more efficient. 12.  Work more and Play more - If I am worki...

Last time I mentioned that I had decided this year instead of coming up with empty resolutions I wanted to focus on some simple changes. Changes that will happen over a period of time and not necessarily overnight. Each of these can be personal in nature or leadership in nature, since this is a leadership blog. I decided to present it in the format of 13 in 13. This is 13 changes I will make in 2013. I was inspired by my daughter last year who did a 12 in 12 but I have always liked a bakers dozen so I am going with 13. Here are the 13 things I will change or do differently in 2013. Throughout the year I will expound on these and let you know how I am doing. I challenge you to create your own list. 1.  Read more watch less - I want to read more books, articles, papers etc and watch less inane television. 2.  Walk more sit less - I want to get more active from this sedentary 3.  Give more spend less - Self explanatory 4.  Save more spend less - Self explanatory ...

Have you survived the fiscal cliff? Maybe you are sick and tired of all the talk about the fiscal cliff. If you are one of those people maybe you can at least read what I have to say about leadership lessons from the fiscal cliff. The one main lesson we can learn from all of the fiscal cliff negotiations is a little bit of compromise. A great leader is willing to compromise but not willing to back down on their own principles. Unfortunately that is not what we saw in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Instead President Obama expected everyone to cave in to his demands and He wasn’t willing to compromise. On the other hand the Republicans compromised on the taxes but they didn’t stand firm on expecting spending cuts. Leadership must be give and take willing to give in but expecting the others to give in as well. That is what working together is all about and that is what makes great leaders. Washington is filled with people who are not leaders just self serving freeloaders believi...

Last year my daughter did something on her blog called 12 in 12. Instead of setting resolutions or goals she came up with 12 things that she would do differently. I was inspired by her 12 in 12 and decided to do my own 13 in 13 this year. I am going to focus on leadership growth and personal growth. The next time I blog I will share my 13 in 13.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Keep following this blog in 2013 for new and exciting information on Leadership and Leisureship. In the coming weeks look for a recap of some of my favorites from 2012 and a look into the future of this blog.