eloQuence: Issue no 58: Leadership

eloQuence JANUARY 2021

ISSUE NO. 58

LEADERSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01

Presidential Address

02

An ode from the VPPR

03

WMC Communication

09

17

21

Perspective

24

Birthday Celebrations

Feature

Reflection

PRESIDENT'S DESK Dear Members, We have reached the halfway mark of Toastmasters year 2020-21. With immense support from all of you, we have successfully published a series of fantastic eloQuence newsletters. We promise to publish more such newsletters with your help and contribution.

At this juncture we will be conducting the Moments of Truth. The Executive committee is looking forward to receiving some valuable feedback from the members on how we can execute affairs better in the second half of our Toastmasters term 2020-2021.

We successfully conducted our Club Contests in December 2020 and January 2021. The winners of the contests' will represent WMC Toastmasters Club at the Area Level. A huge round of applause for all participants and the very best of luck to the contestants for not just the Area Contest but for carrying the WMC flag to further heights!

Some exciting activities such as debates and joint meetings are lined up in the next six months! I urge all members to participate in these fun filled activities and gain more knowledge and expertise.

Best Wishes and Warm Regards!

TM YASHODHAN ABHYANKAR

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VPPR's MESSAGE This edition of eloQuence is dedicated to ‘Leadership’. This is one term that we have been introduced to, coached upon and implemented upon; right from our childhood. Yet, it is a lifetime evolution for us as Leaders! What Leadership means to each of us might be very different yet the fundamentals of being a leader is the same. As Peter Drucker quotes- “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.”

Apart from the many things we may have done to gain insight, we have all joined the Toastmasters platform to explore the horizons of Leadership and Communication. We have volunteered to lay ourselves in this path of learning, development and implementation to broaden our knowledge and sharpen our skills in these two broad domains.

We have networked and collaborated with each other whilst undergoing this beautiful journey in becoming a better version of ourselves! Every speech project, every meeting role, every Excom position, every contest entry and every eloQuence article that we have voluntarily taken up and contributed to is a true testament of that fact!

Hence, at this halfway mark of Term 2020-2021, we are dedicating this newsletter to the theme ‘Leadership’; we are dedicating this newsletter to YOU!!!

Truly yours’

TM SUKUMAR SWAMINATHAN

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C M W

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE JANUARY 2020

Welcome back to WMC Toastmasters TM Manu Phillip

Three Members celebrated their TMI anniversary

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EDUCATION UPDATE JANUARY 2020 Club Contests concluded and the winners are...

International Speech

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EDUCATION UPDATE JANUARY 2020

Humorous Speech

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EDUCATION UPDATE JANUARY 2020

Evaluation Speech

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EDUCATION UPDATE JANUARY 2020

Table-Topics Speech

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PUBLIC RELATIONS AWARDS DECEMBER 2020 WMC Toastmasters Club leads the district with THIRTEEN PR Awards (13 PR points) for 1st half 20-21 term (Jul-Dec 2020).

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FEATURE

Recently, my friend Carl got a new job with the task of quickly building a 600-person pharmaceutical sales team, and leading that team as the company enters a new therapeutic market. He’s an industry veteran who excels at strategy, execution and motivating his team. But he gave me a call because there was one leadership area he wasn’t as comfortable with: diversity & inclusion.

“My CEO is big on culture and this place is very different than all the other companies I’ve worked in,” Carl explained. “He told me that he expects me—from day one—to walk the talk on inclusion and to create a strengths-based culture. How do I do that? How should I start?”

We agreed to meet up for coffee to talk about it, and the first thing I did was hand him a printout with my scribbled notes in the column.

“What’s this?” Carl asked.

“This,” I said, “is the greatest leadership article I have ever read.”

THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP ARTICLE I’VE EVER READ

KEVIN KRUSE IS THE CEO OF LEADX WITH “COACH AMANDA,” AN AI-POWERED EXECUTIVE COACH THAT SUSTAINS AND SCALES LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.

The 5 Elements of Great Leadership I originally found this article on the military leadership blog, From The Green Notebook, and it’s called “The Map on the Wall.” I encourage you to click and read it in full, then return here for my break down.

1) Tactics That Work In The Real World 2) Culture Comes First 3) More Conversations, Less Rules 4) Focus on Strengths 5) Physical Objects As Cultural Reminders | PAGE 09

1) Tactics That Work In The Real World Part of why I love this article so much is because of who didn’t write it. It seems like popular leadership gurus today are the ones who repackage old concepts and who write social media messages that could have been found inside a fortune cookie. Yet these gurus have never built or led a team larger than their public relations staff and video crew. I’ll admit it—I’m partial to leadership advice from people who are actually doing it: leading large teams, day-in day-out, in the real world.

The Map on the Wall was written by Jack “Farva” Curtis, a U.S. Navy aviator who is currently the commanding officer of a Navy EA-18G squadron based at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. I personally have no affiliation with the U.S. Navy and have never met Commander Curtis. I did reach out to him via email in the course of writing this article.

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2) Culture Comes First Don’t make a new employee fill out paperwork on their first morning at work. Don’t immediately jump into your quarterly town-hall meeting with a review of financials. Instead use the power of first impressions, and the time when attention is at its peak, to focus on what really matters, which is culture. The first priority of any great team is actually the health of the team itself.

In the article, Commander Curtis explains that he has a large map of the United States on the wall of his office, with dozens of push pins stuck in it. Each pin represents the hometown of someone in the squadron.

He explains: “When a new member joins our team, regardless of rank or time in service, they go through a standardized check-in process that culminates in a one-on-one conversation with both the Executive Officer (XO) and the Commanding Officer (CO).

When we sit down for our first conversation, the first thing I ask them to do is take a pin out of the jar and place it on their hometown (or as near as they can get)...I point out that we come from different cultures, different values, different educations, different family dynamics, different spiritual or faith traditions, and many of us have different motivations to serve.”

Curtis chooses to use the valuable “first conversation” to focus on diversity & inclusion. I’ve known CEOs who open every meeting with a comment about safety, others always start by talking about a particular value, there is no one right answer. The point is to put attention on culture from the very start.

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3) More Conversations, Less Rules In my book, Great Leaders Have No Rules, I explain that even the best rules typically crowd out conversation.

Rules imposed by others—rather than being co-created—drive engagement down. Commander Curtis put a focus on inclusion, but he could have still messed it up by pushing it through rules—the classic authority model of leadership (which quite frankly emerged from the classic military command and control system).

He could have given a mini-lecture on the consequences of harassment and discrimination; he could have had new team members sign a personal conduct pledge.

Instead of dictating diversity, Curtis uses an interactive exercise. He kicks off the conversation by making it about them. “Take a pin out of this jar and place it on your hometown…” He then continues with a conversation about differences, in an environment with high psychological safety. He writes: “These conversations have proven humorous, enlightening, and more often than not, encouraging. I recall one recent check-in with a Sailor who told me he’d never worked with a black person before joining the Navy. Not alarming, he’s simply a product of where he was born and raised — and there just weren’t many black people where he grew up. Another Sailor I spoke with told me he’d never met a gay person prior to joining the Navy. Now, chances are high that he had and just didn’t know it, but the point was clear — he was in uncharted cultural waters.”

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3) More Conversations, Less Rules In my book, Great Leaders Have No Rules, I explain that even the best rules typically crowd out conversation.

Rules imposed by others—rather than being co-created—drive engagement down. Commander Curtis put a focus on inclusion, but he could have still messed it up by pushing it through rules—the classic authority model of leadership (which quite frankly emerged from the classic military command and control system).

He could have given a mini-lecture on the consequences of harassment and discrimination; he could have had new team members sign a personal conduct pledge.

Instead of dictating diversity, Curtis uses an interactive exercise. He kicks off the conversation by making it about them. “Take a pin out of this jar and place it on your hometown…” He then continues with a conversation about differences, in an environment with high psychological safety. He writes: “These conversations have proven humorous, enlightening, and more often than not, encouraging. I recall one recent check-in with a Sailor who told me he’d never worked with a black person before joining the Navy. Not alarming, he’s simply a product of where he was born and raised — and there just weren’t many black people where he grew up. Another Sailor I spoke with told me he’d never met a gay person prior to joining the Navy. Now, chances are high that he had and just didn’t know it, but the point was clear — he was in uncharted cultural waters.”

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4) Focus on Strengths Strengths comes into play in two powerful ways in Commander Curtis’ article. First, he rightly frames his diversity conversation with the perspective that diversity and inclusion are assets, they’re force multipliers. Inclusion isn’t just about being ethical, fair or because it’s the law. He explains: “I point out that we come from different cultures...But, and this is the key, now we’re all here — at this squadron — which means we now have a shared purpose, and all those differences…they’re features, not flaws...we’re better because we’re different. We’re stronger because we come from everywhere. And, we’re much more dangerous to any potential adversary because we don’t all approach difficult problems the same way.”

Additionally, outside of the domain of inclusion, leaders need to do more to practice strengths-based leadership. In a large study conducted by Gallup, they found that organizations that implemented a strengths-based approach to employee development achieved:

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

10% to 19% increased sales 14% to 29% increased profit 3% to 7% higher customer engagement 6% to 16% lower turnover (low-turnover organizations) 26% to 72% lower turnover (high-turnover organizations) 9% to 15% increase in engaged employees 22% to 59% fewer safety incidents

The research is clear, high performing leaders individualize their approach to management and focus on team members’ strengths. | PAGE 14

5) Physical Objects As Cultural Reminders The worst place to depict your company’s values, is in the list of values that hangs in your lobby and conference rooms. The best way to remind people of values and shared purpose, the best way to recognize examples of cultural excellence, is with physical artifacts.

In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle analyzes some of the world’s most successful organizations—including Pixar, the San Antonio Spurs, and U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six—and shares the common ingredients behind their success. In his “ideas for action” he talks about using physical objects to make the statement: this is what matters. At Navy SEAL headquarters you’ll see the gear of soldiers killed in action. At Pixar you’ll see original hand drawn sketches next to Oscar trophies. Instead of a list of generic words that people neither remember nor live, the right objects can convey a powerful message without words.

In my favorite leadership article of all time, the pin-filled map on the wall is far more than just a map. It’s a symbol to all who encounter it, and even serves as a reminder to Commander Curtis himself. “...It will always serve to remind me during my most frustrated and cynicism-filled moments how those little pins came together from everywhere to accomplish something seemingly unimaginable in today’s environment — unity of purpose, unwavering commitment, and courageous service from, and for, Americans of widely disparate backgrounds.” | PAGE 15

The Final Lesson: Leadership, and Inclusion, Can Be Learned

I reach out to Commander Curtis to ask whether he was always an inclusive leader; I would have guessed something in his own upbringing enabled him to be more aware of issues around belonging and privilege from the start. But that wasn’t the case. He told me:

“Was I always so inclusive as a leader...? No. I came up in Naval Aviation (early 2000s) when there weren't many female aviators, this was also prior to the repeal of don't ask don't tell, and the number of racial minorities in the officer ranks was as small then as it remains now. A significant "assist" in my development was marrying one of the few female aviators where I was stationed. We could go on for days about how that shaped (and continues to shape) how I view things today.

Being in the Navy for the repeal of don't ask don't tell was formative. It was the biggest non-event ever. We all just woke up the next day and came to work.

Where it all really came together for me was in the weeks prior to becoming the XO of my current squadron, as I would walk around the hangar meeting people. We really came from everywhere! That's something that we can embrace and "weaponize" as an asset, or it's something that can divide and limit our capabilities. My organization has one mission -to win in combat. That's it. If we don't find a way to get the best out of everyone - truly everyone - then we're like a football team taking the field with 10 players - it's gonna be hard to win. And, like I said, our mission is to win.�

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PERSPECTIVE

What are the 10 qualities that make a great leader, and a more human one too?

What are the attitudes and attributes of those who step into the arena and lead their teams to achieve the success trifecta—a great business, a happy team and a fulfilled leader? In my view, it boils down to having all of the following.

1. Positivity—It’s what I call “looking at the literal world in a favorable way.” You are certainly not a Pollyanna, but the arrow must always stay pointing up.

2. Purpose—You must have a place to which you want to lead someone, or a group (or yourself), that goes beyond just profit.

3. Empathy—You have to be able to walk a mile in the other person’s shoes, and apply the Golden Rule.

4. Humility—You want to make your team better than you. You shine the light on them. It’s not about you.

5. Will—You have to really want to get there, somehow, some way. And that needs to be right on your sleeve for all of your team to see, and feel.

TIPS FOR THE LEADER

TERRY “STARBUCKER” ST. MARIE IS A WRITER, CONSULTANT, ENTREPRENEUR AND STARTUP INVESTOR LIVING IN PORTLAND, OREGON. HE’S ALSO THE CO-FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER OF THE MEDIA PLATFORM FOCUSED ON OREGON ENTREPRENEURS, BUILTOREGON.COM. HE HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 100 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT EXPERTS BY INC. MAGAZINE. READ MORE AT WWW.TERRYSTARBUCKER.COM

“6. Relentlessness—Your positive tone, message, vision, values and expectations are out there, constantly, week after week, day after day, hour by hour.

7. Persistence—You are never satisfied. The bar can always be raised.

8. Curiosity—You don’t know everything, so first you need to admit it. You want to keep learning, and learning and learning.

9. Trust—It’s the sacred bond between you and your team that must be earned, not just be freely given or taken.

10. Positivity—You have to love leading your team, and not be afraid to talk about it, or express it.

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The 8 Principles of More Human Leadership

• Crossing the bridge from “I” to “We”—It can’t be about you. It’s about a team.

• Asking for trust and keeping your promises—Integrity is an absolute must.

• Establishing a mantra of key values—It’s the glue that holds all of us together.

• Finding and teaching more human leaders—The legacy must be passed on; we can’t do it ourselves.

• Building a culture of accountability—It’s all about fair- ness and shared responsibility.

• Measuring, monitoring and managing with the right metrics—The team needs to know where they stand, and what they are aiming for.

• Fighting complacency and the naysayers—Inertia is a momentum killer. So are those who still desire the old ways.

• Connecting it all to a higher purpose—Humans want to be part of a meaningful cause that’s bigger than themselves.

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Your body might be sabotaging your career. Not on purpose; your heart’s in the right place. In fact, you’ve mastered the basics. As a Toastmaster, you’re way past avoiding eye contact, wussy handshakes and the proverbial fig leaf arms. Beware of three more subtle nonverbal cues that can seriously damage your credibility as a leader.

Making Yourself Small When it comes to confidence, I’m in agreement with social psychologist Amy Cuddy: “Don’t fake it until you make it. Fake it until you BECOME it.” Her well-known TED talk provides important evidence that our body language shapes our own confidence, not just our credibility. Her research shows that closed arms, slouched postures, neck-rubbing and other self-protecting poses actually impact our hormones, making us feel less confident. Those feelings then further shape our non-verbal behavior, and the cycle continues.

YOUR BODY LANGUAGE COULD BE SAYING IT ALL.

KARIN HURT IS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER, LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT AND MBA PROFESSOR. HER BOOK WINNING WELL: A MANAGER'S GUIDE TO GETTING RESULTS—WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON. READ MORE LEADERSHIP ADVICE AT LETSGROWLEADERS.COM

If you want to become more confident, open up your arms and stance and take up more space in the room.

Being more aware and deliberate about your body language will not only help you look strong; it will actually help you feel more confident.

When you’re in a meeting, check your posture every 15 minutes. Notice what your body does when you’re not paying attention to it. Do you have a tendency to make yourself larger, or smaller? Try doing yoga, and take note of how poses like the Warrior and the back bend make you feel.

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Choosing the Wrong Seat I’m not talking about the power dynamics of working your way to the head of the table. It’s about choosing to sit on the sidelines rather than pulling a chair to the table. If you don’t belong at the table, you shouldn’t be in the room. If you’re running a meeting and there aren’t enough chairs at the table for everyone, get a bigger room or find a different approach. You won’t build confidence or create engagement by casting people to the sidelines.

Letting Your Stress Show This takes many forms, from coming in late and disheveled, to fidgety impatient behavior or chronic multitasking in meetings. “You look stressed” is not a compliment or a badge of honor for how hard you’re working, or how much you’re taking on. Calm and collected breeds confidence.

As celebrated dancer and choreographer Martha Graham says, “the body never lies.” Paying close attention to what your body is telling you and others will go a long way in bolstering your credibility.

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REFLECTION

PUZZLE

Answers in the next issue

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BRAIN TEASER Answers in the next issue

1. FOUR BOY SCOUTS TROOPS TOTALING 42 BOYS WENT CAMPING. IF THE SAME NUMBER OF BOYS WERE IN EACH VAN, HOW MANY VANS DID IT TAKE TO GET THE BOYS TO CAMP?

2. HOW DO YOU WRITE THE STANDARD FORM OF EIGHT MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO

3. WHAT IS THE NEXT NUMBER IN THIS SEQUENCE 7512, 7514, 7518, 7524, 7532, 7534?

4. IS THIS A TRUE STATEMENT 25,471 < 25,147

5. IF A NEW MOVIE SELLS 563 TICKETS ON FRIDAY NIGHT, 1297 TICKETS ON SATURDAY NIGHT, AND 316 TICKETS ON SUNDAY NIGHT, HOW MANY MORE TICKETS WERE SOLD ON SATURDAY THAN ON FRIDAY?

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LOGICAL THINKING Answers in the next issue

1. A BOOKWORM EATS FROM THE FIRST PAGE OF AN ENCYCLOPEDIA TO THE LAST PAGE. THE BOOKWORM EATS IN A STRAIGHT LINE. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA CONSISTS OF TEN 1000-PAGE VOLUMES AND IS SITTING ON A BOOKSHELF IN THE USUAL ORDER. NOT COUNTING COVERS, TITLE PAGES, ETC., HOW MANY PAGES DOES THE BOOKWORM EAT THROUGH?

2. THREE PEOPLE CHECK INTO A HOTEL. THEY PAY $30 TO THE MANAGER AND GO TO THEIR ROOM. THE MANAGER FINDS OUT THAT THE ROOM RATE IS $25 AND GIVES $5 TO THE BELLBOY TO RETURN. ON THE WAY TO THE ROOM THE BELLBOY REASONS THAT $5 WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO SHARE AMONG THREE PEOPLE SO HE POCKETS $2 AND GIVES $1 TO EACH PERSON. NOW EACH PERSON PAID $10 AND GOT BACK $1. SO THEY PAID $9 EACH, TOTALLING $27. THE BELLBOY HAS $2, TOTALLING $29.

WHERE IS THE REMAINING DOLLAR?

3. TWO BOXES ARE LABELED "A" AND "B". A SIGN ON BOX A SAYS "THE SIGN ON BOX B IS TRUE AND THE GOLD IS IN BOX A". A SIGN ON BOX B SAYS "THE SIGN ON BOX A IS FALSE AND THE GOLD IS IN BOX A". ASSUMING THERE IS GOLD IN ONE OF THE BOXES, WHICH BOX CONTAINS THE GOLD?

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Birthday Celebrations

January 17th

January 25th

January 30th

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Editor: TM Sukumar Swaminathan Contributing Editor : DTM Rekha Utham Editorial Panel (PR Sub-Committee) DTM Manoj Kumar Pandey TM Priyanka Gaikwad

Feature, Perspective and Reflections Contributors Article from Forbes.com Articles from Magazine archieve section of Toastmasters International Links from Activity Resource Booklet by Jennifer Jorgensen

Stock photos: Canva.com Designer: TM Sukumar Swaminathan

Disclaimer: eloQuence is a club newsletter meant for stimulating learning and education for WMC Toastmasters club members only. This is not a commercial newsletter and is not published for mass circulation. We respect all trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property rights of the brands, logos and content used within the newsletter. We would like to reiterate that any content is solely used for stimulating a learning environment for the club's members.

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