Pat Johnson’s
Presidential Theme 2010–2011
Toastmasters: Achieving Greatness Together Consider this wise observation from the yoga sutras of Patanjali:
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
When I first read these words, I was amazed by how accurately they reflect our Toastmasters experience. It takes true inspiration and vision of whom and what we can become to bring us through the door of our very first Toastmasters meeting. It is said that a vision pulls us forward while fear pushes us. Whether it was the vision of the person you could become and the skills you could develop, or it was the fear or lack of confidence that pushed you through the door, welcome! Welcome to the safe and supportive environment where greatness happens!
When I was a relatively new Toastmaster, I believed I was a typical member. I thought most people came to the program looking for the same things I did. But what an amazing revelation this experience has been! I currently find people joining clubs worldwide who already have very sophisticated communication and leadership skills, people who already possess confidence and self-esteem. And so, I gradually realized that there is no typical new Toastmaster and therefore no “cookie-cutter” definition of how to define greatness for them. Indeed, greatness can be defined differently for each of us, depending on where our Toastmasters experience began. For some, greatness represents the newly-acquired ability to confidently organize and chair a meeting at work. For others it is evident when they rise to deliver a toast or a eulogy, or when they step onto the stage to deliver a world-class competitive speech. And yet for others, it is when they transfer these skills to their many and varied roles in life such as parent, spouse, sibling, employer or employee. Many others can look for their greatness in the application of their leadership skills by evolving and growing into greater, more confident versions of themselves.
As we mentor and support one another in our club environment, we share our own personal greatness. Toastmasters International is in the education business. Each time we offer an evaluation or feedback in the form of applause or a suggestion for improvement, we change the lives of men and women around the world — one person at a time, one assignment at a time. Step by step, we develop our own version of greatness. Mark Caine said, “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” Our Toastmasters program empowers us to break the bonds of captivity, to shrug off our lack of self-esteem and lack of confidence, and to move through the various levels of communication and leadership development, experiencing mini steps of success each time we challenge ourselves.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt must have been watching an Ice Breaker in a Toastmasters meeting. How many of us have stood in front of our club and had to stare down fear? That is greatness being born — right there, right in that moment. And it continues as we rise to face each of our fears or as our vision of a greater future draws us forward. There is a great depth and quality to our programs that responds to whatever our learning needs are. There is always something new, challenging and exciting to strive for within our program, if we care to find it. I believe that when we are ready to learn, the teacher will appear. And in my experience that teacher has been the Toastmasters program for more than 27 years.
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it — but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” So my fervent wish for each of us is that we spend some time recognizing and acknowledging our own personal greatness. Remember that your greatness will be unique to you. It will be as unique as your own DNA. We need to take action, to set and achieve goals, to continue to work the program and to challenge ourselves today to develop into greater communicators and greater leaders tomorrow. So I challenge each club leader to create an environment within our clubs where we elicit each individual’s greatness. And I ask each member to continue to challenge you to grow and develop into the best communicator and leader you can be. John Buchan said, “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.”
Norman Cousins sums up my thoughts and feelings on the concept of our Achieving Greatness Together within the Toastmasters program. He said, “If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality.” This is the gift we give, as well as receive, in our Toastmasters club environment. That is greatness!
