The recent arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich uncovered plenty of his leadership flaws, some of which reminded me of the problems I have seen in District 30.  Not respecting other people’s views unless it matched their view of the world.  Picking pet projects while ignoring higher priority issues.  Showboating instead of addressing problems and involving others to help out.  Playing favorites instead of treating each member and officer consistently.  Performing shady deals for their personal and political gain.  A few I’ve discussed in previous blog entries, others I plan to bring up in the future.

As one of 4 Toastmaster Districts in Illinois (54 and 8 cover a significant portion of the state, 19 includes two Quad City clubs on the IL side), it is time for those who run District 30 to set an example for everyone in the Chicagoland area and beyond by being selfless leaders.  It is time they stop talking about being the ones leading D30 to the “promise land” and perform the action to get there, without worrying about their glory or their legacy.  It is time they need to develop a plan to build clubs in a way they could remain viable for many years to come, not to pump up the numbers to get Distinguished Disrict by the next June 30th.  It is time they need to view the members and club officers as those who want to learn communication and leadership skills at their pace and comfort level, not commodities to get Distinguished Club goals.  In general, it is time the leadership needs to look into building District 30 for the future more than for the current term.

Chicago and Illinois are starving for leaders who put their communities and their people far ahead of their personal goals and ambitions.  Wouldn’t it be great if District 30 leaders can set such an example by looking at District 30, its clubs and its members beyond what they could do during the current term?