Most of us joined Toastmasters to work on our weaknesses, whether it is to simply speak in front of people, giving a speech without fainting, responding to an impromptu question or giving an constructive evaluation.  For many who never served in a leadership position for any company or organization or find it intimidating, Toastmasters is a great way to build leadership skills and allow members to stretch their comfort zone.

But how about those who have “been there, done that”, whether it is taking on every meeting role, serving as a club officer (especially President) or a district office, or dealing with numerous situations with other members?  If it’s OK to try and try better again, how long should we be doing this until we either get it absolutely correct or give up?

As I mentioned in some of the previous entries, there are some things in Toastmasters that I’ve been involved in the past that I don’t want to do again, such as holding a District 30 office or a committee role or serving as a Club President.  As mentioned in the most recent entry, I’ve reacquainted myself with Marcus Buckingham and since that time I purchased his most recent book “Go Put Your Strengths to Work”.  Throughout the book, Marcus stressed that what we should be focusing is what we enjoy doing and if there is something that has drained or aggravate us, regardless of whether we are good at it, we should stop or at least try to avoid that.

This does contradict what we in Toastmasters are preaching to our guests and our newer members, however as a 10-year member who seemed to has seen everything and dealt with an enormous amount of situations, I tend to evaluate what in Toastmasters I enjoy doing and what has aggravated me.  One thing that has annoyed me recently in my primary club is that many of the other members seem to typecast me as someone who is still deeply involved in Toastmasters.  I skipped both April meetings as I had some conflicts and when I returned for the first May meeting, there were a few members that asked me if I left town last month, as if I don’t have anything else going on besides Toastmasters!

The book reinforced my current Toastmasters direction that I want to get involved in my own terms and focus on the work that gives me fun and enjoyment.  It doesn’t mean I’ll stop taking on new challenges, for instance I told my primary club that I want to serve as next year’s VP of Public Relations as I never held that position and have some ideas we could try, while I’m not interested in serving as Club Secretary again as I feel obligated to attend nearly every meeting and reinforce what other members think of me.  I will still encourage other Toastmasters to try something that they never done which they may find intimidating, in the hopes they will grow and find something that they can build on as a Toastmasters member and beyond.  If they went through that experience several times and not enjoy it, I’ll understand if they don’t want to go through it again.