President’s Address: Fresh Insights

The following was my President’s opening address for AIA Toastmaster Club’s NFNF online meeting, held on the 23^rd July 2020.

My fellow Toastmasters, my colleagues, my AIA family.

This is the first NFNF, and the first real meeting of the new term, after the Installation.  What we do here sets the tone for the rest of the term.  We are here to make a difference, and we look forward, at the end of the term, to the breaking of norms, the shattering of records, and the setting of milestones.  To do that, we need every one of us to step up to the challenge.

We are looking for fresh insights, a different way of doing things, a better way to succeed.  For those of us who have been in this industry for years, decades even, it is obvious that the world has changed.  There were periods of rapid change followed by a slow evolution, and now, we have this whole new horizon to survey.  We are not going back to the way it was before.

One of the ways agencies were run is the crucible of recruitment, struggle and then, either success or failure.  It guaranteed a high attrition rate.  That is unacceptable.  It is a waste of human resources and training, and demoralising to the FSCs.  That is a top down, by the numbers approach that does not dignify people.  We are here to succeed, and that means we must do that together.

What I want us to consider is the creation of teams, of four or five or more.  Whether within or across agencies, of people of varying skill sets and experience levels.  There is institutional knowledge, and there is fresh insight.  We need to work together to close cases, and share our success.  I want us to be committed to helping the newest, the weakest among us, and be strong together.  We are not just a corporate Toastmasters club.  We are an incubator for success, as long as we are committed, with a common vision, and shared values.

We are stronger together, better together, AIA together.