Changing Toastmasters Culture is a Movement, Not Just a Mandate

As I reflect on my time as Division Director for Toastmasters District 80’s Division G, one of the lessons learned in the face of a pandemic is that we need a new direction.  It is past the time where we do things as they were, and pretend that we can go back to how it was once this pandemic is past.  The world has changed, and people have changed with it.  It is time to be ahead of that curve, and not playing catch up. 

One of the things that we need to change, and this is a constant work in progress, is culture.  I am referring to culture at a club level, at a Division level, and perhaps, someday, it would trickle to District level.  My first thought was that such a change in culture would have to be a top-down approach.  That was the basis of my consideration to put in place a team to run for the top three over the next five years.  This involved two years of picking talent, and one term of training them out of those two years.  A three year succession plan was put in place, and bargains were made with other Divisions.  The same rules we use to wage war, are the ones we use in large organisations. 

However, one term as Division Director is enough for me to realise that the District Director is largely powerless if he has no acclaim or support.  As is the nature of such organisations, the most inoffensive rise to the top.  They tend to be largely older men, of little accomplishments in their professional lives, and most importantly, are of little threat to established power bases.  One or two in that line of successive directors would have specific powerbases in one or two Divisions, but little actual mandate beyond that.  This creates a constant state of near ossification in leadership.  Volunteer systems tend to reward mediocrity because there is little consequence for failure, and greater consequences for offence.  It would fail in the corporate sphere because this would effect profits and market share.  It would fail in government because elections would be lost. 

In such hierarchical, volunteer organisations, with no command-type structure, change must come from acclaim, wide adoption, and an evangelical movement.  It does not come from an imaginary mandate in a disinterested election.  Those delegates who take votes seriously vote out of self-interest, and that self-interest tends to favour the status quo.  It is human nature, and human nature is both a hindrance, and a flaw to be exploited.  Changing culture requires a movement, not a mandate.  Mandates have strings attached. 

To experience culture is like being immersed in an invisible ocean.  We can feel the currents, and the changes in temperature, and pressure.  We do not see the ocean itself, although we know it is there.  The fish do not see the sea, unless we remove them from it.  We do not see the air around us until we leave the atmosphere.  In that same vein, culture as a living movement of values and thoughts is better understood by those who are not fully immersed in it, those who can leave that ocean.  When the current is with us, the journey is facilitated, and there is approval.  When the current is against us, everything, from policy implementation, to new programmes faces resistance.

 

Culture change is often the most challenging part of any transformation.  Toastmasters is no different.  Innovation demands a new paradigm, a new set of behaviours from leaders, whether at club level or beyond, and from ordinary members.  These cultural changes are often antithetical to the norms of what we have developed in Toastmasters District 80.  However, that cultural change cannot be achieved through a top-down mandate, even when we have effective leadership.  It is even more implausible when leadership is mediocre.  A new culture must be nurtured, and developed, from within the collective habits and practices of members, through shared perceptions and common values.  People must be guided to a new direction. 

As Toastmasters struggles with adapting to a new paradigm, one with less human contact, clubs have to be more innovative, more adaptive, more cognisant of these changes.  Clubs that are hoping this will blow over, and things will go back to normal will not survive.  Toastmasters who hanker for the old ways will be severely disappointed.  In times like these, we need to examine the purpose of Toastmasters, and consider how we can apply it to the present reality. 

At its core, Toastmasters is about the application of the art of rhetoric at a practical level, for the individual.  It is meant to take the man on the street, and push him to the heights of public speaking so that he can give voice to others like him.  Toastmasters is about making people heard, and validated.  Beyond that, is it about keeping the conversation going so that disparate groups, across cultures, socioeconomic classes, nationalities, ethnicities, and even languages, feel that they are connected to a common ocean of humanity. 

The challenge we have is that people are still invested in the idea that meaningful interaction only occurs in a physical sphere.  Whilst it is true that much of communication is through body language, with modern technology, we have brought intimacy to a new level.  That is the paradox of video meetings.  While we have the ability to reach a wider group of people, all over the world, we are closer to them in intimacy because the camera focuses on us.  This is the difference between stage acting and screen acting.  On the stage, there is distance with the audience, even though the audience is at the play, in the theatre.  Movements have to be big, and recognisable from a distance.  In contrast, on screen, the camera is in your face, and movements have to be subtle, deliberate, and intimate. 

For one, we have to invest in members and potential members that video calls are here to stay.  They will not replace physical meetings, but they have a place in our lives, where professional, or personal.  Just as Toastmasters invest skills into effective communication in a physical setting, they should invest skills into effective communication across the medium of video.  That is the holistic approach.  Until members see the equal value of online meetings, we will continue to see attrition in membership, and a decline in attendance. 

For another, we have to convince members that online meetings have a reach beyond their club, and where there is reach, there is opportunity to be exploited.  Interaction and learning comes both ways, and online meetings are a unique opportunity to engage in cross cultural dialogue on a regular basis.  It is the impetus to move beyond comfort zones.  All this requires concrete steps. 

The very first step is to identify stakeholders at the most basic level, the club.  This means identifying club executive committee members who share those values, or can be convinced of it.  A seasoned Toastmaster who cannot convince people nearest to him of a shared vision is a failed Toastmaster, and should go back to basics.  Everything begins with what is in it for each person.  People are moved out of self-interest. 

The club must then move in that direction, and galvanise the membership.  It is important that this begins with a strong club because strong clubs have that weight to pull the rest of the Area, and then the Division in a new direction.  The Toastmasters system is a pyramid that depends on strong clubs.  This leads to a situation where a strong club president of a major club may have more influence that even the District Director, as long as that club is with him.  It is enhanced when members of that club are themselves sitting on positions in the District, from Area Directors, to various committee members. 

Once that vision is disseminated, and adopted within the club, it becomes part of its culture.  This is reinforced through an internal mentorship programme.  If it is a corporate club, then it requires the support of top management.  This is why it is always important for corporate clubs to have a policy of recruiting management as members, all the way to the C-suite.  The Toastmaster values of the club exercised through the prism of company culture.  When members feel personally aligned and invested in this new direction, it becomes the foundation of a new club culture.  That is leadership vision made manifest. 

The next step is not the Area, but the Division.  Strong clubs dominate their Division, and provide much of its leadership.  And because of the unique structure of the District, a good Division Director controls more votes at the District Council than most District Directors, unless they have that support of these Divisions.  Area Councils are means to empower Area Directors to disseminate the vision of the Division Council, and shape the direction of the Division.  This normally takes more than a term, so any such strategic plan requires planning for more than a single term.  This entails any such Division putting strong emphasis on the succession plan to ensure that the vision is supported. 

Turning a vision into an executive direction supported by a movement is similar to running an evangelical programme.  People must be converted to the cause through engagement, empowerment, and a system of reward and proscription.  At the same time, obstacles and threats have to be identified, and neutralised.  In organisational dynamics, this is often leftover leadership with a vested interest in the status quo.  They are the reason for organisational ossification, and they have to be addressed, sometimes ruthlessly. 

Now, we address the actual mechanics of creating this movement, something we are all part of.  It begins with investment in time and articulation of vision by the team.  It begins when each of us buys into the vision and become active stakeholders. 

Secondly, leadership must never be too simplistic, nor too hasty in translating that vision into the power dynamic of social interaction.  It takes a lot of communication, time, and effort for a vision to be translated, and subscribed to.  The people who follow need to understand how it benefits them before they become believers. 

Thirdly, the issues should be reframed in a manner than the people can understand, can relate to, and finally, subscribe to.  This is the application of the skills of pathos, and ethos, before logos.  The larger the crowd, the less logical.  People are moved by emotion first, before they rationalise it after the fact. 

Fourthly, the people need to feel a sense of urgency to adopt initiatives that support the vision, or it will lose momentum, and be lost in a sea of personal issues.  This is created by identifying an event, and framing the adoption in terms of stark success and failure, survival or extinction, us versus them.  This is done by juxtaposing the why of who and what we are versus an opposing ideology or idea that is inclement to it.  People need a named enemy to be motivated against it, even if that enemy is an idea. 

Fifthly, orchestrate quick wins and small victories.  This is done by celebrating small successes, so that the people are motivated, and directed in the correct direction.  This is the purpose of events such as Achievers’ Day and Members’ Night.  We elevate paragons of the vision, and diminish threats to it.  This steers the direction of the movement. 

To ensure the success of the vision, leadership should not simply declare the cultural shift they seek, because that would be seen as an imposed initiative.  This will create resistance because people are inherently sentimental, and seek comfort in the known.  They will rationalise their misery and failure, rather than address it.  Instead, it would make more sense to highlight paragons, and have people emulate their local heroes we create so that the movement can be nurtured, and steered in the correct direction. 

At every step, there is always work in ensuring that people become active stakeholders, recognising what they gain from this.  This involves continuous engagement, building coalitions of self-interest, and coopting existing networks.  People are always moved by self-interest before altruism.  This requires identifying leaders at all levels, and granting them recognition, so they become invested in the movement.  When people are engaged in the process, they will automatically come up with reasons to advance it.  They will rationalise their support.  This is how we ensure that innovation is adopted expeditiously. 

As these leaders of networks get more involved, we elevate them as icons, we create symbols for people to rally around.  This feeds the “us” versus “them”, cementing loyalty to the movement, making it evangelical within the organisation.  As such, change leaders are themselves symbols of a movement; their mandate of office is secondary.