Is the New Competent Leader a Competent Program?

This weekend I attended the TLI session for Vice Presidents-Education. The main item of concern (or contention, for some) is the new Competent Leader manual and how a) to get club buy-in to complete the manual, b) to weave it into a regular meeting and, c) to ensure it is a worthwhile endeavor for members.

So, some thoughts on each of these, both personal and gleaned from the meeting.

How can a club get buy in from its members on pursuing the new Competent Leader? When the program was announced in 2005, I looked into it and found the presentation scripts provided on-line. I talked it up at meetings as an officer. And when it became available, I purchased one. Then I started working on the manual, asking members to evaluate the different things I was working on. Finally, we bought a few of the manuals for club members and offered it to those who are interested in pursuing the CL and who did not already have the manual. I also provided each club member with a copy of TI 2005 description of the program and a copy of the assignment matrix I developed for my own use, as a way of letting members know how in depth the manual was. I feel that talking it up, going forward by myself and a couple other members, and actually putting into members’ hands goes a long way towards getting the club members to buy into the leadership program.

How can a club weave it into a regular meeting? Where I’ve been garnering a written evaluation in a hit or miss fashion, someone in the session pointed out they added a CL Evaluator Role to the meeting agenda. This person completes the written evaluations for anyone working on their CL manual. Because of meeting time constraints, these evaluations are not done orally. The number of people completing a CL assignment may vary from meeting to meeting, so the CL Evaluator’s effort will vary as well. As VPE in my club, I’ve unilaterally decided in implement this role on a trial basis and will evaluate how well it works at the end of the TM year.

Finally, there was concern that by not following the manual in the order presented, members may not discover the true value of the manual. The comparison was made to following the progression of speech assignments in the communication manuals, where one skill build upon another; is it truly wise or worthwhile to do the “Inspire Your Audience” speech immediately after completing your “Icebreaker?” I believe there is some merit to this belief, but my opinion is that the CL manual is designed to be opportunistic—that is, complete the assignments as you can. Ideally, each skill/project should be mastered before moving to the next, but I cannot see VPEs and members easily, or willingly, scheduling assignments based on the manual progression. (“Joe, you’re working on your CL and ACB. In February you’ll be an evaluator, Grammarian, and Table Topics speaker.”) Additionally, like the HPL, some of these projects are on-going or extend beyond a meeting or two (organize a club contest, run a membership drive, web or newsletter editor). Until TI comes out and tells me flat out that the manual needs to follow the listed order, I’ll allow my members to complete the manual in the order they choose.

These may not follow the company line, but they are my thoughts and opinions. I hope they hold some value to you. And I am always happy to take your comments.