Club Loyalty

Right now we will continue to run "themes" from Monday to Saturday for both club meetings.  For various reasons the turnout was at the lowest level that we can hold a constructive and engaging meeting, and that threshold of four members attending was reached today on the Saturday "Success Masters" program. 

The Theme of Club Loyalty is dedicated to the members who are fully behind the Saturday program and while the baseline of the new Saturday program is set at 8 members, having half of that number show up is problematic to smooth flow of the agenda.  As it is I admire those who did show up, which were all new members.  

It is understandable that Saturday is not a day that some students like and with college finished it is no longer a case of sticking around the college when class has finished, in order to participate as a part of a club.  There is no shortage of student clubs to choose from.  The turnout does not define viability of the club, because even on Saturday the car-park was full but I can readily guess that 0.0001% of them of prospects who can attend the club on Saturday, are blind to the knowledge of that club even existing.

I am big on a form of loyalty that is accompanied with a two-way relationship.  The Toastmasters values spell RISE

RESPECT

INTEGRITY

SERVICE

EXCELLENCE

These four values are found in other organizations and institutions also. In all four areas that is where loyalty should be measured up.  Loyalty should accompany respect, we have become a society where respect is assumed rather than earned.  Loyalty should accompany integrity, so we are not blindly loyal to people that we may rationalize as great, but who have great personal floors hidden behind their professional facade.  Loyalty requires service because there is no loyalty empty promises, only a vision that is capable of realizing itself or teaches us to choose a different path of inquiry.  Finally Loyalty should accompany excellence.  Excellence is a different beast to perfectionism.  Excellence transcends perfectionism and that is the difference between valuable existence and self-destructive values.

The theme CLUB LOYALTY is my way of reducing the message and focusing on broader brushstrokes and in so doing start seeing a different quality of RISE in our two meeting club.