COMPETENT LEADERSHIP MANUAL

A Quick Guide
By Dale Hartle DTM
April 2008

This document outlines the contents of the Competent Leadership

Manual, and how the manual can be utilised for the benefit of
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club members.
Who has the Competent Leadership Manual?
All new members automatically receive a manual along with the Competent Communicator manual
in their new member pack.
All current Committee members should have a manual which could be purchased by the club, and
all other members may purchase the manual from District Supplies.

What is the Competent Leadership Manual?

This manual consists of 10 projects, comprising some 20+ individual activities, some meeting
related, and some to be completed outside of a meeting, in your own time as part of a specific role.
You can complete only one activity per meeting, or event.
The objective of the manual is to develop a range of leadership skills, with each project focussing
on a different skill. The projects do not need to be completed in the order they are in the manual.
The VP Education should assign an evaluator who will observe the activity being performed by the
member, and give personal feedback. Oral evaluations are recommended only if meeting time
permits, but written evaluations are always required. Evaluations require answering 4-5 questions
about how the person fulfilled the role, what could be done differently and what was done well.
All 10 projects must be completed to be awarded the Competent Leader Award.
This document outlines the roles and how they should be undertaken, with examples of the types of
activities which are suitable.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

Project 1 Listening and Leadership

The first project focuses on the leaders Listening Skills for the roles of Evaluator, Table Topics
Speaker, Ah-Counter or Grammarian. You must do any 3 of the 4 roles over the course of several
club meetings.
The project involves identifying the seven steps to better listening and gives a range of meeting
roles where this can be practised.
Some clubs do not regularly schedule an Ah-Counter or Grammarian, but these roles could
be programmed in consultation with the Chairperson, so that these activities can be used to
claim credit for this project, if a member wishes to complete them.
The roles of Evaluator and Table Topics Speaker are always available at a club meeting.
Project 2 Critical Thinking
Project 2 covers the elements of critical thinking, with the roles of Evaluator, Grammarian or
General Evaluator required. You must do any two of the three roles.
Critical thinking covers interpreting, analysing, assessing credibility and reasoning and the three
roles involve listening carefully and offering suggestions for improvement.
Club meetings always have Evaluators and a General Evaluator at meetings, and the role of
Grammarian could be programmed if requested.
Project 3 Giving Feedback
The third project involves giving feedback, with suggestions as to how to give effective feedback as
a leader in a team environment. The roles of Evaluator, Grammarian and General Evaluator are
used to practise these skills, and all three roles are compulsory for Project 3.
Giving Feedback involves listening, identifying points for comment, and giving the feedback in a
positive manner.
Club meetings always have Evaluators and a General Evaluator, and the role of
Grammarian could be programmed if requested.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

Project 4 Time Management

This project requires the member to determine their current time management skills and identify
steps to effectively manage their time.
Several tips for Managing Your Time are given in the project and the roles which offer the
opportunity to practise time management are Toastmaster, Speaker, Table Topics Master,
Grammarian and Timer. For this project, serving as Timer is compulsory, with any one of the other
four roles being required, all involving keeping to the time allocated for each role or meeting
activity.
Clubs always have one Timer per meeting, along with a Toastmaster (chairperson),
speakers, and table topics master. The role of Grammarian could be programmed if
requested.
The role of Timer involves keeping the time, and noting all times, and the member
completing this activity should give a short Timekeepers Report before the General
Evaluation, so that the project evaluator can assess how the role of timer was performed.
This would involve prior liaison by the member with the Chairperson to include a place in
the agenda for the delivery of the Timekeepers Report, thus fulfilling the aspects of time
management outlined in the project evaluation about confirming speakers time
requirements, accurately timing speakers, explaining timing rules and presenting a
timekeepers report.
Project 5 Planning and Implementation
Project 5 covers the leadership aspects of planning and implementing, including determining goals,
establishing strategies, setting timetables, assigning responsibilities and anticipating obstacles.
The member must complete any three of the four roles: Speaker, General Evaluator, Toastmaster or
Table Topics Master.
All four roles are usually undertaken at each Toastmasters meeting so completing this
project should be possible over several months.
Evaluation covers the aspects of ensuring the goals of the activity were clear, careful thought and
preparation was evident, and others were involved where necessary in a team environment.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

Project 6 Organising and Delegating

Project 6 covers the skills required by a leader to delegate tasks to team members, and how a leader
relies on the efforts of a team to accomplish goals and objectives. The project gives suggestions on
how to delegate, and provides opportunities for activities which can be delegated in a club and
meeting environment.
The project requires the member to practise organisation and delegation skills by
(1) helping to organise a club speech contest,
(2) helping to organise a club special event,
(3) helping to organise a club membership campaign or contest,
(4) helping to organise a public relations campaign,
(5) helping to produce a club newsletter, and
(6) assisting the club webmaster.
The member must serve in one of these 6 roles to claim credit for this project.
Most clubs hols two official contest nights per year for the 4 contests. Examples for credit
in this project include working with the Contest Chairperson by serving as chief judge, or
sergeant at arms, or being responsible for trophies and certificates.
Examples of a special event may include helping to organise an open meeting, a Speechcraft
graduation, an area contest evening, having a special guest speaker, a club dinner, or club
Christmas party. The member is required to assist with planning an event by serving on the
committee in some capacity.
To gain credit for the club membership campaign, the member must work under the
direction of the VP Membership in some leadership capacity, such as tracking and reporting
on new members as a result of a campaign.
Assisting with organising a public relations campaign in some way, by writing an article for
a local newspaper or club website, preparing advertisements etc are suggested for item 4 by
working with the VP PR.
Some clubs do not produce a club newsletter, but a member may decide to solicit articles
and publish a special edition for a special purpose.
Some clubs have a Club Webmaster and a Club Website, and a member could assist by
checking the website, preparing articles and updates, and advising these to the webmaster.
Serving as a backup webmaster by learning how the website is maintained would also be a
suitable project.
The evaluation criteria for Project 6 cover describing the role the leader chose, how well the leader
used organisational and delegation skills to fulfil the role, what could they have done differently,
and what did they do well.
Because these roles require activities outside of the club meeting environment, where the evaluator
cant make observations, it is suggested that they interview the member to get the information
needed to answer the questions.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

The member undertaking this project will need to decide which of the 6 activities they would
like to do, and liase with the President, member of the Committee, or Event Organiser to
fulfil the criteria required. This may involve serving as part of an event sub-committee, or
working 1-1 with the respective Committee member, Eg Webmaster.
The member may decide to deliver a speech to the club outlining their role and how they
fulfilled it, which the evaluator could then use for evaluation purposes.
An alternative is that when a member decides to tackle this project, an evaluator should be
assigned immediately so that they can follow progress with the project and provide feedback
if necessary, before the final evaluation is considered.
There is no time limit, event size or quantity of work specified for this project, so it would be
up to the individual member acting as the leader to determine these aspects when they begin
the activity or project, and this should be notified to the evaluator.
Project 7 Developing your Facilitation Skills
Project 7 covers the role of a leader acting as a facilitator in a meeting role. The project notes
outline the responsibilities of a facilitator, how to resolve conflict, build and gain consensus.
This project provides facilitation skill practice as Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Table Topics
Master, or Befriending a Guest at a Club Meeting, and two of the four roles must be accomplished.
The Toastmaster, General Evaluator and Table Topics Master meeting roles always occur
at club meetings and are easily evaluated. The evaluation criteria cover explaining the
purpose of the meeting, handling interruptions or questions, coordinating the timing and
ensuring guests understand what is going on with the various aspects of a Toastmasters
meeting.
The evaluation criteria for Befriending a Guest involve ensuring that the member welcomed
the guest and introduced them, and adequately explained the different parts of the meeting
and the various roles being performed. The evaluator would be able to assess these aspects
by observing the member during the meeting, and interviewing the guest immediately after
the meeting before they left, or by phone following the meeting. This would be ideal when
the member acting as the leader has personally invited the guest and is their host during the
meeting or is acting as Sergeant At Arms for the meeting.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

Project 8 Motivating People

Project 8 focuses on the skills a leader needs to motivate a highly successful team. The project
notes covers the basic principles of motivation, lists the things that motivate people, and gives
suggestions on how to reward team members for being motivated to achieve a successful outcome.
For Project 8, the leader is to complete 3 roles, including at least one compulsory activity which
must be chairman of a club membership campaign or contest, or public relations campaign. The
other roles are Toastmaster, Evaluator or General Evaluator.
The compulsory activity in this project requires the member to work with the VP
Membership or VP PR to chair a membership or public relations campaign. This involves
planning, preparation, and scheduling of the activities at suitable times of the year.
For example, a member could work with the Speechcraft Coordinator to do all the publicity
for a proposed membership building Speechcraft course, or receive and process the
responses, ensuring the participants become members of the club by signing them up.
Other suitable activities could promoting an event such as a Powerpoint Workshop, Open
Meeting, or Club Contests.
The other 3 roles are regular club meeting roles which are always performed at a meeting.
For this project they require a higher level of motivation and public recognition to be
evident for success.
The evaluator for the compulsory aspect of this project is required to assess how well the leader
explained the purpose and importance of the campaign to the club, and how effectively they
motivated others to participate.
The evaluator for the other roles should observe how the leader motivated and encouraged others to
fulfil their roles, using praise and public recognition as a motivational tool to contribute to the
success of the meeting.
Project 9 Mentoring
Project 9 helps the member develop their mentoring skills by outlining the benefits of being a
mentor, the characteristics of a mentor, and gives tips on how to be a good mentor. The project
offers a number of ways the leader can practise being a mentor by either mentoring a new member,
an experienced member, or a member completing their high performance leadership project. In this
project, the mentee gives the feedback in the evaluations.
Clubs should offer all new members the opportunity to have a mentor.
There is also an opportunity for experienced members to mentor each other, and for an
experienced member to mentor a member completing the HPL project.
When a member wishes to complete this project, they should decide which of the mentoring
roles they wish to complete, and let the VP Education know so that they can be matched up
with a suitable mentee, if one is not already assigned.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008

This project would ideally be completed over a number of weeks or months, to be decided by
the two parties involved, depending on which aspect was chosen.
The evaluation criteria which is completed by the mentee evaluates the mentor about the range of
helpful advice and suggestions offered, and the personal attributes of the mentor, as well as what
could have been done differently, and what was done well.
Project 10 Team Building
The final project in the manual is all about team building. The leadership role in a team is
discussed, along with how to organise a team, train the team, and foster communication.
Project 10 involves practising team building skills over a range of roles:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

Toastmaster
General Evaluator
Club membership campaign or contest chairman
Club public relations campaign chairman
Club speech contest chairman
Club special event chairman
Club Newsletter editor
Club Webmaster
Club meetings always have a Toastmaster and General Evaluator. To meet the
requirements of this project, the leader would need to liase with the other role holder/s to
ensure a successful event or production.
The other roles involve leading a team to complete the activity, or range of activities, such
as a Speechcraft course, anniversary dinner, PR campaign, Club speech contest, producing
a newsletter or website.
This would need coordination and approval by the President and the Committee, especially
if funding was involved, and should be part of a planned approach by the club.

For this project, the member must serve as both Toastmaster and General Evaluator over the course
of several club meetings, OR serve in one of the remaining roles.
Because some of these roles take place outside of the club meeting, the evaluator may have to
interview the member to get the information required to complete the evaluation, or participate in
the event or production and observe from that position. Some of the aspects covered in the
evaluation include working with others to organise the event, establishing a collaborative and
trusting environment, encouraging questions and helping the team to function effectively for
success.
Competent Leader Award
When all the requirements of the Competent Leadership Manual have been completed, the member
can apply for the Competent Leader Award.

Competent Leader Manual

By Dale Hartle DTM
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club 7868/72

19/04/2008