By Jean Andresen, DTM, Division B HPL Chair
Want to become the Project Manager of a project you design based on your own interests, goals, or needs? How? One of the requirements for the Advanced Leader (AL), an advanced award in the Leadership track, is completing a High Performance Leadership (HPL) project. To earn the highly coveted DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster), Toastmasters requires that you complete both the Communication and Leadership tracks. But too many Toastmasters shy away from pursuing that DTM because they view attaining the HPL as some unknown factor to fear. The truth is exactly the opposite; the HPL provides an opportunity to pursue a project that particularly interests you.
As the name suggests, the HPL project focuses on developing leadership skills in all participants. HPL is a systematic method of learning about project implementation as part of a mutually supportive team. It will strengthen your organizational skills while working on a project of your choosing and design.
To get the most from your HPL experience, help build your team by finding other Toastmasters interested in completing a project. This group (3–5 is a good number) serves as one another’s guidance committee while each works on a unique project. Committee members will counsel you and evaluate your work, and you will do the same for each of them.
Your guidance committee will help you assess your current leadership skills and how to become a more effective leader; develop a vision and a mission with values; create an action plan; learn to analyze your efforts; and manage your time well. In turn, you will help other team members address these same issues so they can accomplish their missions and learn to push through setbacks.
As with all its programs, Toastmasters provides well-developed materials, here in the form of the HPL guidebook, to aid you in completing your project. The program uses the Toastmasters proven learning process of study-action-feedback. For example, each of the five sections of the HPL program can serve as the topic for a meeting:
The facilitator, a role that rotates for each meeting, leads the group discussion on the topic. Each member presents the activities from his or her individual project as it relates to the topic. Each person then provides feedback to that member.
Use the principles on ANY project–-Toastmasters, Work, Community, Family—the choice is yours. Some examples of projects Toastmasters have undertaken include organizing a Toastmasters Area Speech Contest, increasing a Toastmasters Club’s membership, starting a new club, coaching a club to President’s Distinguished status, developing a plan for forest protection of large trees in high-use areas, creating a business plan, starting a new business, organizing a political plan, planning a high school reunion, and organizing a family reunion.
From this brief survey of HPL projects, you can see the possibilities are as wide as your interests. If you’ve been postponing completing your HPL project, here’s how to get started today:
Come on. What pet project have you always wanted to see come to life? Design your own HPL project and make it happen.