How I decided to expand my skills
I love to talk. Period. Talking is part of my job and I love it. I became part of Toastmasters to give me the forum to share my passions with others, while improving areas that can help bring more impact to my verbal message. Like any high-functioning organization, Toastmasters has a great leadership team that drives members to accomplish their communication goals. As a member, I admired every officers’ ability to maintain the flow of the meetings and keep the chapter alive behind the scenes. They encourage members to be themselves as they work on their skills and confidence. Every year, there were elections held for leadership roles, and there were a few positions open for the 2020-2021 term. The President of my chapter as well as a few colleagues recommended I apply for a position. Whoa, wait – me? An Officer?
According to Forbes, Egon Zehnder’s survey of 823 international executives found that 71% of senior leaders said stretch assignments had the biggest impact on unleashing their potential. It also helps in self-promotion with tactical substance. Reading how much being in Toastmasters Leadership will be beneficial to my career, I open-mindedly read the role and responsibilities of each officer and consulted with the President. I asked myself a few questions to determine whether I should go for it.
What skills will I enhance from this assignment?
What skills will I learn?
Do I have the time to commit to being an officer for Toastmasters? The commitment was for one year.
What value will I bring to the organization?
Contemplating on my answers to these questions, I decided to submit my nomination for Vice President, Public Relations. I hold an eBusiness certification, and I thought my knowledge in branding, marketing and business will help gain new members, retain current members and promote the chapter. I also wanted to continue enhancing my leadership skills and gain experience outside of my project management day job. It sounded like fun. The tricky part is being able to handle that role while staying sharp in the other roles I play in life – Project Manager, Content Creator, Speaker, Wife, Mom. Thankfully I’m able to set goals for the organization as VP, PR as I see fit and I can control my time commitment.
I was sworn in as VP, PR after elections were held. I had so many ideas and was ready to take on the role. I was excited to build upon my project management expertise to execute my approved ideas, as well as contribute to ideas the officers had for the future of the chapter. We hosted a virtual coffee chat, where potential members can learn about Toastmasters, as well as created a web site for our chapter that held general information. Within the first six months of my role, our marketing efforts resulted in signing on at least ten new members, including those out of state and country! I realized I woke up a few skills I had but never really focused on, and I was proud to contribute to the success of Toastmasters.
How did I tie this back to my career? I capitalized on skills I had but not demonstrated daily. This stretch assignment also gave me an opportunity to gain a different perspective of being in a leadership role – different experience, expanded network, challenges, and successes than being in project management. It contributed to my growth and may potentially boost my chances of advancement. It also did wonders for my confidence.
I’ve taken on more than one stretch assignment, some with different intentions. I’ve taken this role as a Content Creator to feed my passion for writing, while giving value to women in STEM, and recently judged a DECA state competition remotely to practice evaluation skills. The key to taking these short-term projects is to want it bad enough and go above and beyond what it takes to learn and grow.
So how do you decide what stretch assignment to take on?
Determine your goal and direction for the assignment. Do you want to boost your career? Pivot careers? Focus on a skill to enhance?
Assess your risk factor. Will the assignment help you fulfill your goal? Are you willing to see it through to the end if it doesn’t prove fruitful right away, or willing to accept the trade-offs?
Are you willing to go out of your comfort zone?
Stretch assignments can bring you more knowledge power, help increase your commitment and value to an organization, and allow you to demonstrate skill sets to put you front and center. They are the stepping stones to achieving your goals. The projects don’t have to be Herculean, but challenging enough for you to ‘stretch’ beyond your current capabilities. When in doubt, seek mentors who can help you figure it out. Have you thought about what yours will be?
-Gail
