Yow Kia

To run an organization, be it a profit organization or non-profit organization, we will face a common problem - the succession plan of an important position. I strongly believe that a strong organization is built by a group of strong leaders. We cannot afford to lose any committed/ good leader.

This year I’m lucky that once I took over the role as a president of The Frontier Toastmasters Club, I have a group of very committed and enthusiastic executive committee members.

However, the path was not always smooth throughout the journey. Recently, I had lost a committed member, I saw her as the right hand of mine as she would always plan the club chapter meeting by inviting guests and our own club members to fill up the appointment holder roles for the meeting beforehand, without fail. During the chapter meeting, she would always bring along her kid. I am very sure that her kid will be a great communicator in the future. Whenever I talked to her, I could feel that she possessed a very strong positive mindset and she made prompt decision. One thing for sure is after she has committed to perform a certain task, she would go all out to do her best. During meeting, during speech evaluation, during networking session, she always input her very valuable comments and personal thoughts that would easily pique our interests and touch our heart. I love to see her smile, her present in the club.

However, from the next meeting onwards, she will be no longer with us. She will be leaving Singapore to start her new chapter of life – a new career in India. Initial plan was going to Canada, but eventually, the destination has changed to India – her own country. One thing I felt very touch and pleased was she told me that she will still come to visit us during chapter meeting. But, I know, of course, it’s not for every chapter meeting. India and Singapore is not as near as Malaysia and Singapore.

She is the one who has been benefited a lot from the Toastmasters Club, and contributed a lot to The Frontier Toastmasters Club. I see her leave as a lost of The Frontier TMC.

Let’s face the reality. You must be wondering whether her leave will cause any problem to my club’s functionality. Of course! Then, it is my job to find a good person to replace her position. Wait… The lady who I’ve been mentioning since the start is Suchi, the Vice President of Education.

By chance or by THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, I don’t know, I got to know a lady who came all the way from China to Singapore to start her new chapter of life only 3 months ago. Again, a lady… Ladies are always very capable nowadays. I met her in a Toastmasters meeting and got to know that she was looking for a club to join. Good to hear that! I invited her to my club and I also got to know that she is an extremely active and committed Toastmaster when she was in Shanghai. Inviting her to join my club and be my club VPE would be a great IDEA, I thought. I shared my mission and plan to her… It seemed like we both share a common goal, that is to build a strong club and improve the members speaking skills.

Without thinking too much, she accepted my invitation. She is now the new VPE of The Frontier TMC and I believe, with her credibility and passion in Toastmasters Journey, she will definitely perform a GREAT JOB!

Welcome Cynthia to The Frontier TMC Family!

From this incident, I feel that networking is important in our life. If I didn’t go to visit other clubs, I would not have a chance to meet Cynthia and I may be still struggling now to look for a suitable VPE for my club.

Fr Left: Lee, Prabin, Suchi, Kia