New Year, New You – Starting the Year Successfully

Posted on January 11, 2014 by MarleneMB

“New Year, New You,” exclaimed Maria as we both walked through the parking lot to our cars. I had shared with her that we needed to come up with a theme for the Toastmasters Leadership Institute. Every six months, Toastmasters International mandates that at least four of the seven club officers in each club (over 14,000 clubs world wide) in the organization should receive leadership training. This training is called Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI). It is not an easy task to pull together a training session for the amount of people that required training. We wanted a theme that would attract folks to sign up for the event.

As the Division Governor of Division A, one of my duties is to ensure that the officers receive this training. Currently, there are over twenty clubs in the division and this equate to a minimum of eighty officers. I enlisted Maria’s assistant in coaching our newly appointed TLI chair, Carmen, with organizing the event. Maria had previously done this and I thought it would be great to have her share her knowledge with Carmen. It was a way to help Carmen develop her leadership skills while helping Maria develop her coaching skills. I am happy to say, “Mission accomplished. “

These two women collaborated with each other on the theme; they came up with great ideas for memorbilia for the attendees to purchase, special raffles, and much more. They visited the venue to ensure that the facility will accommodate all the workshops, the space for the sponsors and for the food. They enlisted the aide of many people to cover registration, hospitality, facilitators, etc. During the planning stages, they conducted conference calls with the major coordinators and kept me updated with their progress. When they needed my assistance, they pulled me in to help guide them when necessary.

I learned a lot during this process as well:

Learn to delegate and not take everything on myself
Assign the tasks to someone that you know has the potential to grow
Provide this person with a partner that can coach him/her through the assignments
Give him/her the power to be creative
Encourage him/her along the way
Recognize him/her for a job well done and allow him/her to shine

The event was a great success! We had over 200 attendees. The presenters, facilitators, club officers and guests gave rave reviews of the event. My mentor, Norman, who has been a Toastmasters for twenty-seven years, came up to me and said it was one of the best TLI he has ever attended. I was beaming like a proud mom for Carmen and Maria. As I read through the evaluations of the workshops and the event, I realized that the theme was perfect. Many of the respondents stated that the presenters, the keynote speaker and the event impacted them in a positive way. They learned new things and left with great ideas for themselves and their club members. What can you do to become a New You in the New Year?

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Increase Your Diamond Carat Value

Posted on April 22, 2013 by MarleneMB

“Invest in the human soul. Who knows it may be a diamond in the rough.”

Mary McLeod Bethune

Using your skills to help others grow and increase their self-worth increases your value to them. They will know that you care about them and their success and your carat value will become larger in their mind. Increasing your diamond carat value means applying all your skills and knowledge in a purposeful way.

Enjoy “Shine Bright Like a Diamond” by Rihanna: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpKyPS1Qeqs]

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Mentoring Sarah Noel – Refreshing and Renewing

Posted on April 14, 2013 by MarleneMB

Throughout the years, I have had the benefit of having great mentors in my life. This made it easy for me to decide that I want to become a mentor to others. One of the organizations of which I am a member and act as a mentor, is the ITWomen organization. This group raises scholarship funds for young women pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) arena; provide networking opportunity for women in technology; and also mentors young women (and some men) in these areas.

At one of the schools that I visited to share the ins and outs of college life with the students, I met Sarah Noel. The first time I saw her, she had a copy of Les Miserable in her hand. I asked her if she had to read it for a class. She replied “No. I wanted to read it for myself. I like to read.” I immediately told her that I know she will be a great leader one day…great leaders like to read as well. That was over two years ago. Sarah and I have kept in contact with each other due to our kindred spirits in seeking to help others.

This past week she shared the picture of her in her cap and gown as she prepares to graduate from high school and continue her education at undergraduate level. The joy that I feel in seeing her picture gives me such hope for her future success. The amazing thing about my interaction with Sarah is that as I encouraged, mentored and shared with her my experiences; Sarah was opening my eyes to the wonders of believing and pursuing one’s dreams.

As adults sometimes the busyness of life causes us to push aside our dreams and aspirations. Mentoring Sarah and others like her helps me to keep my focus on my dreams. Thank you Sarah for giving me the opportunity to serve you and in the process develop myself as well. I know you are focused on living a Diamond Life, a Life of Purpose!

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Do-It-Anyway-Thursday

Posted on February 21, 2013 by MarleneMB

Do-It-Anyway-Thursday, especially when you don’t feel like doing it…

1) Want to work out but don’t feel like it, get up, get dressed, get going
anyway
2) Want to write that book but the words don’t come, start typing anyway
3) Want to give that speech but feeling fearful, give it anyway
4) Need to make more sales call but fear rejection, pick up the phone, smile
and dial, call anyway
5) Want to start that non-profit foundation, but not sure how the start,
research, reach out and start it anyway
6) Going on that audition and not sure if the role is for you, give it your best
anyway

The sky is not the limit, when you do it anyway. Keep pushing and see you on the side of Living the Diamond Life! Living a Life of Purpose!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Realizing a Dream

Posted on February 10, 2013 by MarleneMB

There are many things I want to experience, accomplish and/or learn in life. I wanted to learn more about Emerson’s and Thoreau’s works, I got that in my Masters program. I wanted to live near the water; I got that when I moved by the Bay. I wanted to learn to ballroom dance; I did last year, thanks to my friends, Anita Fain Taylor and Miguel Seca. There was one thing that was a desire from a long time, one time that seemed far from my reach. This was to learn how to paint. I have painted rooms, chairs, etc., but I wanted to paint a picture.

My father painted when he was alive. My brothers know how to paint. They seem to acquire the talent naturally. My sister and I were not that fortunate to have this talent. Like a lot of people, I thought I could only draw stick men or do painting by number for the rest of my life. Then, appeared Conni Gordon. This almost ninety-year-young woman conducted a painting class that I was fortunate to be one of the students. The other participants and I had lots of doubts about our ability to paint anything, much less the ones we created. This painting included in this article is now one of my proudest possessions. Thank you Conni Gordon for fulfilling one of my life’s dreams.

Now to learn how to scuba dive, play the piano, a guitar and the drums; travel around the world; learn to speak French, Mandarin, and so on and so on!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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