Volume 1, Issue 2 June 2015

Expand Your Horizons 2

Team Work 3

Achievements 3

Activity at the club 4

Silver Jubilee Event 5

Moment of Truth 5

Evaluation Framework 6

First Elections 7

Elected Committee 8

Rendezvous 9

Power of Words 10

Joys of Teaching 11

Communication Com-petencies

12

Progressive Learning 13

Toastmaster USA visit 14

Employee Engagement 15

The Interview 17

Mentor and Mentee 18

New Titles 19

Club Pics 20

Closing 21

Inside this issue

Horizon News Let ter

Toastmasters Club of Pune - North East Where Leaders are made

All Images* by : Suraj Deo Singh

One meaning of horizon (həˈrʌɪz(ə)n/) is the line at which the earth's surface and the sky appear to meet. The other meaning is the limit of a person's knowledge, experience, or interest.

What is the limit of our knowledge, experience, or interest? Do we need to expand our horizons? In all facets of this burgeoning world we cannot af-ford to be complacent about the knowledge and experience we have gained and the interests we have. Most of us don’t get platforms to showcase our talents so they become latent and we are complacent about what we have. And as I mentioned in

the previous editorial, complacency is one of the biggest human failings. If you expand your horizons, you broad-en your outlook on life and its possi-bilities. How can one expand or widen one’s horizons? There are many things one can do such as learning a new language, travelling etc. In short, tak-ing up new challenges would broaden one’s horizons.

It is undoubtedly true that learning a foreign language can broaden people's horizons and help to expose different cultures. Travelling enables many peo-ple to broaden their minds in certain aspects. When you travel, you gain new ideas and experience new things. However, you do not have to travel miles to expand your horizons. What I mean is, to expand one’s horizons, one may travel thousands of miles all over the world or just a few miles to a Toastmasters club meetings in one’s community. This is the subject I would like to share about – Toastmas-ters! Toastmasters program has noth-ing to do with drinking or toasting bread. But it’s all about making your point in your way in a given situation. It’s a life-changing and priceless educa-tional program. There is no reason for me to ‘embrace’ this superb program without sharing it. Toastmasters is a Way to Widen Your Horizons. But, how do Toastmasters meetings widen our horizons?

It helps to Increase Knowledge, to hone Communication Skills, to Culti-vate Self-Confidence, to Expand Net-work of Friends, to Spend Leisure Time, and to Magnify Income.

Toastmasters accepts you for who you are, and helps you become whatever you aspire to be.

There are NO LOSERS in the Toast-masters world. Winners and NOT-Winners. But NOT-Winners are not losers. They are GAINERS.

What do we do in Toastmasters Club? Speaking? Yes, for sure. There is no way for you to learn swimming with-out jumping into a swimming pool. But don’t worry, Toastmasters is a friendly environment for you to stay until you improve. Nobody is going to laugh at you when you say something wrong unless you are delivering a hu-morous speech.

Expand your horizons. Move beyond the normal and mediocre to the ex-traordinary. Be daring. Ride the waves of life with enthusiasm, passion, and freedom in your heart.

Open your arms wide and receive the opportunities that life is presenting you. Be light-hearted. You have much to offer the world. You deserve the very best. Your destiny awaits you; steer towards it.

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From Editor’s Desk — Expand Your Horizons

Newsletter — Horizons

Club’s DCP Status

TM Amzathun Nasreen, VP PR, Chief Editor

VP Membership—Elect

Team Work

You cannot achieve it alone. Whatever it is, your goals or the journey of your life, you need to learn to work with others. Being a Leo, I have it in my na-ture to do everything alone. I hardly ask for help, and, this attitude hasn’t taken me anywhere.

Of many instances of (in) my life, I will share a memory most alive with me. When I joined my company and was in train-ing, the only feedback I got and still get sometimes during my performance review is to gel with other members on/off the team. I remember an instance when 3 new members joined my team and I was assigned to train them on the products. It started well and after a couple of days, they took me upstairs and gave a very casual feed-

back of how I used to be with them and requested me to change so that they can understand the prod-ucts better and together as a team, we can work effi-ciently. I told them that I will not repeat this but after a few days, I was at it again. There were other instances when people from other team came for help and I shrugged them off. Whenever I tried to improve upon, my ego came in between.

Luckily, my manager was very understanding and gave me many opportuni-ties to improve. He always used to assign me tasks which required another person’s involvement. Apart from that, every week at Toastmasters, I got an opportunity to work with others. The major improvement which I saw

in myself was when I vol-unteered to be a club of-ficer and served the Dis-trict as an Area Governor. It was difficult but not impossible. I started get-ting positive feedbacks. Working in team has actu-ally helped me achieve goals. Even Lions need to work in tandem to take on powerful bait.

Be it my colleagues at the office or my family, know-ing that someone is there to fall upon has helped me achieve many things in life which would not have been possible with my ego and attitude.

If team work is an area you want to improve upon then Toastmasters is one of the places which can help you.

TM Nitesh Agarwal ACG, ALB

President “The Buck Stops Here”

Achievements

TM Swapnil ACS

TM Unmesh CC

TM Sadanand CL

TM Tushar CC

Activity at the Club

At every Toastmasters club, every six months there is a Moments of Truth session to reflect on the club’s most important goals of member service and personal satisfaction. The mem-bers and guests as a team in small groups of about 4 to 6 people debate specific points about the prevailing conditions in a Toastmasters club to identify actionable points so that every experience is a positive one for all.

Our club had conducted this session on March 31st, 2015.

Actionable points highlighted:

1. Introductions could be done in the middle of the meetings.

2. Banner and standee to easily locate the room

3. Regular sharing of infor-mation about Toastmasters

4. Membership survey to be taken by all members

5. Participation in other club activities

6. Online newsletter

7. Sharing of useful videos and graphic images

8. Use of templates for better understanding of roles and responsibilities

9. Capturing member introduc-tion to expedite meetings

10. Focus on membership count

11. Platform to publish meeting

proceedings

12. Effective usage of mass com-munication

13. Educational training sessions at some meetings

This list will be periodically updated to check our progress.

Ratings on six critical Toastmasters moments of truth parameters:

editor, Tm Nasreen. The event wit-nessed the spectacular and mind bog-gling speeches, followed by construc-tive and fruitful evaluations. It was indeed dream come true moment for many who had been working consist-ently for making this event successful. This was just the beginning of our journey, a milestone. Finally the meet-ing came to an end; it was the mo-ment of glory for some, President an-nounced the results. As a token of love and appreciation only one print-ed copy was presented to the best speaker of the day.

No doubt, this news letter reflects the vibrant expressions of our members. You can feel the colour and vibrancy of their thoughts in these pages.

Members who have contributed will be exhilarated to find their write-ups published in the news letter.

It was held on 24th March, 2015 on the special occasion of the silver jubi-lee meeting of our club. The event was scheduled at 7 P.M. yet most of the eager beavers of our club were present well in advance, showing their toastmaster’s spirit and commitment towards the event.

The atmosphere that was created just before the event was stern yet congen-ial during the event.

TMOD Swapnil was diligent and duti-ful in explaining the theme of the meeting. The news letter was released by our privileged guests of that meet-ing with the help of president, TM Nitesh Agarwal. The copy was then circulated amongst the toastmasters to go through. Everybody was super excit-ed to see it. Undoubtedly it was the team work which bore the sweet fruits under the able leadership of the chief

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Moment of Truth

Silver Jubilee an unmissable spectacular event – The release of the first edition of the News Letter

Newsletter—Horizon

PARAMETER SCORE

First Impression 5.5

Membership Orientation 4.5

Fellowship, Variety, and Communication

3.5

Program planning, and Meeting Organization

5.0

Membership Strength 3.0

Achievement Recognition 4.0

TM Chandrasekhar gave a speech on the art of providing speech evaluation to the members of Toastmasters Club of Pune NE on 14th April, 2015.

TM Chandrasekhar galvanized the members by posting a question – to differentiate between assessment and judgment. He advised the members to ensure that the evaluators are providing an assessment versus provid-ing a judgement. He pointed out that judgement is akin to giving a verdict and cautioned speech evaluators not to be judgmental while providing eval-uation. Chandrasekhar provided a framework for providing evaluation to speeches delivered in Toastmasters meeting.

1) First, he advised the speech evaluators to focus on the core feedback to be delivered. He reminded the members that the speakers are looking for feedback for improvement from the evaluators - failing to provide the core feedback will disappoint the speakers. To better understand the frame-work Chandrasekhar com-pared with Hazelnut Choco-late. The core feedback is akin to the Hazelnut.

2) Second, he wanted to ensure the core feedback is delivered in a way the speakers are moti-vated. Again comparing with the Hazelnut Chocolate analo-gy. The sourness of the Hazel-nut is sweetened by the Choco-late covering the nut. He ad-vised to follow the similar ap-proach – to deliver the core

feedback with commendations.

3) Finally Chandrasekhar advised evaluators to provide the assessment as a package. He correlated again with the Hazelnut Chocolate analogy. The Hazelnut Chocolate is covered with golden wrappers. He advised the evaluators to follow the similar approach – deliver the assessment as a package to speakers that is appealing for speakers to consume the feedback.

The members were captivated by the evaluation framework by TM Chandra-sekhar and looked forward to practicing in the future meetings.

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Evaluation Framework – TM Chandrashekar (Lt. Gov. of Marketing for Dist 41)

Newsletter—Horizon

“Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.” ― Shannon L. Alder

On 19th May 2015, the TM club of NE demon-strated the radical value which the INDIAN flag proudly reflects over other flags – DEMOCRA-CY. Indeed, the working committee of TM club of NE for second half of 2015 was elected by it’s members through a formal election program conducted by it’s own President TM Nitesh.

The election program started with a surprising element which made everyone’s mouth water – SUDAMA’s BHEL. At first I didn’t want to it eat because I don’t like BHEL much. But, the first spoon in my mouth made me realize why it’s the best bhel in Pune. I could not stop eat-ing thereafter!

Such a refreshing start was followed by the ex-planation of general rules by the President. Vot-ing ballots were given containing a list of candi-dates against each position.

One by one, as per the sequence of positions, the voting took place. The President gave a fair chance to candi-dates contesting for the same post by allowing them to speak for 2 minutes so that they can tell the audience as to why they were deserving. The Secretary casted ‘THE-ONLY-VOTE’ for all those positions where only a sin-gle candidate was contesting.

This was followed by counting of votes and announcement of the result. The newly elected working committee took an OATH that they will do justice to their positions and work together to create a big positive difference!

The President congratulated the newly elect-ed members. I could see a speck of relief on his face because of two factors : Firstly, the election was a huge success & Secondly, he was confident that the club will continue to meet the goals going further.

The Election program concluded with one common belief – “In TMs, every student is a teacher & every teacher, a student.” Hav-ing said that, one could see a common goal in everyone’s eyes – to LIFT the club, it’s members & themselves to great heights.

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Breaking Dawn – A glance at the *First Elections at NE Club*

Newsletter-Horizon

Page 8 Newsletter-Horizon

Elected executive committee (Jul — Dec) President

TM Swapnil Bhagat

VP- Education

TM Hemat Joshi

VP -Membership

TM A.Nasreen

VP-PR

TM Suyash Agarwal

Secretary

TM Unmesh Mohitkar

Treasurer

TM Tushar Komawar

SAA

TM Sanjay Kulkarni

To enhance the familiarisation and to boost the spirit among the members our club President TM Nitesh arranged for an outdoor event at White Orchid Resort on 28th June.

Most of the members actively participated in the event. A few were accompanied by their families showing their support.

Members played Volleyball, Cricket, some indoor games, clicked few picture and then started feeling peckish so headed towards the dining area. The food was scrumptious so we enjoyed it. And at 5pm we dispersed. It was like a rejuvenation. Looking forward for such more events in the upcoming term

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Rendezvous by club members

Newsletter—Horizon

Silence is bliss,

Silence is pain.

Silence is gentle,

Silence is harsh.

Silence is victory,

Silence is defeat.

Silence is submission.

Silence is aggression.

It's really surprising,

to see a single word expressing so many emotions.

Who says silence is peace?

It can be the silence before the storm.

Who says silence is submission?

May be it's just a tactical retreat.

Same word, different feelings, different meanings.

We human beings are blessed to have so many words to express feelings.

Empire vanish, dynasties decay,

It's the words which will always hold sway.

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Power of Words

Newsletter—Horizon

TM Unmesh Mohitkar, Secretary “Attitude is important than fact”

“Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.” ― Confucius

I was walking to the bus station. It was morning time, and there was freshness all around. Everyone was desperately trying to reach their destination to start the job of the day. It was nothing short of a mad rush. The title of Thomas Hardy’s famous novel. “Far from the Madding Crowd” appeared on my mental horizon like a red traffic signal. A stream of thoughts suddenly started. Can I get out of this highly competitive world and wander “Along the cool sequestered vale of life for a while?

After sometime I reached the bus sta-tion. There were several buses and an ocean of passengers. My attention was soon drawn to the passenger sitting near me. He was an old man who might be in his early eighties. The calm and gentleness on his face were quite striking. His spirit was young and vision was the noblest. He asked me what I was doing in Pune. I told him that I was engaged in teaching. He then asked me whether I enjoyed my profession. My answer was of course positive since teaching is my passion. Soon he asked me a question which really had a far reaching impact on my life. The question was this, “Can you spare sometime to teach the children of the underprivileged?” He then spoke to me about the plight of those children who are living on the margins of society. Their mothers are

helpless. They are spurned and con-demned by an unjust system.

It did not take me a long time to give a reply to the old man, a man who was

very, very young at heart. The years must have wrinkled his body but not the spirit. I told this dear uncle that I was ready to teach these children.

After two days I met these children who were eagerly waiting for me. I began to teach in my usual style by trying to get them involved in the

process. I was doing my duty with utmost dedication and sincerity. The lines of Tagore will not be out of place here:

I slept and I thought that

Life was happiness

I woke up and discovered that life was duty.

I fulfilled my duty and discovered that

It was happiness.

My students responded to my teach-ing positively. They were curious to learn more and grow up. A few of them were dropouts. Now they will not drop out of learning. I continue my teaching to these underprivileged children. I enjoy this teaching session more than anything else. Is it not a real privilege? How can I thank the old man in the bus and the Toastmas-ters club, the only place where leaders are made which in true sense helped me to discover my hidden potential? I am convinced of one thing. Service is life. Each one of us should be daring and adventurous in life. How beauti-ful are the lines of Robert Frost!

Two roads diverged in a wood and

I took the one less travelled by.

And that has made all the difference

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The Joys of Teaching the Underprivileged

Newsletter—Horizon

TM Swapnil Bhagat ACS, CL

VP Education

“Every child should have a caring adult in their lives. And that's not always a biological parent or family member. It may be a friend or neighbor. Often times it is a teacher.” —Joe Manchin

In this article I will describe few com-petencies that I believe are important for interpersonal communication. By demonstrating these competencies one could greatly improve interperson-al communication and build relation-ships with individuals. The competen-cies that helps in interpersonal com-munication are:-

Demonstrate Focus

Manage Emotions

Negotiate for Win-Win

Manage Conflicts

Demonstrate Focus

One must demonstrate focus with the person being engaged. Demonstrating focus with an individual is fundamen-tal principles of communication. Demonstrating focus competency can be accomplished by active listening and making sure the views of the oth-er individual are valued and felt im-portant. In solving problems with a coworker at office it’s vital to identify the problem that both are trying to solve. Demonstrating focus should enable on brainstorming potential solutions for problems identified. By demonstrating focus with an individu-al one develops the below three skills.

Relationship Management

Problem Identification

Solution Brainstorming

Manage Emotions

To improve interpersonal communica-tion it’s important to be able to identi-fy and control emotions. There are few techniques that help in managing emotions. First, one must keep a dia-ry to note down the list of emotions exhibited during the day. Second, one must try to understand and reflect the reasons for exhibiting the emotions – positive and negative emotions and the impact to self and others.

Negotiate for Win-Win

Negotiating for mutual agreement is an important communication compe-tency. There are few techniques that help in arriving mutual agreements with an individual. The first step is to arrive at the problem that both the individuals agree on. Once the prob-lem is identified the second step is identify the positions and interests of both the parties. After identifying the interests, the next and the final step is to brainstorm for alternatives and consensus on the best solution.

Manage Conflicts

There are few techniques that help in resolving conflict with an individual. First, try to separate individual from the behavior. One must try to focus on the problem to be solved and sepa-

rate out the individual Second, one must try to empathize from others point of view – being able to think from other’s perspective help in man-aging and resolving conflicts. Third, active listening – try to paraphrase the key points of the individual. I firmly believe Toastmasters provide the plat-form for everyone to build these com-munication competencies to be a bet-ter person and leader.

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Communication Competencies

Newsletter—Horizon

TM Subramaniam R

Many dreams have been destroyed in the realm of imagination due to fear. We as professionals, businessmen, entrepreneurs, students, wish to excel in our respective fields. But when we never do anything to actualise it, we are simply killing the inner ability we have. The only way to grow and dis-pel the fear in us is to walk right through the fear. Pushing through the fear is less frightening than living with underlying fear that comes from feeling of helplessness.

By joining Toastmasters club to pro-gressively gain public speaking skills, you have already committed yourself. As a Toastmasters member, you enter the realm of public speaking where fellow members provide you support to learn and build public speaking and leadership skills.

The journey of 10 speech projects in TM club starts systematically with project 1 – The Icebreaker -- of compe-tent communication manual. We are the one that presents ourselves to the world. Accordingly, the world re-sponds to you. As you stand first time before an audience in TM club , just make sure that your persona is pleasant , because that gives you confi-dence that creates positive vibes for yourself. In TM clubs, the audience always wishes you success. Often after the first speech, the speaker real-ises that she already has raw skills of speaking before an audience.

As you speak and tell the audience, ‘who you are?’, ’Your life’s journey, and ’your dreams and ambition’, the speech creates necessary bonding be-tween you and fellow members. Any speech is just the speaker’s thought conveyed through spoken words. A fantastic way to ensure that speaker’s message reaches across is to present it in organised way. The first step is to grab the attention of an audience from the word ‘GO’. A dynamic be-ginning is essential for successful speech.

Some techniques to begin are:- ‘state the importance of your topic’, ‘make a startling statement’, ‘arouse suspense or curiosity’, ‘tell a story or anecdote’, ‘ask a rhetoric question’, ‘begin with quotation’, ‘reference the occasion’. Other techniques include humor, audience participation, a demonstra-tion, and a reference to a historical event.

Make sure that each successive point is picked up from a preceding point. Learning such transitions from one point to other is the gist of the project-2 of CC manual. In the end leave the audience with a conclusion that will create a smashing and memorable impact. Consider these endings -- ‘use a quote’, ‘tell a story or anecdote that reinforce your message’, ‘call for action’, summarise your main points’, or a ‘reference to the beginning of the speech’.

Project 3 speech should fit into 4 general objectives i.e. ‘to inform’, ‘to entertain’, ‘to persuade’, and ‘to in-spire, and leave a take-away message for the audience. Become familiar with the speaking area and know the audience. Get acquainted with the spectrum of the stage. Understand audience variables such as age range, male-female ratio, occupational and economic status, educational back-ground, political orientation, leisure activities. Objective of project 3 is to

make your audience accept your view point. Speaker needs to speak on a subject that appeals to the audiences’ interest. Deep involvement in the subject helps him confront nervous-ness.

Project 4 focus is on making maxi-mum audience impact through your words. How distinctly do you formu-late your words when you speak? ‘What to say’ about the subject is speaker’s knowledge but how to say is an art learnt in toastmasters club. Words of your speech should be so vivid that audience can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste whatever you describe and stir the imagination of the audience. As proper arrange-ments of notes create a melody in music, arranging your words makes an idea or thought sound more pleasant and memorable for the audience.

In Project 5, the speaker accentuates his verbal message by using body lan-guage, he is already on the way to be-come a competent communicator. Effective use of body language enhanc-es speaker’s credibility. Gestures, pos-tures, body movement, facial expres-sion, and eye contact are five non verbal tools speaker can employ to emphasize his point. With practice one can learn to use body language naturally and be consistent with the words spoken. This awareness itself boosts the confidence of speaker.

About Project 6, every time the speak-er addresses an audience, his/her mind, body and voice act as synchro-nised partners while communicating with the listeners. Your voice is the primary medium for conveying your message. Like body language your speaking voice should also be natural and consistent with the meaning of the words.

Project 7 is about researching your topic. When a topic is chosen for speech, it is either speaker’s personal experience or any other reference ma-

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Progressive Learning of Speaking and Leadership Skills

Newsletter—Horizon

TM Hemant Joshi CC, CL VP Membership

“Pursue your goal come what may”

Continue...

Page 14 Newsletter—Horizon

terial. Well researched supporting material lends legitimacy of the stated facts and increases the trust-worthiness of speaker. Collecting relevant information and weaving it in speech in such a way that it holds audience interest till the end of speech adds to audience knowledge.

Make your speech vivid and mem-orable through the use of visual aids in Project 8. Select visual aids that are appropriate to the point

that you wish to illustrate or clari-fy. Charts, graphs, diagram, mod-els and printed words can stimu-late audience and increase

In projects 9 and 10, the speeches are focused on attempting to ener-gise, alter attitude, or instigate new approaches, and to create a commitment to accomplish a com-mon vision. Since motivational talks need to target the emotions, they work best when they include

inspiring stories from real life be-sides logic. On completion of project no.10, the speaker is eligi-ble to receive competent commu-nicator award from Toastmasters international. The confidence exuded on your face is worth much more than any certificate would bring. Regardless of your field, the certificate adds value to your professional as well as person-al life.

Have you tried speaking outside your home club? Challenging yourself to do so at an alien venue is really coming out of your comfort zone. For me the op-portunity to do so in Table Topics at a Toastmasters club in USA was a pleas-ant experience at :

Talk of the Town Toastmasters club in Parma. Parma is a part of the greater Cleveland area in Ohio, USA The area is predominated by Polish and Ukraini-an immigrants. The president of the club, Larry Szczepanski (extreme right in the photograph) was friendly and said that they did not have difficulty with my Indian accent.

The Tabletopics that day was about des-

serts where two ingredients would be mentioned and each participant would have to come up with the final dessert which could be made using the two specified ingredients in any recipe. Interestingly I had to come up with a dessert for rasp-berry jam and chocolate.

What was different? The display of the US flag, and the invocation pledging allegiance to the coun-try’s ideals at the start of the meet-ing was distinctive. I liked the idea of using the Jokemaster role to enliven the proceedings from the beginning was striking and got the audience in a good mood. My suggestion to them was to consider

TM Sadanand Konchady, CC “Chances Choices Changes”

Rasberry-Chocolate dessert at Toastmasters?

the use of Idiom of the Day and Easy-speak software for better man-agement of Toastmasters meetings.

It is, by now, a well-established belief that the “Engaged Employee” is a ma-jor source of competitive advantage for any organization, not only to suc-ceed but also to achieve aggressive growth in today’s ruthless competitive world. There are practically thousands of theories and hundreds of method-ologies which organizations across the world have experimented and are still experimenting to “engage” their most valuable asset i.e. employees. The or-ganizations have tested many notions, designed numerous interventions and implemented various programs to motivate its employees, to make them productive and convert its employees into real resource. Organizations worldwide have attempted to engage employees by giving lavish office spac-es, high increments, expensive gifts, bonuses, incentive tours, superb cafe-terias, meeting with CEOs, early pro-motions, etc. to motivate their em-ployees; however organizations have found that these have very short effect or no effect in energizing their em-ployees over and over again. In spite of this, the attrition rates are high and morale is down.

In this article, let us discuss about one of the most critical dimensions i.e. “Importance of Superior-Subordinate Relationship in Employee Engage-ment.” We will elaborate on the valua-ble insights, practical tips and key challenges relating to achieve high level employee engagement through this relationship.

We all know a popular adage that ‘employee leaves a manager and not the organization’! We all must have heard examples that employees leaving well-known organizations in a very short span of time and one can be curious about it. Most of the time, it is just another example or proof of the above mentioned adage. Strangely, there is another example of an em-ployee staying happily very long time in a company which is ill-reputed or

not so good company. This is prima-facie opposite example however it reinforces the same adage – employee stays with a good manager irrespective of the organization.

It makes us think that who is a good manager and what makes him a good manager from the subordinate’s per-spective that impacts him so much so that he leaves good company or stays with not so good company. What is the impact of good Superior on subor-dinate and why it is so special and

critical in the entire scenario? Why it is a weak-link in the whole scheme-of-Engagement. What is the meaning of ‘organization’ for a subordinate?

Let me bring you straight to the point by giving you one example. If a newly-wed female notices that her husband is not a good person, however all oth-er family members are good. There is absolutely no problem with the family; however the person with whom she has to risk her rest of the life is not the person she has expected for. Will her marriage be a successful one? What is more important for her, the family or the husband? Well, we all know the answer… Let us also change the scenario in this example. The hus-band is good and the family is not so good. Yes she will certainly stay with her husband. Similarly, for any subor-dinate, his company is represented by

his Superior. As any female will stay with a good husband with not so good family because he is the most impact-ing factor in her world. Similarly, superior is the most impacting factory for subordinate - this is the most criti-cal link for keeping our employees engaged, as superior-subordinate rela-tionship is capable of destroying all the other positive factors existing in the company.

So the natural question is who is a good Superior. This should not be a difficult question. Just scroll back your memory little bit and names of good superiors, will appear on your screen that have influenced you posi-tively. Why are you thinking him as a good Superior, what is so special about him? Start getting 2-3 character-istics of that good Superior. You will most certainly find one these adjec-tives such as a) Caring, b) Impartial, c) Invested-his-time and Took-efforts-to-develop-you, 4) Open & Transparent, 5) Sensitive and was knowing you very well, 6) Supportive, 7) Demanding and Utilized your potential, etc. You will actually tag him as ‘he is more friend than a Superior for you’. You will also agree with me that you must have worked more passionately with him than other Superiors; you worked more hard for him and have contrib-uted more to his success than any other of your Superiors. You were very happy to work with him than any oth-er Superiors and worked even on holi-days and extra-hours. It is also most certainly that you are still in touch with each other even though today you both are not working in the same organization. This is Engagement - this is Giving more than 100% will-ingly – this is the real connect.

There are following essentials for hav-ing extraordinary superior-subordinate relationship to have Engaged Employ-ees:

Expand the circle beyond work:

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Importance of Superior-Subordinate Relationship in Employee Engagement

Newsletter—Horizon

TM Sanjay Kulkarani

Continue...

Page 16 Newsletter—Horizon

The relationship between two humans cannot be me-chanical or just official. Su-perior has to give human-touch to their relationship. Because of his stature, he has to initiate this process and he is generally in a position to take this relationship to a higher level. Understand subordinate: It is the duty of any superior to know his subordinate, his personal and family background, his pain areas beyond work, his preferences, his likes and dislikes, what are his circum-ferences and where is he coming from. He should be familiar with his wants and haves. Superior should make efforts to understand his subordinate. This equally gives a supe-rior a platform to express his own ex-pectations, his boundaries and the environment where-in the work takes place.

Invest time in subordinate’s development:

Development is a natural process and so everybody wants to develop. It is the duty of superior to ensure that his team members are progressed in a right man-ner; he should accelerate their development process with proper inputs. He is in the most advantageous posi-tion to give right inputs. He knows exactly what the short-comings and which are the areas which need improve-ments first. Superior needs to invest his time with his team, talk about what is hap-pening, listen, empathize and

include. Inclusiveness builds trust and fosters collabora-tion. This feeling is very in-spiring and increases produc-tivity. When trust is low, efficiency breaks down and cost goes up as people waste time and efforts in protect-ing themselves. The superior needs to give timely feedback and this is what spending time with subordinate is all about.

Build Trust and Foster Collab-oration:

Trust is most important and

if you win the trust then you are the real good superior. How can you win the trust of your subordinate? You have to be sensitive, you have to be impartial and show open-ness & transparency in every-thing you do and you don’t do. You need to be a person of high character. You need not tolerate wrong things but you have to be assertive. You help your subordinate to be a better professional, give them opportunity to excel, provide them platform to exhibit their talent. If you connect with your subordi-nate very well, that’s it. You can win his trust. Once you win his trust, he will work

harder for you. He will give more than his potential.

Recognize him at appropriate time:

Recognition is one of the important factors in the en-gagement space. Timing of recognition is vital. It is more important than how you recognize. Recognizing on the spot in front of his team-mates is more im-portant than how much money you gave. Recogni-tion consists of ignition – it literally ignites the person’s

potential, it makes him young and feels proud. Hence do not underesti-mate the power of recog-nition. Channelize this power in a right direc-tion and in a proper way.

The above mentioned genuine efforts by superi-or towards his subordi-nates work as wonder as they connect heart and mind of subordinate and inspire him to put his maximum efforts. He

gets completely immersed into making his role as most impacting role and supports the function whole-heartedly. He channelizes his energies for making positive impact to the or-ganization. He feels valued because his suggestions and opinions are taken into consideration. Because of the clarity and good communications, he knows the limitations of his superior as well as his own hence he is not making any over-expectations. Gener-ally the over-expectation from both sides makes the game dirty. He starts enjoying the work, he gives his Best; he gives his more than 100% …..WILLINGLY.

Page 17

THE INTERVIEW

Newsletter—Horizon

Let's meet a member of our club, TM Niyanand Patil who travels from Jalgaon to Pune to attend TM meetings. He has been interviewed for his burst of exuberance..

Page 18

Mentor — Mentee Relationship

Newsletter– Horizon

TM Sagar Raut

I, Sagar Raut, work in a rubber company as supervisor. I was educated in a rural area. I had no confidence about public speaking and daring on the stage. I joined Toastmasters Club of Pune Northeast in December 2014. Thanks to the valuable guidance and instructions from my mentor, I am fully confident now and progressing successfully.

The mentor-mentee roles are ideally like that of the guru and disciple. A men-tor is a friend as well as a teacher and advisor. For a rewarding relationship, it helps to have a clear understanding of the roles. Mentors take a personal interest in their Mentees; they serve as role models, coaches, and confidantes. They share knowledge, insight, perspective and/or wisdom and ongoing support. A mentoring program offers many benefits to both new and experienced club members.

Some noteworthy tips: Read books, listen to English news, try to speak to peo-ple, discuss and organize speeches, listen to one’s practice speeches, and use constructive feedback from speech evaluations.

It inspires me to continue to improve and achieve my goals. Now I am privi-leged to be mentoring other members.

TM C Senthil Kumaran

The first mail I received from my club president TM Nitesh was regarding a mentor being allotted for me. “Mentor” as I vaguely remember was the tutor of Telemachus, son of Odysseus, so I was waiting to meet this charac-ter from Greek mythology. Then I met this wonderful lady TM Amzathun Nasreen.

Nasreen is verbal GMAT trainer. She has been my mentor since I joined Toastmasters. I thought I knew what being a leader meant, with more than 13 years in the military, but Nasreen taught me that leadership requires vision, reassurance and wisdom. She demonstrates these attributes through genuine caring for others, motivating them to reach their potential in Toastmasters and in life. She is by far the best mentor I have ever had.

For the last 3 months, Nasreen has proved to me that mentoring is the hallmark of success in Toastmasters program. I have largely benefited from her unique brand of knowledge, insight, perspective and wisdom.

Then I get this mail from the club president regarding two mentees being allotted to me. I feel blessed to be a key link in club where I am being men-tored and I also mentor somebody. The power of toastmasters club is un-folding in front of me, where you compete with you and you alone.

Here is what our members have to say on their experiences as mentees at our club:

Create a parallel between dis-trict leadership and leadership in the corporate and volunteer sectors.

Reflect the level of leadership required in each position.

The updated titles will apply to the elected and/or appointed district lead-er positions for the 2015-2016 pro-gram year. Leaders holding district roles prior to July 1, 2015, will retain their current titles.

This change is a positive step for Toastmasters International and is in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan objective to modernize the programs with a renewed focus on leadership.

At its February meeting the Board of Directors decided (meeting minutes) on new district leader titles that will take effect on July 1, 2015, when the incoming district leaders assume their new leadership roles. They will be the first generation of leaders to carry the new and contemporary district leader titles.

This decision to modernize the district leader titles was based on the findings of a Board of Directors committee studying the competencies required for district leaders to successfully ful-fill their roles. As a result of this study, it became clear that titles needed to evolve to better reflect their responsi-bilities and real-world practice. The new titles:

Are more modern.

Accurately reflect the focus and responsibility of each role.

Are more familiar to potential members.

Page 19

NEW TITLES FOR DISTRICT LEADERS IN 2015

Newsletter—Horizon

Our club president TM Nitesh Agarwal has been elected for Division Director role for 2015-16.

Page 20

Club Album

Newsletter—Horizon

Symbiosis Law School

Viman Nagar, Near Airport

Pune-411014, India

Meeting Time: 6.50 to 8.30 pm

Tuesdays

https://www.facebook.com/TMCPNE

News Letter

Editor-in-chief: A. Nasreen

Sadanand Konchady

Swapnil Bhagat

Subramaniam Ramasubramanian

Suyash Agarwal

Suraj Deo Singh

Editorial team

“If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives.”