Club Growth Director (CGD)

Congratulations! You have (probably) the most important job of the Top 3 District Officers and (probably) the least experience. 

Most leaders consider the family the most important unit in a nation; Toastmasters clubs can be considered big families. They are the life of our organization. For a strong district, we must have stronger clubs. 

I used to bemoan the “old days” when the CGD Officer description was only 2 pages in the District Leadership Handbook (DLH) – even then, no one seemed to read it. I take it all back! Now you have a new Club Growth Director Handbook (CGDH) of 14 pages. It would take a small army to accomplish all the tasks you are charged with. 

Come back with me, back to a 2-page-like description! The Club Growth Director is responsible for main strategies for club-building and club-retention efforts within the District. This includes how to promote new clubs and how to retain clubs. You can do this! And the Club Quality Director, District Director, and past district leaders  can provide guidance.

Keys for Success! 

Use these important keys – details may change, numbers may change, leadership tasks may take different forms; but the keys are:

1. KISS – Keep It Simple, Simon(e)! This applies to everything!
2. Build your operations from the top – down. Any leader working closely with you, must have the drive and leadership, like you, to get the work done. 
3. If the job seems too big, pick the part of the job you like the most and lead that. Supervise the rest.
4. Use teams of district officers – they all have a big stake in the outcomes! Committees don’t. Committee Chairs don’t. Non-district officers don’t. Others don’t.* That stake is their award in the Distinguished District program.

The times are dynamic!

You will be leading the most important growth areas in the District – new clubs and new members. Forget about what worked in the “old days”. These new times may require some marketing savvy to determine new key needs. Which clubs now have the most guests: in-person? hybrid? virtual only? The most members? The demand for in-person meetings may be key.

Club Coaches, Sponsors, Mentors, Club _____ Chairs

The provision and training of these Toastmasters are typical tasks for which the CGD is responsible.* 

*See a future blog – Program Understanding for District Officers – for a vital orientation to these tasks (coming soon).

You Are The Leader Of Your CGD Team

Paragraph one, Chapter 1 of the CGDH says “you have everything it takes to succeed…”; except that some real obstacles to your success are:

1. A local corporate environment that lacks the vision of Toastmasters as key to their organizational success, internally and externally.
2. Your experience as a district officer. Our district has had a decided lack of leadership for many years because of lack of training, which was  previously provided in our businesses and corporations regarding budgeting, personnel management, and the importance of goals and using them to achieve success.
3. Do you know how to create a district marketing plan?
4. Are you familiar with how to organize new clubs? 
5. Do you know how to strengthen district clubs and what tools are required? 
6. Do you know what resources to provide to help rescue struggling clubs? 
7. Are you familiar with the Toastmasters Lead Management system TLM? 
8. Do you know how to monitor Division, Area, and Club administration? 

These requirements are your tasks listed in the CGDH Chapter 1!  This is the reason for KISS!! 

The simpler you keep your goals and operations, the easier and more manageable and more fun(!) your job will be. The key is not more committees (and more managing) – it’s fewer committees and more focus! The smaller your operations and number of teams, the fewer people you need to train and manage. 

Are you ready for KISS?  I think you are! One great management key for this is to get the maximum help and effort from your Area Director (AD) and Division Director (DD) teams. This is vital to your success as a CGD, and also their success.  The Area Director is most familiar with her own clubs. Her Division Director is the most familiar with all of his clubs. Keep the health, success, growth, educational achievements, etc. the responsibility of the Area Directors and their Area Councils.

Plan district officer training to promote each Division Director working with their own Area Directors at one table for all tasks: marketing and organizing new clubs, discussing keys for club growth, club rescue efforts, Pathways promotion and monitoring, and TLM*. 

Before periodic DEC Meetings, give forms to your ADs and DDs to provide important inputs to you for progress measurement for your CGD goals and for any District Success Plan goals.

Our current District Director motivates all district leaders by providing weekly district update reports by e-mail. He has important sections like Club Status Report and call for leadership. Keep communicating.