April 5/22 - Communication is Leadership - How can you up your game?

Sgt at Arms Craig B opened our meeting in a very skilled manner, citing the housekeeping items and then introduced the TM for the evening Cherry C.  We welcomed guests from near and far, Kris S from Edmonton and Miles G from St Albert and from the other side of the globe, Suzanne F from Brisbane, Australia. We were pleased that our member dignitaries were also present, Richard M, D99 Program Quality Director, Dan Mc, D99 Club Growth Director and Rhys D, Area B51 Director. 

For introductions, Cherry had us picked our leadership/communication style from a list on screen: 1) Assertive 2) Aggressive 3) Passive-Aggressive 4) Submissive 5) Manipulative 6) Direct 7) Indirect 8) Authoritarian 9) Laissez-Faire.  There was a tie between "Assertive" and "Direct".

Next we had three interactive presentations, plus Tabletopics

1) For my Ice breaker presentation, I kept timer Shiao X spinning and Zoom master, Richard, busy. He divided the ten of us into five rooms where each team of two were given a picture of an object to come up with creative ways to use the object.  They were 1) Eileen S and Miles - a candle 🕯(or as they referred to it as a beacon of hope), 2) Edith B and Rhys - a salt shaker 🧂 referring to the use of many types of salt, 3) Dan and Cherry - a clock ⏰ even throwing it at noisy neighbours, 4) Shiao and Kris  - a long screwdriver 🪛 topping us all as the “winners” with their many uses and 5) Craig and Suzanne - a 💡 light bulb giving them the bright idea to discuss Craig’s book display virtual background. As far as was reported, there was lots of good “communication” between group members and no arguments.

2) For Presentation #2, Eileen discussed how to use a “Positive Approach” giving us ten tips to help build stronger, positive relationships. She added a dash of humour in explaining them. What great tips. Using polling, we rated our own present ability to carry out the ten strategies. The rank of 75-95% was the highest. There was no ranking below 45%. The top strategy that people would most like to work on, was “be considerate with the feelings of others.” No one listed “be friendly and helpful.”  We must be already there.  

3) For Presentation #3, Dan discussed “What is a skilled communicator.”  He asked us who we thought were good communicators. Several suggested celebrities and past and present leaders of various countries or political parties, although some leaders very noted to not be good communicators. We also discussed when we were a good communicator and when we were not.   There was lots of lively discussion. 

Rhys led Tabletopics, which were “Two Dichotomies,” where participants was to name all the advantages of being  (1) Introverts vs Extroverts   (2) Authoritarian vs Laissez-Faire Leadership.   Miles won best Tabletopics, although he argued all sides.

It was a full and enjoyable evening according to guests and members. Guests are welcomed to join us again. Perhaps April 19/22, where we will recognize National Poetry Month - “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Lingo wants you…..”.