COACH CONVERSATIONS

Maori Wisdom & Club Coaches

Paul Fanning, DTM Club Coach Coordinator

I reviewed a document from New Zealand recently and happened to notice at the bottom of the page a reference to “Our Four Values” from the NZ Defence Force. Obviously, we here in the United States would not understand the wording as it was in Maori, the native language. It simply stated eight words: “Tú Kaha-Tú Tika-Tú Tira-Tú Maia.” Thank goodness I found the translation elsewhere and thought that these values would also represent well the ones our Club Coaches exhibit with their clubs. Kaha stands for taking action despite your fears. Tika means giving your best. Tira indicates one should respect others and look out for them. And finally, Maia represents doing the right thing—always. If we were to adopt them, each one of those values asks us to put others first, and by doing so, we ourselves will grow personally and professionally as well as demonstrate our abilities on behalf of Toastmasters International.

Club Coaches are “special” in my eyes. It appears that one of our Region 1 Advisors, Sondra Nunez, believes so too. On the 14th of April, she will host a Region 1 Club Coach Team Meeting at 6:00 pm via Zoom. Our Club Growth Director, Lorri Andersen, five club coaches, and I attended the March meeting. I was impressed that it was not just a meeting to tell us what Toastmasters expects us to do, but rather a grass roots, let’s discuss the issues club coaches face with the pandemic, assist clubs with membership, and many other topics. I came away with a few more “tools” for my “bag of tricks.” If you are a Club Coach, I ask you to join in next month’s meeting. I will send the link out when I receive it. Please mark the date and time on your calendar!

Being March, I have to tip my Irish derby once again to Club Coaches who have made a difference in their clubs. The first is Bushan Gupta, Wake Up, Beaverton Toastmasters who has added new members this month on their road to distinguished. The other is Dave Bones, TalkIn-Tel Toastmasters who have added members bringing them up to eight. The Club is in good