by Larry Harmon DTM Division E Director
One thing I’ll say about Toastmasters: it gives you plenty of opportunities to challenge yourself. When I first considered becoming a Division Director, I was focused on building my leadership skills—specifically, learning how to lead people effectively and delegate responsibilities. I knew I had a habit of jumping in and taking over, and I wanted to change that. But as the Rolling Stones put it, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find—you get what you need.”
That saying proved true early in the Toastmasters year. Two of my Area Directors had to step down due to personal circumstances in November. Suddenly, I found myself looking ahead to the second half of the year with a much smaller team. On the horizon: our Division-sponsored TLI, the second round of club visits, and — perhaps most daunting — contest season.
With only two Area Directors left, it was a stressful time and the pressure was intense. But thanks to teamwork, resilience, and generous support from both current and past district leaders, we made it work. We successfully conducted a Division TLI and completed 100% of our club visit reports. It wasn’t easy, but those challenges taught me more than I could have imagined about trust, delegation, relying on others and leading through collaboration.
Then came the next hurdle, contest season, and with it, a new challenge: Toastmasters resumed in-person contests at the Area level and above. While I had years of experience as a contestant and Chief Judge and knew what a well-run contest looked like, leading contests as a Division Director was a different kind of responsibility. I was now responsible for organizing two area contests and my own Division contest. It required planning, coordination, and empowering others to step up and lead. Did I also mention lots of begging and pleading — until I finally secured three great contest chairs to help me?
Watching those contest chairs made me realize that at some point I will need to fill that role myself to gain that learning experience.
What I’ve learned through all this is that leadership isn’t about doing everything yourself — it’s about guiding others, supporting them, learning to trust the process and stepping aside to allow others to grow, even when things don’t go according to plan.
During my Division Contest debrief, as I reflected on how much experience I had gained after coordinating two Area contests before my own Division, one of my mentors said, “Toastmasters didn’t give you what you wanted — it gave you what you needed.” And for that, I’m truly grateful.
