This document provides guidance on completing a High-Performance Leadership (HPL) Project for the Advanced Leader Silver award. It outlines the requirements of an HPL Project, including establishing goals and timelines, recruiting a guidance committee and action team, developing a work plan, providing status updates, and presenting results. Examples of suitable and unsuitable project types are given. The 7 steps to complete an HPL Project are identified as selecting a project, recruiting teams, establishing goals and a work plan, working the plan with status checks, presenting results and lessons learned, and submitting paperwork to Toastmasters International.

1. Fulfill AL-S Requirement
November 10, 2006
Silvana Wasitova, DTM
The High-Performance
Leadership Project

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Why Do an HPL Project
 Fulfill Toastmasters requirement for
Advanced Leader Silver award
 Get one step closer to becoming
Distinguished Toastmaster
 Build your leadership skills

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What is an HPL Project
 Can be any project with these characteristics:
 has specific goals and timeframe
 requires advance planning, tracking, execution
 requires organizing a team (exercise leadership!)
 produces lessons learned
 Can be a project you are already planning, e.g.
 Within Toastmasters:
 Organize an Area/Division/District Contest
 Club PR campaign
 Starting a New Club, Reviving an Existing Club
 Outside Toastmasters: at work, community,
association, professional group

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The 7 Steps to an HPL Project
1. Select a project – where you exercise leadership
2. Recruit a Guidance Committee (4+ members)
3. Select Action Team to work with
4. Establish goals, success criteria, timeframe, and a
work-plan to achieve goals; use SMART formula
5. Work the plan, meet periodically with the team &
guidance committee: status update & fine-tune the plan
6. At project end present “Results and Lessons
Learned”; get a written evaluation
7. Submit to TI the written evaluation and 4 signatures of
members of the Guidance Committee

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Examples of HPL Project + Goals
 Conduct a Blood Drive in October ’06;
Goal: 200 donors in 2 days
 Conduct District Conference
Goal: 200 attendees, 8 training sessions, break even
 Club Coach to Santana TM Club;
Goal: sign 6 new members, 5 DCP goals by June ’07
 Organize Community Fair on 9-10 August,
20 sponsors, 50 vendors, 1000 attendees

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NOT a Candidate HPL Project
 Achieve Competent Communicator in 6
months
– does not involve coordinating a team
 Swim from SF to Alcatraz some day
– time is not specific
 Run Meetings On Time
– does not have a defined timeframe

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Ideas for *your* HPL Project
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Select a Guidance Committee
 People who can advise you, have experience,
can help refine the project goals and objectives
 Subject-matter experts
 People you respect
 People who have done a similar project
 People on your team
 At least one person is active Toastmasters member
 Need 4 people
- they sign off at completion on Signature Sheet (p.70)

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Mission, Vision, Goals
 Vision: Imagine what you’d like to happen,
decide what needs to be done to make that
vision a reality.
 I have a dream….
 Mission: simplified vision, defines purpose,
benefits, who will benefit.
Becomes foundation of the efforts.
 Goals: specific results to achieve, how the
goals are organized, prioritized, measured

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Goal-setting the “SMART” Way
“SMART” goals are:
 Specific
 Measurable
 Achievable
 Realistic
 Time-bound

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The Secret to Goal-Setting
The clearer the goals, the easier to achieve.
Clear goals are:
 Easy to communicate
 Easy to delegate
 Easy to rally behind
 Increase a chance to success

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Action Plan
Example: Plan for Division G Contest - April 2006
# Action Item Lead Due Date Status
1 Select Venue Div. Governor 30-Jan Complete
2 Get Chairpersons for Committees Div. Governor 20-Feb
3 Get Toastmasters Contest Chair 10-Mar
4 Solicit Door Prizes Program Chair 9-Apr
5 Get Names and Contact info of Area Winners Area Governors 2-Apr

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Status Check
 Periodically meet with Action Team,
Guidance Committee (together or separately)
 Status update, check on progress
 Any course corrections needed?
Need to update goals/metrics?
 Define next steps to achieve goals
 Need two or more status check meetings
over the lifetime of the project

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Leadership Skills
 Evaluate your leadership style and
tendencies at beginning of project
 Discuss with Advisory Committee
 Observe – any changes / growth in your
leadership style throughout the period of
the project?

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Submit Report to TI
 Present Results and Lessons Learned to home
club, get a written evaluation (p. 65)
 Get signatures from 4 members of the
Guidance Committee (p.70)
 Get signature from club’s VP Education
Fax the two forms to TI HQ (949) 858-1207
DONE!!!