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Raising a toast to leadership

From a youth hostel basement in California in 1924 to a world-leading energy complex in Abu Dhabi, a particular group of people have been raising a toast to build up leadership and their skillful talents across the globe — and the pioneers are called the Toastmasters.

Here in the UAE, the first such club called Abu Dhabi Chapter was formed in 1995. It happened to be in Khaleej Times where a senior executive, Vijay Mainkoth, formed the first Toastmasters club after his return from Bahrain.

He floated the idea of forming the club to help create confidence among the youth to be good speakers and build up leadership skills in comfort — and today it has proved with over 2,500 members meeting every alternate week to explore their talents and skills.

When the first club was formed, it received good response and support from the business community in the emirate. Dr B.R. Shetty, managing director and CEO of NMC Group, was the first to sponsor the club, by facilitating the group for the regular meetings at one of his food outlets. Abu Dhabi Chapter to-date regularly holds its meetings at Foodland restaurant in the capital.

“Joining one of the clubs — Al Ro’yah Toastmasters Club — has changed my life. Before I could not address even three people, but today I’m confident enough to address a huge audience without fear and hesitation. Now I feel more comfortable to express myself, thanks to the movement,” said Asma Abdullah Al Amri, senior commercial analyst of Gas Processing Division of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), who is a senior member of Al Ro’yah Club based at Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (GASCO).

She was one of the many toastmasters attending an annual contest for members at Shaikh Khalifa Energy Complex in the capital. The crowd was a mixed bouquet of various nationalities with different backgrounds and a good number of young UAE nationals.

Now a growing number of UAE nationals are joining different area clubs to explore their talents and help further improve their skills in both fields — works and social interaction.

According to toastmaster Abraham Thomas, a finance manager, there is a total of 75 clubs in the UAE — 18 in Abu Dhabi, 35 in Dubai and 22 in Sharjah.

“The Abu Dhabi Chapter is the mother of all toastmasters’ clubs in the country. In Abu Dhabi, there are close to 600 members, while in the UAE, the total number is over 2,500. The trend to join and become a toastmaster is fast growing in the country. Particularly, there is lot of interest among UAE nations. We are also happy to see our Abu Dhabi Area 2 Governor being a young Emirati,” said Thomas.

He also said the UAE has the largest number of clubs in District 79 that comprises the entire GCC, Jordan and Lebanon. The District itself is also the world’s largest.

Governor Marwan Abdullah Shayea, who is senior contracts manager (Commercial Division) at GASCO, said he wanted to see the Abu Dhabi Division converted into a District with more and more clubs formed in the emirate.

“Toastmaster clubs are open for all. Anyone can be a member of his or her nearest club. You are even welcome to be a member of Al Ro’yah, which is based here at GASCO,” he said.

Shayea said when he floated the idea to form the club in GASCO, the management was surprised and asked what would the benefits be? “I sat with them and explained what results it would bring that will benefit the company. First change it will bring, I explained, was to improve the skills of employees and it will create quality leadership among them. The management was convinced and agreed, and finally we got the green signal,” he said.

The Toastmaster Club movement began in October 1924 when a group of men under the leadership of Dr Ralph Smedley gathered in the basement of Santa Ana YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in California to form a club with the aim of bringing different ethnic groups from around the world in North America, and be one with leadership skills and forge unity among different backgrounds.

The simple aim was to prove that all could express themselves better and equally — whether from Europe, Africa, South America or Asia. The challenge for them was to bring an end to the tendency that accent in speech, which lead to racism in those days in North America, was prejudice and could no more be tolerated. There are now 12,000 clubs in 106 countries with 235,000 members.

Al Amri said the movement is a great institute for building and creating quality leadership and skills. She said: “It has helped many people to improve their skills and professional works. The result is quality leadership and productivity that also helps the economy of a country.”

nissar@khaleejtimes.com