It was mid June 2017. I was District 41 Director at Toastmasters International. My term was about to get over in few days and my District was leading the Dashboard as #1 District from more than 100 Districts across 143 countries with a significant margin.We had reached at this leading position on the dashboard because of three main inputs:
1) A compelling Vision by
the leader i.e. myself in this case
2) An amazing and unstoppable team
3) A culture of Rewards & Recognition
In the mid June, I contacted one of my 28 Area Directors and asked if I could help him to make the Area Distinguished or better. He told me about a club which needed some six more members to become Distinguished which also could lead to his Area becoming Distinguished.
I agreed to visit the President & VP Education of the club with the Area Director. We got an appointment and reached. As we sat in the meeting, I allowed the hosts to speak about the challenges and why it's not possible to get new members at that time. I paid attention as if it was my first date with my fiancee, listening to all his concerns and reasons of why it can't be done. When the President was almost done. I thanked him for opening his heart out and giving a vivid picture of the health of the club.
Then I took my Toastmasters membership pin off my coat and handed him saying, "My friend, you have been a great leader of the club. You have done so much so far. We have n number of reasons for not being able to do it but only one to do it - I WANT YOUR CLUB MEMBERS & DISTRICT 41 TO BE PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS. This pin is an advanced reward for your achievement of making the club Distinguished. I know you can do it, wear the pin when it's done."
I thought they will be able to make it a Distinguished Club by adding 6 more members (which they lacked) within a week.
The Club President surprised me by calling in 3 days with the good news that the Club has become Distinguished by reaching strength of 20 members and he was delighted to wear the pin.
Rewards & Recognition is a powerful resource which is undervalued and underutilized. Organizations which go on to become the best in their fields understand and treat this at prime priority.
This is the very realization which motivated me to start Muskurado Pvt Ltd - A Rewards & Recognition Company!
