The 1-2-4 Steps To Be A Distinguished Club Can you imagine what Toastmasters must have been like before the creation of the Distinguished Club Program (DCP)? It’s like trying to imagine life before the internet! Created in 1989, the same year I joined Toastmasters, the DCP is a brilliant organizational development and management tool offering a yardstick to monitor the health and progress of each individual and organization for clubs, for districts and even for Toastmasters International. According to my calculations, as of July 2010, over half of our districts have achieved distinguished status; this is a significant improvement from previous years such as compared to 2005’s 45% rate of achievement. Reaching 100% achievement I believe is easily within reach: if we don’t consider the two points minimum for staying in the game - the semiannual officer list report and participation in the two officer training periods - that leaves only 3 points to strive for, to become distinguished. For a club to serve its mission, maintain health and achieve distinguished status, it needs only to focus on the “1-2-4”: 1 AC -- to be healthy, a club needs a core of senior members as role models and mentors for newer members. At the same time, senior members need to continually raise the standard of their own performance: the Advanced Manuals offer a rich and broad range of contexts for the senior member to flex his/her skills to different challenges. 2 CCs -- to have vitality, a club needs a growing foundation of experienced members. To measure the progress of new members; the communication manual establishes the learning journey in communication and leadership. 4 NEW MEMBERS – to maintain its youthful energy and freshness, a club needs a steady flow of “new blood” with new members. A club which has achieved the basic 1-2-4 will have secured the 5 points needed to be Distinguished. Any points beyond that such as additional AC, CCs, CL, AL or DTM would put it in the range of achieving Select and President’s Distinguished Club. The DCP is as easy as 1-2-4! FOCUS ON THE 1 - 2 - 4 ~ George Yen, DTM, Candidate for 2nd Vice President |