Welcome to Speak UP! with Rita Burke and Elton Brown!
Rita:This evening, we have the pleasure we have the honor, we have the warmest, the delight of interviewing none other than Andrew Horrbury. Andrew is currently the Division Director in District 60, and he has lots of stories to tell about his life and about his Toastmasters journey. So welcome Andrew.
Andrew Horberry:Thank you, Rita and Elton. It's just a delight to be with you here tonight.
Elton Brown:Now that you have been a Division Director for six months how does it feel as comparison to when you took the role in July?
Andrew Horberry:It feels very different and it changed round about January the third. I think that was when. the we went from being in planning mode and just getting our hands around the issues and just trying to understand everything. And then roundabout, the turn of the year, we suddenly thought, oh my goodness, this is, this is the final six months. There's only six more months to the end of the Toastmasters year and there's so much to be done, not just the contest, but helping people through the Pathways, helping people find you members for their clubs so much to be done and so little time now to do it in.
Rita:You are so right about that. We started the year and on the 1st of July and here we are in January already. So it's like, we're heading to the finish line now. And we are indeed realizing that this much to be there, but something that I need to ask you, Andrew, and it is. have you discovered anything new about Andrew Horberry now that you are a Division Director, what have you learned about yourself and about your leadership style particularly?
Andrew Horberry:Well, I have to say Rita, I'm blessed with four Area Directors who are in that. have Very very individual styles, very different styles, but they're all very motivated to do the best for their clubs and for Toastmasters. So it's the, the role has brought me a lot of joy, really just watching those four people grow and expand their capabilities and take on new responsibilities. And I'm seeing that they volunteer for lots of roles and lots of responsibilities that I think maybe they might not have in back in August last year. So that's been terrific. I've really enjoyed almost sitting back and watching that happen because they're doing it under their own steam, that they are doing their own thing over there. And I guess what I've rediscovered about myself is that I love helping to point people in the right direction and in Division terms, that means knowing all the information or the resources that the District offers and not forcing it on them. Not not overwhelming people with wow. Look at all the, all this stuff, because there is so much, there is a manual or a video or a podcast, but any eventuality you can imagine, but just knowing that and thrifting that and curating it so that when somebody has a problem, whether it's a club member or a club or an Area Director, if any of them have a challenge, you can suggest some resources or some people that they could connect with that would really help them. So I guess what I'm relearning about myself is I love connecting people and resources and help that. That's what I've rediscovered about myself.
Rita:And that's a good discovery. Is it?
Andrew Horberry:I think it is. I spent my career being a project manager, so I'm very type A, I understand what the deadlines are I understand what the constraints are. I understand what needs to be delivered. So my default is to over plan everything. And I used to get very upset when things didn't go exactly. According to. Uh, if something just didn't go the way that I expected or I wanted to, that would bend me out to shape for days and I'd worry about it and think, how did that happen? And what could I have done differently or better that would have prevented that. And I guess what I have learned is that it's okay. Things aren't going to go the way you expect. They are going to be strange things happening. But you could just never have expected them never planned for. And whereas I would have got very anxious previously about that. I know have a more relaxed attitude and, and I can step back I think, and think about, well, what's really the problem here and how can I help?
Elton Brown:Well that is definitely a steep learning curve to be able to put down the anxiousness and the worry of being a Toastmaster. I remember many times Phyrne Parker who has long she's long gone, but she would always say, relax, it's just Toastmasters. And I think that frame of mind allows you to get rid of all the baggage and allows you, which allows you to do. Forward. I'm just wondering, talking about moving forward. What have you found to be your greatest challenge as a Division Director?
Andrew Horberry:So I think the biggest challenge is one that I think the organization faces at almost every level, which is, I know. How wonderful Toastmasters is because I've been in it for a number of years and the leadership knows how wonderful it is, but my goodness, we're having some real problems, I think right now, finding new guests to become members who can then experience how wonderful Toastmasters is. And I sound almost evangelical about Toastmasters because I've seen the difference it's made in people's lives. I have seen them grow and become so much more confident than I would ever have thought when they gave the first icebreaker. And they were terrified and reading from notes and to see people start like that. And were there. A couple of levels of Pathways to change out of all recognition. It'd be so different and have so much more confidence. That is just a wonderful, wonderful thing. And that's why I'm so I'm so keen on Toastmasters. I just love it. I think it's the best program that I've ever encountered. And I just love learning. So I done couple of degrees. I've done lots of certifications. I just keep on learning because I, I just absorbed stuff that way and love it. And to see people go through a program that is self-directed, that's volunteer. That is remarkably cheap. Toastmasters is a heck of a lot cheaper than my MBA was, but to see the results that you get from Toastmasters is just extraordinary. So that's why I'm really evangelical about it. I, I think it's an extraordinary system and trying to find more people to experience that for the very first time. I think that's the biggest challenge as a Division Director.
Rita:I agree with you. It is the challenge. Find those people who perhaps find the people may not be an issue, but getting them to commit to what's involved with Toastmasters. But you said something that really resonates with me is that you like to learn. I describe myself as a, for ever learning sounds to me as if you two are, if for ever learning that's, that's wonderful. But before interview started. You said something to me. You said that you had been a Toastmaster for a long time, as long as perhaps I have been a Toastmaster. So I describe us both as fossilized Toastmasters, Andrew. I'm not sure if you buy into that description, but if you've been a Toastmaster for as long as you said, then I need to hear from you. Any story that has etched itself on your mind, joining your Toastmaster journey. Tell us about anything that you will never forget about that Toastmaster journey.
Andrew Horberry:I will never forget certain speeches that people gave. I have them I'm a terrible hoarder. So I have got copies of every single agenda. In a binder and I've noted down the times for each of those speeches and where we had club contests or other competitions, I would write down the results of that. So I've got quite the archive of our club in one place. If I went back to that binder and flicked it open, I could, I bet you, I could remember. Most of those people and most of those presentations, without going back to that binder, I can remember a few presentations, one sticks in my mind, and it was a perfect Toastmasters presentation cause it had a recurring scene and the recurring theme was it's a possibility. And the speaker was talking about how her father, no matter what outrageous idea is speaker gave her father, the father for his response was. It's a possibility and, and that nonjudgmental attitudes and just the warmth and humor of that approach, I think really, really stuck with me. So I will remember forever Terry Bonner's presentation entitled. It's a possibility, uh, that struck me as the, just the epitope of Toastmasters, uh, because it was an unexpected presentation. I walked into the, the meeting that morning. And three presenters gave speeches on completely different subjects. And that fuels my learning every week. I know I'm going to turn up to the meeting and I'm going to learn something new. And that may be some stuff that Toastmasters would like us to learn about presentation, style, or vocabulary or something like that. But more often it's about the person giving the presentation. And I just love, love, love that aspect of Toastmasters.
Elton Brown:You are a avid learner. You forever wanting to learn something new, different, no mind, poverty absorbs things like a sponge. I, and that is a excellent trait, especially if you are a Toastmaster, I wonder. In being a Toastmaster and then outside of being a Toastmaster, what does Andrew, what are Andrew's passions? Not including Toastmasters.
Andrew Horberry:So my passions as of January 2022 are unfulfilled because I have two things that I love beyond. Anything else. One is. And I would happily spend every single light that I possibly could in theater. And that was one of the joys of coming to Toronto was discovering the very extensive theater senior. So I enjoy going to Soulpepper to musical stage company, to almost anything in any theater in Toronto. So can't do that right now. My second passion, which is a very, very unexpected passion because I grew up as a very asthmatic kid in the Southwest of Scotland. I was very unathletic. I was always the last one picked for any team sports. I was hopeless, hopeless at team sports and. Uh, my fellow students recognize that and rewarded me with the, with being picked to the very last for everything. So no much to my under the everyone. Else's surprised. What I love doing is exercise. And I particularly enjoy doing a very prescribed and planned piece of exercise called body combat, which is. Uh, 55 minutes, generally, a very, very, very aerobic piece of exercise, which is basically mixed martial arts moves to a disco beat, a very fast disco beat. So getting my heartbeat up to 170, uh, over the course of that hour and keeping it up at that level is one of my new passions, relatively new passions. Like she said, I've been doing it for about seven years now. And again, of course, here we are in January 22. Can't do that neither. So my passions right now are theater and exercise, neither of which I can do properly. And I'm so looking forward to that changing, hopefully in the near future,
Rita:Getting your heart beat up to how much she do say 170 and you're still alive. Well, every time retail, every time I do this, I wonder whether I'm going to survive for 55 minutes, but so far so good. This certainly has been for me as simply amazing experience to spend this very short time with you. You have answered all of our questions. And I feel certain that our audience would enjoy listening to what you have said to us. And so with that in mind, I want to say a sincere, thank you to you, Andrew, for joining us on Speak UP!. I want to say one last thing. I heard your speech some months back on putting on the Ritz and it was indeed very humorous. Obviously you have gained tremendously, a new roof, suck, tap, and soaked up the benefits of Toastmasters. And here you are after being a Toastmaster for so long at the top of your game. And I need to congratulate you so much. I see the sky's the limit and thank you again for joining us, Andrew Horberry.
Andrew Horberry:it's just been a pleasure being with you. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Elton Brown:Thank you for listening to Speak UP! To discover upcoming podcasts, please go to www. Toastmasters 60 60 dot come under news and events. Look for the District 60 newsletter to locate the schedule.