Welcome to SpeakUP! With Rita Burke. and Elton Brown,
Rita:George Lyberogiannis, what a delight it is to have you on our program with us this evening. I'll just tell our listeners, if you things about George, before we actually begin the interview. George tells us that he had an opportunity to attend the Toastmasters International conference in the summer of 2016, since then he caught the Toastmasters bug and joined Toastmasters. That's same fall. George credits Toastmasters as giving him the opportunity to enhance his communication and leadership skills. He has taken on a few roles in his journey and he's currently serving as a Division Director in his home District.
Elton Brown:George. Why don't you, give us The reason why you enjoy the quote motivation gets you to the starting line, but discipline gets you to the finish. What made you decide. Make that your favorite?
George Lyberogiannis:Well, first of all, good evening, Elton and Rita. And thank you so much for having me here this evening. Motivation gets you to the starting line, but it's discipline that gets you to the finish. Very often, whenever we would see individuals start up a particular project or endeavor, they're really excited. They're hyped up. Maybe they heard a really empowered. Or passionate speech or maybe they had somebody really encouraged them. Hey, you know what? This is an endeavor where you can really take on and they start off with a lot of boost, but as time continues to go on, I'm sure you yourselves have seen this. And I know in my personal life, I've experienced this as well is you start off with a lot of gas and energy in the tank, but somewhere along the process, you really start to blow down on steam. You really start to lose it a little bit. You say to yourself, you know, maybe I'm not feeling too good today. Perhaps I could put it off and I could put it off. And it's something that as time goes on, you lose that passion that you had when you start. And when I examined people who were successful in a variety of different endeavors, I noticed that those are the individuals putting in the hard work and the grind day in day out, there were days when they felt really great. There were days when they did that, they had that deep why, and they had that deep commitment to whatever it was that they were working on. In short, they were able to accomplish the goals. Not because they felt good every day, but because they had that deep. Motivation gets you to the starting line, but it's discipline that gets you to the finish.
Rita:I am so impressed with that George so-so impressed and I agree totally that motivation gets you to the starting line. So it seems to me as if you are a very disciplined person and I'll admit. In order that to be successful in your communication and your leadership. There is no question that you need to be. We need to be motivated and disciplined to speak a little bit more about that for me, please
George Lyberogiannis:Was it said motivation is something that perhaps you were inspired to take on. Whereas discipline is really putting in that hard work day in day out. And one of the things that I noticed is having a certain routine and patterns, habits, if you will really make all the difference in the world, a lot of us as humans are really just creatures of habits. And when you notice, when people taking on certain projects are tasked a lot of times when they're successful, it's because they built up a certain level of. They've been able to create over time that continuous motion moving in towards circles, it's worth specific directions. So I found in my personal life, whenever we have certain habits and I put certain things in place, and I say, no matter how I'm feeling, I'm going to work out at this time each day, no matter how I feel I'm going to get up. And this is going to be my routine. No matter how I'm feeling, I'm going to set the time aside to maybe reflect on my day to exercise or really to sit back and plan out my week and find out what's important to me and then commit to doing that. I think that's really important.
Elton Brown:I wonder about your Area Directors, that first six months. And I'm only speaking from previous experience the first six months they're really, they really go into it. They're really gon hoa. And then the last six months, it's kind of like, they turn into molasses. That's been sitting in minus 26 degree weather for about two hours. How do you keep them motivated to the finished.
George Lyberogiannis:Sure. Great question. And you know, that's something that we all, as, as we alluded to earlier in this conversation, that's something that we all struggle with. One of the things that I think the, the District team and the Trio this year did a fantastic job of is even before the start of this, of the term we got together in June and we created sort of a transition, what are we going to do? That roadmap going to look like I put together a document where I call it the 10 key actions. And what I did is it's something which really helped me when I was an Area Director. And it mapped out about 10 key areas and their actual timelines. And what it did is it took these large, large tasks that you really need to focus on and it chopped them into smaller pieces and tasks. So in July, for example, where are we going to focus on? We're going to focus on getting our Moments of Truth in there, it's our clubs, so that they can really do a situation analysis where our clubs are at. We're also going to make sure that all. Club Officers get trained in that first round. And then in August, we're going to get our club in areas, success plans, and then it's in September. We're going to get our dues and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So really taking those big pictures, start with the roadmap right at minute one. So you're all on the same page. You know the direction, you're going break it up into smaller tasks and just check in. I think ultimately what it comes down to is as a leader, your job is to make it clear what the vision is, and also to make it easy for those that you serve to do their job. And if you can do that and break things up into smaller tasks and to continue to support them and continuously really remind and inspire a team while you're leaders and Toastmasters in the first place, I think that deep, why can really help and encourage them even through those tough times when they don't.
Rita:That is certainly an amazing way of looking at things and looking at projects, I believe. Do you know, there's a little saying that, how do you eat an elephant and it's one bite at a time. And I quite agree with you that one needs a roadmap. One needs to know where the North Star is. And then put the little bitty steps into, get to the North Star. And it sounds to me as if this particular strategy is working quite well for you. Now, when you joined Toastmasters, did you anticipate that you would ultimately become a leader because as a Division Director, that's what you do. You lead, you need a group, you lead members. Did you anticipate this happening?
George Lyberogiannis:Well, it's interesting. If you look at the Toastmasters leadership statement, the mission statement, excuse me, they look at empowering individuals become better communicators. and leaders, what originally drew me to Toastmasters. Wasn't so much the. And I have to admit, you'd go to these con I went, when I went to that first conference back in the summer of 2016, I didn't really think about all the work that's put in behind the scenes for all these people running workshops, coordinating, uh, you know, some of these events or even some of the work that's done on a day to day, week to week or month to month. In the areas and the divisions. So that's something that I just didn't think about. I just said, Toastmasters speaking, Hey, I want to become a better speaker, sign me up. But as I started to get more involved in the organization and I realized that Toastmasters, interestingly enough, as the tagline is where leaders are made. I didn't consider Toastmasters as a place to develop leadership. But when I got in and I realized that there's both the communication piece and the leadership piece, and they started to explore leadership opportunities within Toastmasters, I really enjoyed it. And I felt that it was a way for me to contribute in the same way that leaders in the past. Helped create environments and conditions for me to continue to hone my communication skills. It was my way of giving back and my way to really take charge and also to develop leadership skills within myself. So I didn't expect it right at the beginning, but it really gave me the opportunity to do so and I'm glad that I did have that.
Elton Brown:You moved from member to Area. Director to Division Director. And I'm sure there were many benefits that you were able to discover. And I'm just wondering if someone was thinking about becoming a District leader, what message would you relay?
George Lyberogiannis:That's an excellent question. And one that I think would probably. Require a lot of thought. I would say two things. Firstly, when you join Toastmasters, I would really ask the member. What is it that they join Toastmasters to benefit? As we mentioned, not too long ago, is that Toastmasters tagline is, this is where leaders are me and in the same way that commute you to a Toastmaster to build your communication skills. And that's really opened up doors of opportunity and allowed you to grow and tap into skills that you didn't know. So to the leadership piece of Toastmasters allows you to do that. And there's just multiple benefits there. Uh, besides what I just mentioned in terms of the personal growth aspect, I believe that some of the skills that you'll be able to develop there can also transfer it to other areas or other domains in your life, whether your personal, whether your work so would really. Draw turn the members' attention to the numerous benefits that leadership opportunities do have. The second piece I would also bring up too, is when members joined as Toastmasters, part of the Toastmasters promised was to really step up and to take charge, uh, when called to do so, taking up some of these roles. As I mentioned earlier as well, is that a lot of the fantastic activities that happen until snatchers happened because there's people behind the scenes who really step up and really make these opportunities possible for all our men. So really communicating both the personal growth piece and the benefits that that has to themselves, but also to the fact that they're leadership. And they're stepping up to really benefit their fellow Toastmasters. And I think when you are able to both recognize the benefits that it has on you and the impact that that has on others, I would say that it's a fantastic combination And I believe that the benefits that you'll get from stepping up really, really outweigh the amount of time and commitment that you put in there. It's something I'm glad I did. And it's something I really enjoy. And I know that that's something that many members who step up to take on leadership roles enjoy as well.
Rita:Fantastic. Obviously you're getting your money's worth out of your membership, but I'm curious, Jordan. The person who brought you to the International conference in 2016. Have they seen you since, have they communicated with you since, or did you just found yourself at the conference? It was, uh, it was actually my brother, Ted, who I accompanied, uh, with, and at the time I was not at all semester. You know, I, I, I, I paid out of pocket for myself and I also wanted to go and support him because he was, he was competing at the contest and it was an opportunity for me to, to go with my brother and it, to support him in that endeavor.
George Lyberogiannis:And it was so to answer your question, yes, I have, you know, kept in contact obviously with him and, and he supported me certainly early on in my Toastmaster's journey. And I can, I can say that that going to that, that particular conference for me was the catalyst for me to step into Toastmasters. And it's something that I was very fond of. And I looked back with with great fondness and great memory. It still, to this day has, has a positive impact on,
Rita:have you ever taken part in one of the contests?
George Lyberogiannis:I have competed before in my first year. And I was, it was my first, it wasn't, it was my first year I had competed. So yes,
Elton Brown:Ok We've talked a lot about Toastmasters and the value and the benefits that it delivers. What about George? What does George like doing outside of work and outside of Toastmasters? What does George, due to. I guess the zone out relaxes his mine, regenerate.
George Lyberogiannis:Well, it, you know, it's so important. I don't have as much free time as I'd like, but I think it's really important. As you mentioned, you mentioned the word recharge and regenerate. I think it's really important that when we look back and reflect on our lives and how we schedule our time, that we really fit in those. Big rocks in our lives. And part of that is taking time to plan out our weeks to reflect. Now, I really love things such as exercise, going for walks. You know, just spending time with friends and family, I think is always a great way to regenerate your recharge. I enjoy reading books as well, and anything that really can feed you mentally. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. Some of those are some of the activities that I engage in. And I think when you have time to engage in those, it really makes the quality of all the other activities you take part in that much better.
Rita:George if you were to run in accidentally to a person who, Toastmasters yesterday, what would you want to say to them?
George Lyberogiannis:Well, first of all, I've congratulate them because they made a decision to invest in themselves and their personal growth and in their future. So the first thing I'd say is congratulations on taking the step because it's a great journey and it's one that's fantastic. The second thing I would tell them is know that you are in an environment where you are safe and secure. And that said you should step out of your comfort zone and don't be afraid to take risks very often in parts of our lives. We may be a little bit more reserved because we feel that perhaps the consequences of not living up to some of our standards, may be very adverse. We worry. What are the opinions of other people going to be or whatever. Impact might this have on my career if I don't do that presentation so well, but in Toastmasters, you have the opportunity every week to go into a safe and supportive environment to step out of your comfort zone. And it's out of your comfort zone when you get the opportunity to grow. And when you grow, as I mentioned earlier, that's really when you are able to become, forgive me for the cliche, a better version of yourself, and that translates to. Doing better at work, doing better in your interpersonal relationships. So really step out of your comfort zone and take advantage of all the opportunities that Toastmasters has to offer both inside your club and as well in terms of other leadership positions,
Elton Brown:Thank you so much, George, for having this conversation with Rita and I, we got to know a little bit about. You as a Toastmaster, some of the things that you like doing outside of Toastmasters, you've given advice to individuals who are either thinking about becoming a Toastmaster or have joined to be a Toastmaster and individuals who may be thinking about. Entering the leadership side of, I think that what you have imparted to our listeners will definitely benefit them greatly. And with that, I'd like to say, thank you and thank our listeners and wish everyone a good night.
Rita:Thank you. And good night. George
George Lyberogiannis:Fantastic. Elton Rita. Thank you so much for having me this evening. Thank you for listening to speak up to discover upcoming podcasts. Please go to www dot Toastmasters 60 6 0 dot. com under news and events. Look for the District 60 newsletter to locate the schedule. www.toastmasters60.com.