Be accessible, build trust | Daniel Sandars

TM Daniel was extremely happy - not only because I contacted him for the blog post, but also because of a special connection that Northampton shares with Pune. Our member Aniket (from Deccan Toastmasters Club) had been a General Evaluator at the Northampton Speakers during his visit to UK - Daniel's club!

Exchange opportunities, help each other

Daniel shared a few thoughts about influence in general. "Toastmasters is a voluntary organization. My general approach is to understand the people that I am working with, and to try to identify their needs, motives. We get to exchange opportunities, for ex. maybe if someone wishes to do an HPL and I have another project, we could see these opportunities to help each other."

"My personal style is a very open collegiate democratic approach. I tend to communicate freely and explore ideas to build consensus. Even at the top levels of District Leadership, it is building up trust that is effective. Autocratic leadership doesn't work well in my opinion." Daniel mentioned discussing further on influence relating to leadership styles.

in Toastmasters, a leader might not have the necessary formal education

Daniel brought up a very important and a burning point during the discussion, "I have a very formal, well-developed educational background and I work at a University, but often within Toastmasters, people can be in Leadership positions even when they don't have a formal educational background as such. For ex. your District Director may not actually been to a University". The effective workaround in this situation was mentioned by Daniel "I always think it is very much up to me to reverse mentor and reverse manage that situation and try to develop the trust. I need to operate more freely."

establishing connection, being available is the key

What advice would Daniel give to new Toastmasters who want to influence people? "I really think that the key is getting to know people in a formal and informal situation, communicating freely, making yourselves available and accessible." He mentioned of a personal experience "When I had applied to be a Division Director, even before getting elected, I started networking with potential Area Directors. In our District, we elect Area Directors. We had established a connection through Facebook group six weeks before even I got elected."

Key takeaways for me from the fruitful and enlightening conversation with Daniel would be:

1. Trust is important to create influence

2. Mentor or reverse mentor depending on the situation

3. A leader should be accessible and available

About Daniel:

Daniel Sandars, DTM is a research fellow at Cranfield University, and a member of two clubs viz. Northampton Speakers and Cranfield Speakers. He is currently serving as the District Public Relations Manager at District 71. He has served more than 7 terms in different positions at clubs, also as Area G44 Director, Assistant Division G Director: Program Quality and Division H Director. He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts, an Associate fellow of the operational research society and a dual M Sc.