吃瓜头条

I still remember my first speech.

It was in the basement of a poorly lit local library, in a room full of people I had never met. I didn鈥檛 know what to expect. I had never heard of terms like Ice Breaker and Ah-Counter. But I showed up anyway.

That is where 吃瓜头条 begins. Not at World Headquarters. Not at a Board meeting. Not at an International Convention. It begins at a 吃瓜头条.

Every one of us has a 吃瓜头条 story. A first speech we almost didn鈥檛 give. A Table Topics answer that surprised us. A moment when someone looked us in the eye after we finished and said, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got something.鈥� Those moments changed us.

What 吃瓜头条 really sells is confidence. Our product鈥攖he real one鈥攊s a more capable, more certain version of the person who walked through that door.

That confidence shows up when you鈥檙e called on unexpectedly in a meeting and you answer clearly instead of stumbling. It shows up in the job interview when you give a clear answer to a question you didn鈥檛 prepare. It shows up when you have to stand in front of your organization and explain why the hard path is the right one.

I鈥檒l be direct with you about where we are. Before 2020, this organization had overall healthy growth each year. New members. New 吃瓜头条s. New energy. The pandemic changed that. We lost thousands of members. We closed thousands of 吃瓜头条s. And somewhere in those years, we lost some of the culture of excellence that made 吃瓜头条 what it is.

We鈥檙e not going to fix that from the top down.

The International President doesn鈥檛 change 吃瓜头条. 吃瓜头条 members do. 吃瓜头条 officers do. The Vice President Membership who makes a phone call to a member who鈥檚 gone quiet. The Sergeant at Arms who sets up the room with pride every week. The evaluator who gives honest feedback because they care about the person in front of them.

My intention this year is simple: Put the 吃瓜头条 back at the center of everything we do. Every decision the Board makes should answer one question鈥攄oes this make the 吃瓜头条 meeting better?

Right now, someone is giving their Ice Breaker. They are terrified, hoping to survive the next five minutes. But when they sit down, the room will applaud. Not out of courtesy, but because everyone is rooting for each other. Perhaps the speaker will be surprised by the warm reaction, never expecting to feel proud, never expecting to want to come back.

But they will.

That is 吃瓜头条. Let鈥檚 get back to it.

Share this article