Bob Bowes – Nominated Candidate for Club Growth Director

Toastmasters member since

First joined October 2011 (With breaks, have completed 8 years as a paid member)

Education

Educated to Degree and post graduate level:
MA (Marketing Management),
MBA (Hull),
Dip.M (Chartered Institute of marketing)

Toastmasters offices held and terms of service

2019-20 – Club Extension Chair, Assistant Div. K Director, President, Ace of Clubs Toastmasters, Secretary, Canary Wharf club
2018-19 – President, Canary Wharf Communicators (President’s Distinguished); K31, Area Director (President’s Distinguished)
2018 – VPE, Canary Wharf Communicators
2016 – D46 Program quality Director (year not completed – moved countries!)
2015-16 – D46 Club Growth Director (Select Distinguished)
Prior to this period, Area Governor and multiple club officer roles! Currently Treasurer, Canary Wharf Communicators

Toastmasters honors and recognition

DTM x 4 (2015, 2016, 2020 & 2021)
CGD ‘Excellence In Club Growth’ 2015-16 at International Convention (chartered 25+ new clubs)
2015 – D46 ‘Area Governor of the Year’ Award
2014 – D46 ‘District Governor Award’ for ‘Most Outstanding Member’
2012 – D46 ‘Club President Award’ for ‘Most Outstanding Club President’

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a District leader:

I currently lead 2 companies. One as a sales & marketing consultant and another providing L&D for ‘C’ suite officers.
Considerable leadership experience within corporates, military and voluntary organisations – and in multiple countries.
– Sales, Marketing, Planning, Budgetary, HR, start-ups and mergers experience.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

Considerable! I have led significant corporate teams in strategic planning, military planning as an army Captain and numerous successful planning and execution opportunities within Toastmasters

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

Considerable!
From a theoretic perspective, I have an MBA with finance (module passed with distinction)
From a practical perspective I have prepared and executed on corporate financial plans up to multi-million dollar levels.
From a specific perspective I have twice been engaged in developing and managing a Toastmaster district budget (D46)

What experience do you have in developing procedures?

Considerable!
As a sales & marketing consultant I regularly consult, advice and develop procedures for companies.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

In the past 12 months I have participated in a 360 degree evaluation of my leadership style and competencies.
I have learned that I am ‘inspirational’ a ‘great problem solver’ and ‘highly inclusive’ of the teams I lead.
My teams are also sometimes a little ‘intimidated’ by my work rate and specifically comment that I don’t communicate frequently enough with them, to the extent that they sometimes feel ‘left behind’ – so the key lesson is that I need to improve my frequency of communication!

Why do you want to serve as a District leader?

Difficult one this. I don’t feel I ‘need’ the opportunity, but I feel excited at the faith and encouragement others have expressed in me in going for the CGD role.
However, every new role provides new challenges and opportunities and I want to challenge myself to deliver more and to do so ‘more efficiently and effectively’ – and to communicate the process and results better!
I also hope that in serving in a district capacity I can meet more members and inspire them to achieve more.

In your opinion, what are the District mission’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

As we know, the District mission is to ‘build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence’. The role of the CGD is to be principally responsible for the ‘build new clubs’ bit. I have a history of being very good at that! One key area to consider in my opinion, is to look at how we support and ‘achieve excellence’ in the 13-19 member clubs.

Additional information about yourself

One on my key values is ‘Stewardship’ – Being passionate about leaving a role in a better shape than it was when you took it on’. I hope to encourage more members to see the value in this philosophy. I am currently writing a book on Stewardship and trust that my continued involvement with leaders and (frequent!) role changes will help me to finesse the topic further.