Candidate’s Name:
Seema Menon
Candidate’s Office:
Club Growth Director
Toastmasters member since:
May 2014
Education:
MBA(Marketing), BSc Mathematics,
Diploma in Advertising and Mass Communications,
Diploma in Personal Performance Coaching & Corporate and Executive Coaching(Pusuant) AI-Implications for Business Strategy (course)
Toastmasters offices held and terms of service:
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club Secretary Jul 01, 2023 Jun 30, 2024
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club Secretary Oct. 01, 2022 Jun. 30, 2023
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club Secretary Jul. 01, 2020 Jun. 30, 2021
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club Secretary Jul. 01, 2019 Jun. 30, 2020
District 0091 Public Relations Manager Jul. 01, 2018 Jun. 30, 2019
District 0091 Division Director Jul. 01, 2017 Jun. 30, 2018
District 0091 Area Director Jul. 01, 2016 Jun. 30, 2017
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club President Jul. 01, 2015 Jun. 30, 2016
Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters Club Treasurer Jul. 09, 2014 Jun. 30, 2015
Toastmasters honors and recognition:
DTM , Division Director of the Year, Triple Award- thrice, Speechcraft Lead for D91,
Division L International Speech Contest Runner up
Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a District leader:
A commercially astute professional in media (Sony Pictures Networks – SPN) having a good understanding of artificial intelligence & machine learning (Soroco Ltd & SparkBeyond, both AI start-ups) and an experienced strategist (Headstride, Consulting Start-Up) with a curiosity for learning about new technologies. Highly driven with a proven track record of achieving targets by enabling a relationship of trust and leading high-performance teams in challenging commercial environments globally. An enthusiastic team player who inspires thought leadership for excellence through keynotes, published articles and workshops.
What experience do you have in strategic planning?
I hold a non exec director role as a strategist with Headstride Ltd and have been responsible for strategic planning in my roles at Sony and Soroco. As the District PR Manager, I’ve had the experience of strategising the PR plan for the year and contributing in small measure towards the District’s Distinguished status
What experience do you have in the area of finance?
I have managed the P&L for some of the channels at Sony from Sales perspective and also my exposure as the PR Manager as well as the Treasurer of Harrovians has given me decent experience from Toastmasters perspective
What experience do you have in developing procedures?
As the Partner Account Director at Soroco & Head of Sales at Sony, I was responsible for formulating the GTM strategy and driving growth in existing as well as new terrains. I believe this experience would be useful when it comes to toastmasters. Besides that, I drove the Speechcraft awareness agenda within the district running Leadership institutes and personally leading a couple of Speechcrafts to understand the challenges and create solutions thereof. I believe in understanding the challenge and collaboratively working towards a solution to overcome the same whilst creating SOPs for others to use as a guideline.
What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?
Collaboratively working alongside teams to understand their challenges and enlisting their buy in to ensure it is a win win for all.
Modified my leadership style to servant leadership wherever necessary especially while leading people who are volunteering their time.
Walking the talk
Why do you want to serve as a District leader?
I’ve been serving at Toastmasters since 2014 and have brought in my corporate experience into the role. This has helped when working with corporate toastmaster clubs. I have taken a break from leadership roles at district level when I was transitioning from Media into AI and now I believe, I’m ready to take up the next challenge at Toastmasters
In your opinion, what are the District mission’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?
Moving from the Hybrid style of working to in-person meetings and contests after the pandemic would be one of the objectives that the District is working towards to ensure member commitment and superior Club quality. Building memberships with reduced attrition and ensuring the health of existing clubs would be some of the objectives of the District. Encouraging clubs to meet in-person, working with members to understand how toastmasters can be more relevant in the changing times, taking cues from existing District leaders to amp up the fabulous work that they have been doing, encouraging more Speechcrafts would be some of the steps.
Additional information about yourself:
Shortlisted as TechWoman100 in 2023 by WeAreTechWomen
Led #UnitedforInclusion, event at Soroco (2021) promoting the D&I culture; Empowering your Voice: communication and leadership (2023) and steering the formation of Women@Soroco ERG group. Awarded Certificate of Excellence for Inclusion from Sony Pictures Entertainment (2017) for co-founding the ERG Group “Meltdowns” and driving One Sony message through collaboration between multiple business verticals and SPN Guru title for training the global sales team (2019).
Empowered members to gain confidence to speak in public by conducting a Speaking Workshop Series at MIND Harrow as part of Head to Work project (2017).
Presented multiple keynote speeches and podcasts, including ‘Single Stitch Pitch’ (Selling), ‘Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Business and Sales’, ‘Rediscovering Agreement’ (Conflict Resolution), ‘The Anxious Being’ (Anxiety), ‘Call Attention To’ (Mindfulness and Communication) at various industry events globally.
Last Updated on 6th April 2024 by Diane Richardson