Tom Bailey – Nominated Candidate for Division D Director
Toastmasters member since 2020
Education :
Undergraduate Law Degree (Bachelor of Laws) – 1st Class Honours (University of Law)
LLM Bar Practice (Examinations to be Called to the Bar of England & Wales) – Very Competent
Toastmasters offices held and terms of service:
Area Director (D91, D14) – 2022-23 year.
Club President (Farnham Speakers’ Club) – 2021-22 year.
Toastmasters honors and recognition:
2022: Winner of the International Speech Club Contest and the International Speech Evaluation Club Contest.
2022: Completion of my Educational Pathway (Engaging Humour) and recipient of the Toastmaster’s Triple Crown Award.
2021: Winner of the International Speech Evaluation Club Contest.
Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a District leader:
I currently work as a County Court Advocate. I have appeared as the sole advocate in multiple landlord and tenant, infant approval and small claims commercial debt hearings. I represent my clients and persuade District Judges to order in my client’s favour.
I am working as a County Court Advocate, as I am an aspiring Barrister. I am aiming to become the first lawyer in my family. This role requires significant levels of public speaking ability. I thank Toastmasters International, for without it I would not have the confidence to decide upon this career route. I believe that, by undertaking the role of Division Director, I can continue to build my verbal and organisational skills. This will allow me to stand out in the highly competitive process of becoming a Barrister.
What experience do you have in strategic planning?
As the Club President during the 2021-22 year, I lead our Club committee in the return to our physical venue (from predominantly zoom meetings). We were the first Club in our Area to move to hybrid meetings, and have been used as a template for other Clubs across the Division in the switch to hybrid.
I decided to make the proposal to move to hybrid meetings after we experienced a decline in membership. I was informed that many of our members were missing the social interaction and challenge of speaking in a physical venue. I had to balance this need alongside the needs of many of our online members, who had joined us during lockdown from overseas, and had become established members. I assessed that the only way to satisfy both needs in an effective way was by leading the decision to implement hybrid meetings.
What experience do you have in the area of finance?
As a County Court Advocate, I am self-employed. I therefore regularly keep up to date on my income and expenses and file self-assessment tax returns.
I have previously worked as an Office Junior in the Accounts Department of a London-based Law Firm. I assisted in drafting income statements and balance sheets on Excel. I also digitally stored the Firms’ receipts and monitored working capital.
What experience do you have in developing procedures?
During one of my previous jobs, the company relied heavily on physical paperwork processing and manual data entry methods, including paper time sheets. The specific process of personnel signing in and out for shifts and breaks, along with individually calculating their work hours, led to consistent payroll discrepancies and would often require adjustments on payroll end dates. One of the major causes of the miscalculations was that employees wrote in their times before or after their actual sign-in and sign-out times. To minimize this occurrence, my regional supervisor and I implemented mandates for time sheet regulation and monitoring.
What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?
- The importance of delegation (I often take on too much responsibility and have learned to trust others with their tasks)
– If you need someone’s help, ask them as soon as possible. I would often ask people for help at the last minute, who, given the short notice, were not available.
– Ask for help as soon as you feel you need it. I would often try to figure out very difficult tasks by myself, as I feared interrupting others. I learned that, to resolve issues in a quick and stress-free way, I needed to ask for help promptly.
Why do you want to serve as a District leader?
Having ‘taken the plunge’ in becoming Club President at age 20, followed by Area Director at age 21, I have developed enormously. I would very much like to keep up the momentum by taking the next step in becoming a Division Director.
I was influenced into these decisions partly by my Club mentor, who could sense my nerves, as well as my potential. I have never looked back since. As a Division Director, I can have even more influence, that I can use to inspire more guests to become members, and more members to take on leadership positions within Toastmasters International.
In your opinion, what are the District mission’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?
I believe it should be the District mission’s major objective to empower more younger individuals to become effective communicators and leaders.
I agree with the D91 PR Manager, Chris Arning, who highlighted that Toastmasters is a relatively alien concept to the general public. As a 22 year-old, I very much feel like the odd one out (in a good way!). I am incredibly fortunate to have found Toastmasters at such a young age, and feel that this should be taken up more particularly by younger people. Effective marketing will be key in my opinion, which I believe I will excel at considering the fact that I am part of a demographic largely unrepresented at Toastmasters Internationally.
Additional information about yourself: