The Few. The Proud.

I read "Leading from the Front--No excuse Leadership tactics for women" by Angie Morgan and Courtney Lynch. The book caught my attention immediately when it was placed on the shelf of Taipei City Library, Women and Leadership. Both Angie and Courtney became leaders during their years in the U.S. Marine Corps, the most demanding branch of the armed forces. Here are their 10 key practices to become a powerful leader.

1. Meet and exceed the standards you ask for others--lead from the front
2. Make timely decisions--find the 80 percent solution
3. Seek to take responsibility before you begin to place blame
4. True leaders dedicate themselves to service--take care of those you lead
5. Think before you act--especially before you overreact
6. When faced with a crisis-aviate, navigate, communicate
7. Courage + initiative + perseverance + integrity = success
8. Don't cry over something that won't cry over you
9. Say you're sorry only when you're at fault
10. Always lead as you are.

I'm glad that golden ladies have reached the consensus to perform an unprecedented talent show at Christmas Party this year. Even though an early start does not guarantee a successful outcome, we shall learn through the long period of preparation time to refine an ultimate entertaining program. We'll bring a lot of joy and fun to our fellow toastmasters at the end of Year 2007.

The show is about the reproduction of a famous singing program on TV in the sixties. We shall have a good opportunity to use our imagination to revive the old musical program with new emotional connections. All participants will be given one minute to copy the original singer, to mimic the body language in a look-familiar costume. It might be easier to find a singer who shares similar facial features and body build-up. But it is more important to let our body talk, to learn to portray others in a positive and amusing fashion.

As we need more toastmasters in the project, each golden lady is encouraged to recruit or recommend one to two toastmaster talents to join our show. It is a good opportunity for us to motivate people to participate in an entertaining program, to transfer toastmaster individuals into a strong and cohesive team beyond individual clubs. A Joy shared is a joy doubled. Let's learn from the women from the Marine Corps. Be "The few. The proud." Let's bring the old stars together to shine on Christmas Eve in Taipei. Sherry