Sri Lankaka Club Symposium - Bahrain Toastmaster Magazine SLCS Toastmasters Bahrain - Epitome 01 | Page 10

SRI LANKA CLUB SYMPOSIUM

TOASTMASTERS

Issue
October-November 2013

BEST OF THE BEST

WINNING SPEECH SESSION 401- GETTING THERE....
ACS-PROJECT 3 BY TM SANJAYA SENARATNE
Three years ago, following an accident I was
bedridden, was in agonizing pain. When I
went to bed, I didn’t know whether I would
see the sunlight the following day. Most of
you here, know what I went through. After
two months of sick leave when I returned to
office, I was told that I would no longer work
in my old job.The Company had changed my
role. I reluctantly approached my superior,
and asked Why!
“Cheer up & you should be happy” he said, you
are given a brand new dept.! Reporting to the
CEO.
How could this be!
The CEO himself was new who had no clue
about me except that I was a sick man. My
boss was cold & ruthless ….. I had no choice, It
was either take it or leave it! I was dumb
folded! Walked slowly to my office, looking
blank not knowing what to do. I was lost.
After a long pause …...I looked at the
internet, spoke to some friends, and made up
my mind – to take it as a challenge. (Not that
I had any other choice!) My role had changed
I had now to review business processes and
policies for each department and improve
them. It was not a simple task. There are 9
departments in the company Finance,
Purchasing, Warehouse, Operations, IT etc. I
had to challenge the department heads telling
them what they do is not the best thing and
convince them to agree to what I proposed.
Just like…..
I had to select my own team, setup a division
and deliver. I was given a month to sort
things. !!!
Yet, I made that confession “Yes I am going to
do it”.Because I know I am “different”.
Dear Toastmasters, Time passed by: Very
slowly and gradually I got over the pressure.
Step by step the new department gathered
momentum. People started to have faith in
me, they took my recommendations well.

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“Success is not
taking big steps
towards
the
future, Success
is taking small
steps
now
so
your
future
takes shape in
small steps………”
The game changed!!! Pressure moved from my
side to theirs. I was busy like a bee and soon I
realized that I have transformed myself to
different person. I was driven by facts and not
fiction, not do things for t he sake of doing.
Things had changed radically.

Sanjaya Senaratne,ACB|CL
AREA GOVERNOR-AREA 46

Success is how
much you
can bounce back
when you hit the
rock bottom!

Fellow TMs !what were my strengths ?
Communication and Leadership!!!
As you know I don’t have any formal qualification in these fields, my mentors were you!
You taught me, you guided me, you evaluated
&sharpened my skills. It is this platform of
toastmasters that gave me the tools to face
that challenge. If you could do all that for me,
why not help yourselves !!!
Slowly but surely, the corporate goals became
my Goals, too. The company performance
became my own performance goals. Here is
an example. By supporting the company to
achieve it’s goals, your personal goals will take
shape. Just like what happened to me.
Finally My dear friends, I leave you on this
note:
Opportunities don’t come often and when it
does grab them with both hands. Give your
fullest and the results will be guaranteed.

SRI LANKA CLUB SYMPOSIUM

TOASTMASTERS
JOURNEY

OCT-NOV 2013

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