By: Erik A. Fonseca
Changing Our Narrative
Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” It is difficult to comprehend that someone like Churchill would say such a thing. He is one of the most powerful and revered leaders in world history. Why would he say something like that about himself?
What many of us don’t know is Churchill never considered himself a born leader. He admitted to having failed time and time again to become the leader we all know he turned out to be: a GIANT who changed the course of history and whose legacy we still benefit from today. It was his enthusiasm that kept him hungry to achieve his goal of becoming a great leader. No failure was big enough to stifle his drive to become the best he could possibly be.
Growing up I never thought I would be a leader of any kind. I struggled with a stuttering problem throughout my childhood and teenage years. It prevented me from running for student class president in high school, socializing with friends or doing anything remotely close to delivering a speech before an audience of any size. I failed countless job interviews because I would get nervous speaking to two or three people at the same time. I thought there was no hope for me.
Everything changed 10 years ago when I was introduced to an organization called Toastmasters. A friend recommended I give it a try. I was scared to go at first, but I gave it a shot and attended my first meeting in September 2010. I eventually joined my local Toastmasters club and delivered my first speech. Unfortunately, it did not go well despite preparing for the speech well in advance. I had my head down throughout the entire 6-minute presentation, blanked out several times, and stuttered uncontrollably. I felt defeated and did not accept the applause given to me by the 12 people in attendance that night. I went home humiliated, vowing never to return.
A year passed and my father asked me over dinner about Toastmasters and why I stopped attending. I told him about my negative experience and how I would never return. This is when my father told me about Sir Winston Churchill and how he defined success: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” It was the first time I heard that quote and it astonished me. Suddenly I felt a rush of excitement and learned a valuable lesson: if I want to be successful at anything, I must equate failure with progress being made. I returned to Toastmasters the following week. This time I was determined, and nothing was going to stop me from achieving my toughest goals-–to communicate with confidence and learn how to lead.
Fast forward to today, I have delivered over 100 speeches to audiences as big as 300 people, led my local Toastmasters district as its director, landed a rewarding career in local government and became a mentor to dozens of individuals wanting to become the best leaders and communicators they could possibly be. It’s been a challenging 10-year journey, but my enthusiasm to push forward made me into the leader I am today.
Great leaders and public speakers are not born–they are made. If you feel you don’t have what it takes to be a great leader and communicator, I encourage you to challenge yourself to discover the power of your voice and leader within you. It will be the best journey of self-discovery you will ever make.
