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# Coaching Through Crisis: The Story Behind My DTM
- URL: https://zahradnik.io/coaching-through-crisis-the-story-behind-my-dtm/
- Published: 2025-11-16T23:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T21:36:58.000Z
- Author: Vladimír Záhradník
- Tags: Field notes, Leadership, Coaching, Toastmasters, DTM, Crisis leadership, Transformation, Communities, Consulting

**Originally published on LinkedIn (reformatted for zahradnik.io / Medium)**

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The Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) designation is the highest recognition in Toastmasters.  
In Slovakia, fewer than **5%** ever reach it. It takes years of work, and everyone who earns it is a proven leader.

I’m close to finishing mine.

One of the requirements is coaching a struggling club. Most people choose the easy path — coaching a club that simply needs more visibility.

But as a Division Director, I chose **hard mode**.

I volunteered to coach a Ukrainian club in crisis.

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Before the war, **Chamber Toastmasters Club** in Kyiv was one of the strongest clubs in the country — a President’s Distinguished Club with dozens of members.

When I arrived, what I saw was a relic of its former strength:

- Many members had fled permanently.
- Some moved to Norway.
- Others to the USA.
- Others to Saudi Arabia.
- Officers were burned out.
- The community was fractured.
- The old meeting format no longer worked.

It was clear:

> **The old club was gone — but a new one could be born.**

---

The president, **Liubov**, refused to be the final president in the history of Ukraine’s oldest Toastmasters club. She was the last anchor — but she couldn’t rebuild the club alone.

I told her the truth:

> *“We must transform completely. If we cling to the past, we won’t survive.”*

We shifted the club to an **online English-speaking format** with Ukrainian roots.  
We redesigned meetings from amateur to exceptional.  
We rebuilt the officer team.  
We recruited new members.

I used my Division Director influence to bring in one or two key people — because crisis teams are built around **linchpins**, not masses.

And slowly… the club came back to life.

Some people left, unhappy with the new order.  
But new people came — aligned, energized, committed.

---

A year and a half later:

**Chamber Toastmasters Kyiv is not just stable — it is thriving.**

It regained **President’s Distinguished** status.  
The transformation is complete.

- Slavic roots intact.
- International audience growing.
- Identity restored.

This was my first coaching experience where I wasn’t the one acting, but guiding others to act.  
A new experience — and a powerful one.

Some people choose easy challenges.  
I choose **doom mode** — because that’s where growth is.

---

When I earn my DTM,  
**this is the story that will echo behind that title.**

I’ve already moved on to rebuild other communities — but Chamber continues to thrive, and we remain in contact.

If you’d like to see the result for yourself, here is their website:

[https://www.chambertoastmasters.club/](https://www.chambertoastmasters.club/?ref=zahradnik.io)