From Toastmaster to the U.N. 

Global Expressions Toastmaster Rudolph M. Ten-Pow Appointed to Guyana’s Ambassador to the U.N.

By David Graubard, ACS, ALS

Toastmasters International pushes us to be our best, do our best, and have faith. Our words and actions will get recognized in the professional world. Global Expressions Toastmasters Club member, Rudolph M. Ten-Pow, is a shining light on our District 46’s motto that ‘it’s possible.” Earlier this year Mr. Ten-Pow received the promotion of his dream as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations.

Without hesitation the ambassador agreed to an interview about his Toastmasters journey for this issue of the District 46 newsletter, remembering what he learned from his Club: “Toastmasters provided the environment and the coaching tools needed to progress and gain confidence. It was good to be surrounded by similarly motivated people and to help each other along. Being elected President after a few months of membership was also tremendously empowering.”

Ambassador Ten-Pow began his career in the Foreign Service of Guyana in 1980 as Desk Officer for Venezuela and later Head of the Frontiers Division. He joined the United Nations in 1986 as a Translator from French and Spanish and served for a number of years at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile. Upon his return to Headquarters in 1991, he served successively as Reviser, Training Officer, Chief of the English Translation Service and Acting Director of the Documentation Division of the United Nations. During the period from 2013-2015, he joined the World Bank in Washington DC as Senior Programme Manager for Conference Services, returning to the United Nations in 2015 as Acting Director of the Documentation Division and later as Special Adviser to the United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism.

The new Permanent Representative received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French, Spanish and Portuguese from the University of Guyana with distinction. He earned Postgraduate Diplomas in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Geneva, Switzerland and a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in International Relations from the City University of New York. Ambassador Ten-Pow is married to Bonnie Ten-Pow and the couple has three adult children.
 
TM: Did you have a fear of public speaking?
Ambassador Ten-Pow: I never really had a fear of public speaking. I always knew the importance of being able to stand and speak confidently about a subject. It was important not only for advancement in your career, but also important for building confidence in yourself. I looked around and saw that this ability was the common thread that distinguished successful people. While I did not have a fear of public speaking as such, I did have a sense of inadequacy. The feeling that I lacked the tools, training and experience to communicate in public the way I wanted to.
 
TM: How did Toastmasters help you?
Ambassador Ten-Pow: Toastmasters helped by the very fact that I joined Toastmasters. That choice, and act of will crystallized into action what I had felt all along. Finally, I was doing something about it. Toastmasters provided the environment and the coaching tools needed to progress and gain confidence. It was good to be surrounded by similarly motivated people and to help each other along. Being elected President after a few months of membership was also tremendously empowering.
 
TM: What are the traits you look for when hiring a new employee?
Ambassador Ten-Pow: I look for a number of things and the order of priority will depend to a large extent on the skills set needed for the particular post. One of them, maybe  the first, is professional competence. Have your training and experience prepared you to discharge the functions that go with the post. I look for evidence that the candidate will be a fit for the team, i.e. a team player, able to give and receive feedback, has potential for growth. I also look at their communication skills, both orally and in writing.
 
TM: What are some qualities that helped you overcome adversity?
Ambassador Ten-Pow: I'd say a resolute optimism. I look not so much at what is, but what things could be like. And so I do a lot of visualizing, goal-setting and stock-taking from time to time. I'm big on self-improvement books, biographies and educational material that expand my horizons, like the Great Courses, for example. I'm a big fan too of TV programmes, like Charlie Rose's, where successful people on the leading edge of their fields talk at length of future possibilities in their field and beyond. I believe in setting big goals and in strategizing to achieve them. Strategizing includes building the team and surrounding yourself with the people that will help you realize your goals.
 
TM: What part of your job do you enjoy the most? 
Ambassador Ten-Pow: I enjoy meeting and interacting with my peers and Ambassador colleagues, all very successful people in their own right. After a long career as a United Nations and World Bank staff member I'm enjoying the opportunity to work for my country, Guyana, on issues that will help protect and defend Guyana and promote the wellbeing of my fellow Guyanese.
 
TM: What is the most helpful part of a Toastmasters meeting? 
Ambassador Ten-Pow: Every aspect of a typical Toastmasters' meeting is helpful. You're in a learning environment, you're surrounded by people who are similarly motivated, you're both giving and receiving feedback, and you're practicing all aspects of oral communication. That gives you confidence. And communication is mostly about confidence.