Last week: Jo Gorman & Tania Laird - Leadership Institute

Posted by Franz Huber on Apr 09, 2017
 
So how does one cram a major leadership seminar into a 20 minutes presentation? It would have to be quite a difficult task indeed to do such a precis.  But Tania and Jo came up with a good summary.  “Start with Rotary and good things happen” – ok, perhaps the slogan is a bit corny, but – yes indeed! – this is what happens. Developed in the US in 1992, the Rotary Leadership Institute is designed to teach potential Rotary Club leaders about Rotary’s major aspects. It is a general education program rather than “job specific”, as many other programs are.  And the lecturers? They don’t come much more senior than District Governor Michael Irving (himself a former University Professor and Vice-Chancellor) and the Chairman of our District’s Rotary Foundation committee, Neil Jones.  The program goes over 3 major parts, but for the purpose of this article, let’s just concentrate on the first segment:
  • Insights Into Leadership
  • My Rotary World
  • Ethics-Vocation Service
  • Foundation I: Our Foundation
  • Engaging Members
  • Creating Service Projects
Jo and Tania specifically addressed a point all clubs, including ours, need to seriously concentrate on: Membership development and retention: Identify the target audience, Define how to go about it, Attract potential members, show them the value of potentially engaging with us and ongoing involvement.
 
Jo also provided a brief outline of The Rotary Foundation. Starting with a foundation capital of $26.50 (yes, no misprint), today it is one of the largest non-government charitable organizations in the world.
But perhaps we should go back to basics first:  Can you remember The Objects of Rotary? What about The 4-Way Test, in essence the 10 commandments distilled into 4?  Yes, we have seen them so many times, one gets a bit blasé about it. Keep reading below…
 
The Objects of Rotary
FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
 
The 4-Way Test
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?