Learn your priorities from Rotary’s Action Plan: RI President

There are 45,000 Rotary clubs around the world, and it’s not possible for me to get to all of them. But I got here on a Sunday night to commemorate them and I thank you for making time to be here. And you’ve chosen to do so because you love Rotary as much as I do,” said RI President Stephanie Urchick, addressing a multi-district Presidential conclave organised in the backdrop of the Zone Institute at Kochi.

Thanking the district governors from RI Districts 2982, 3202, 3203, 3204, 3211 and 3212, who had come together to organise the event for working so hard on growing their membership, she said all leaders should follow their example to ensure that “we have a future. For this we must continue to grow our organisation. The why is fairly simple. We are a membership organisation that does service. And when we have more members, we can do more service.”

Addressing the crucial issue of “how to do this” she said the ­simple and easy answer was that since they had an Action Plan available at Rotary International, they should simply follow it. “I do know that you have very strong Action Plan champions in your zone, in your districts, and hopefully in your clubs. Let me share some thoughts on the priorities contained in that Action Plan to help you understand what your club should be doing with it.”

This was to make their clubs irresistible; “people in such clubs are less likely to leave, and people who are not yet with us, see us doing amazing things and enjoying Rotary, and they’ll say, I want to be a part of that.”

Diversity is not only about gender. It’s age, perspective of thought, race and socioeconomic status.

Stephanie said that this Plan was not a directive from RI saying clubs should do only this or that; she hoped each club would want to embrace this priority in the Action Plan and “learn from it how to go from good to great, or maybe, from not so good to even better. But it’s not mandatory. We want clubs to embrace it and say, this is something I can use to help move the club into a good future.”

The four priorities of the Plan were on “increasing our impact, which is about measurement, helping our clubs learn to measure, do projects, and then measure again. Too often I have worked with clubs who say, well, we’ve done this project, we’ve been doing it for 30 years, and we just keep doing it.”

But the important question was “are you measuring its impact? And sometimes the answer is no. So it’s important that our clubs learn to measure things,” she said. This was like going on a diet. You’d have to weigh yourself before, decide how many kilos you wanted to lose and then do whatever required to lose that weight. “And then you get on the scale again to see if it worked. But the kilos you lost is not the impact, but how this loss is going to affect your health in the long term.”

Thus, in a school project, the impact was not about 800 students having desks or a school. The impact was the students who would now get an education, graduate and then get jobs and lead a good life.

The second priority was to expand Rotary’s reach, by using the new models and new ways to meet. “Not everyone will be attracted to our traditional clubs. I did; I love my club in McMurray, Pennsylvania. I will stay in it forever.” But her club members realised that not everyone in their city wanted to meet in the mornings, ring bells, take attendance and do traditional things. For those who wanted a different style, her club formed a satellite club; “we now have teachers and others who cannot make the morning meeting. As it’s also focused on service, instead of coming to meetings, they go out into our community and provide service.”

Another priority was getting to know the members and their special interest, Stephanie said. “Ask the new members: Do you like our projects? Is there a project you would like to do that we haven’t done yet? What can you tell us about yourself that we can’t see on your application? Too often, when clubs do not get to know their members, those members are not satisfied and they take off; often we don’t know why they leave.” To retain members, club leaders will have to work on the club culture to ensure value in a Rotary Club experience for the member.

The last priority was to adapt and be flexible. Even though Rotary was an organisation built on traditions, yet some changes, even while retaining the traditions required, were necessary. These changes pertained to different kinds of meeting models. The important thing was to be “inclusive and equitable, create an environment that people walk in and say, I belong or fit here. This is where I want to be.”

We also have small groups indulging in bad behaviour in other parts of the world, and the entire area suffers. I sometimes wonder if people understand what the word ‘integrity’ means.

Also, added Stephanie, Rotary was regional, “so look at your environment. Your club president will know what works in the club; it is here that DEI comes in. Internationally, by 2030, we want to see 30 of our membership as female. We also want indigenous people, the handicapped etc. Diversity is not only about gender. It’s age, perspective of thought, race and socioeconomic status. So as club presidents and governors, find those underrepresented groups that we should go after,” added the RI President.

Addressing the conclave RI Director Anirudha ­Roychowdhury urged Rotarians in India to stop taking the local issues they face to RI leaders. “Mails go with copies to the RI President, General Secretary, and so on, and when these issues crop up in Evanston, we feel embarrassed. I urge you to address and solve such issues locally.”

Answering a question from the overflowing hall, Stephanie said, “In Zones 4, 5, 6 and 7, there are amazing Rotarians doing amazing things. But when there are a handful of individuals engaging in bad behaviour, as the Director said, it creates a negative perception. Mind you, they are just a handful. Our constitutional documents are very clear that when we serve in Rotary, we should not campaign or engage in electioneering for any position. It should be our performance that gets us to the next level. We should be judged on the job we have and the way we do it.”

But with just a handful Rotarians from these zones indulging in “bad behaviour, when that comes to the boardroom, it colours the view of all Rotarians in the zones. We also have small groups indulging in bad behaviour in other parts of the world, and there too the entire area suffers. I sometimes wonder if people understand what the word ‘integrity’ means.”

Answering another question on the ‘decommissioning’ of the annual theme, Stephanie said that was not an accurate word to use. “The theme has not been decommissioned. What has changed is the way it’s being prepared. So instead of it being an annual theme, it is now being called President’s Message. So President-elect Mario at the International Assembly in February, will deliver his message, which will be short. He will have ties, scarves, collars that he’s selected. What he will not have, is a graphic.”

This was being done because “we want the world to recognise our master brand; just as when you see the golden arches, you know that’s McDonald’s, and the checkmark is Nike. Now we have so many different logos and pins; one for Interact, one for Rotaract and one for Rotary, and we have a President’s theme. This can be confusing for people. Some want people to see the master brand and say this is the best service organisation in the world.”

Answering another question on her views on India, she said this was her fifth visit here and she was “very impressed. I’m delighted to see the amazing work that’s being done and note that you have such a good track record in attracting members, and are role models for the rest of the world in how to attract members. But we need to retain members.”

She added that when perusing monthly membership information, which is usually for three years, she had found that in every zone except one, there was a dip happening every Dec 31, and July 1. This dip represented members who were no longer paying dues and had left. “The good news is that we recover because we invite more people. But if we could deal with retention in a stronger way, this graph would change.”

Conclave chairman PDG John Daniel, secretary PDG Jose Chacko and coordinator PDG Sunil Zachariah addressed the meet. They thanked the district governors V Sivakumar (2982), N ­Sundaravadivelu (3201), Suresh Babu (3203) Santhosh Sreedhar (3204), Sudhi Jabbar (3211) and Meerankhan Salim (3212) for ensuring massive participation at the conclave.