David's Lingo
Posted by David Ling
on Mar 07, 2012
Last Saturday and Sunday I attended the President Elects Training Seminar for District 9790 at Wangaratta. It was a very interesting exercise.
Some of the highlights for were:
PETS is a great opportunity to meet the Presidents Elect from the other clubs in our district. From memory 49 PE's out of 61 Clubs were present. I had good opportunity for interaction including good chats with some of the clubs that are closer to us geographically.
It was very good to hear from our District Governor Elect, John Gatt, and to be aware of some of the emphasis he sees for the upcoming year of Rotary. One thing that was evident is that John is keen to keep us going forward in new ways. Once again, there was an expected emphasis on membership, both recruitment and retention. It is interesting that John is placing more emphasis on involvement in activities and projects than on attendance at weekly meetings. That is not to say that he is suggesting that the weekly meeting is not important but that participation in other activities is even more so. Of course, currently rules provide for a makeup for involvement in club organised activities. It is interesting that we will not be required to send our attendance details to District next year but will instead be asked to provide an activities report.
Hearing ideas from trainers and other Presidents Elect is always helpful and hopefully we will be able to utilise some of them for our club.
One thing that was evident to me is that our Club is actually doing very well in structure and activities and we have a great foundation on which to build further. We are well on track with our Club Leadership Programme and hopefully we can improve on what we have.
Some of the highlights for were:
PETS is a great opportunity to meet the Presidents Elect from the other clubs in our district. From memory 49 PE's out of 61 Clubs were present. I had good opportunity for interaction including good chats with some of the clubs that are closer to us geographically.
It was very good to hear from our District Governor Elect, John Gatt, and to be aware of some of the emphasis he sees for the upcoming year of Rotary. One thing that was evident is that John is keen to keep us going forward in new ways. Once again, there was an expected emphasis on membership, both recruitment and retention. It is interesting that John is placing more emphasis on involvement in activities and projects than on attendance at weekly meetings. That is not to say that he is suggesting that the weekly meeting is not important but that participation in other activities is even more so. Of course, currently rules provide for a makeup for involvement in club organised activities. It is interesting that we will not be required to send our attendance details to District next year but will instead be asked to provide an activities report.
Hearing ideas from trainers and other Presidents Elect is always helpful and hopefully we will be able to utilise some of them for our club.
One thing that was evident to me is that our Club is actually doing very well in structure and activities and we have a great foundation on which to build further. We are well on track with our Club Leadership Programme and hopefully we can improve on what we have.
I enjoyed the input and interaction with our District Trainer, PDG Rob Lloyd. During different discussions on numerous occasions, Rob said "each club us autonimous" and "there are no Rotary Police". In encouraging us to lead our clubs forward in the best way for growth, he was at times also suggesting that attention to protocols at such times as new member induction, changeover, etc. is important.
Today I received a newsletter from Tim Jack who recently spoke at our Lunch Meeting. A quote from that letter seems to be a good place to finish this report.
Today I received a newsletter from Tim Jack who recently spoke at our Lunch Meeting. A quote from that letter seems to be a good place to finish this report.
Leaders carry a vitally important role in the community they lead. Without leadership, organisations usually arrive at a destination of insignificance through a pathway of irrelevance. With wrongly focussed leadership, organisations tend to arrive at the same location. It is easy to give great importance to things that matter little and little importance to what matters most.
Yours in Rotary
David