Presidents Elect, I congratulate you for being elected to lead your Rotary Club during the next year. It is the highest honor the members of your Club have in their power to bestow on you.
What a marvelous, fascinating unforgettable mission! What a serious & difficult mission! To be a leader amongst equals- every year in Rotary leaders change but leadership continues.
And as you change the baton of leadership, remember in a relay one does not stop to pass the baton- but runs alongside for some time at the same speed. Your year is not a marathon- it’s a 365-day sprint- so be fast off the blocks and keep up the tempo till you breast the tape.
Believe me I would not leave a single stone unturned to make my year a success so as to ensure that there shall be no regrets later for things I could have done but didn’t.
You are all leaders in your respective professions & businesses & Rotary is no different – in – all respects- but one. In Rotary you are a leader amongst equals. A demanding task requiring all your skills to motivate & inspire those working with you. You will notice, I avoided saying under you-for remember, in Rotary-there are no Ruling Governors & Presidents-but rather
Serving Governors & Presidents & therein lies the crux in quality of leadership.
It is therefore with a great sense of responsibility that you should look forward to challenges of the year ahead knowing fully well that leadership in Rotary entails not Power, nor Authority, but only Accountability.
United by the same ideal and inspired by the same principles, we are all pursuing identical objectives as we come together in the truly spectacular setting to engage in the serious study and analysis of the art & the science of Rotary.
Yes, my friends and fellow Presidents, I sincerely believe that President ship in Rotary is an Art as well as a Science.
It is – The Art of making friends
The Art of awakening enthusiasm
The Art of inspiring hearts
And
It is- the Science of transforming dreams into reality
The Science of maintaining unity in diversity
The Science of adding and multiplying efforts to achieve Great goals.
Today, as we prepare to go into the next Rotary year, we look at all the miracles accomplished by Rotary and the Rotary Foundation- all working together, combining efforts & resources to make a difference.
Paul Harris spoke of Rotary in terms of a broad flowing river. This great river is the Sum total of the contribution of hundreds, perhaps thousands of small brooks & streams- which come tumbling down the hillsides & mountains eager to join the main channel of this great river.
How the mighty river of Rotary has become a force of Integrity, service, love & peace. Consider the lives that have been saved, the hunger that has been alleviated- the human suffering that has been relieved- the knowledge that has been imparted- the Hope & Dignity brought into the lives of millions- the Goodwill that has brought peace one person at a time, one step at a time.
Yes, we have walked many miles since Paul Harris took the first step, but many miles remain ahead of us before the dreams & visions of Rotary become a reality.
There is so much to be done in this world, it’s almost unbelievable, but there is one organization & one individual who can help improve our world. That organization is Rotary International & that Individual is you.
However, it is tempting to question what one person can do in a world of six billion people.
US Anthropologist Margaret Med once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world- indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
It is said, “Small minds discuss Personalities, Average minds discuss Events and only Great minds discuss ideas.”
Rotary gives us this forum not only to discuss ideas but also to make them in to realities. Tagore wrote, “I slept & dreamt that life was happiness, I woke & saw that life was service. I served & learnt that in service happiness is found.” & it is that happiness which Rotary gives us.
Chinese Proverb: If you want Happiness-
For 5 minutes – take a nap
For 1 hour – go fishing
For 1 week – take a vacation
For 1 month – get married
For a year – inherit a fortune
Forever – help others
Yes, being a President gives you this unique opportunity to help others.
My dear Presidents, the Rotary we all love so much in 2008-09, is in your capable hands so that you can make it even better. No one can tell us what Rotary will be tomorrow, but one thing is certain, what Rotary will be tomorrow depends upon what we Rotarians do today.
Yes, President ship in Rotary can be described in one word OPPORTUNITY. For it gives ordinary people like us the opportunity to do extraordinary things.
Remember – “The highest award for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he himself becomes by it.”
Margaret Thacher was a Rotarian as was her father. He used to tell her, “Don’t be afraid to be different – don’t blindly follow the path – instead make a new path for others to follow.”
Today Pr Elect- ask yourselves- what kind of a President will you be? Have you thought about this? Will you lead by command or by example? Will you lead by force or by persuasion? Will you lead by inclusion, can you lead by love? Or will you lead by inspiration & Motivation.
When I was the club President of Rotary Club of Mulund, I come to recognize the fact that I was NOT as successful President as my club deserved. Perhaps, because I have realized this fact and know about the pitfalls and challenges that your DGE has asked me to speak to you all
“Tips on how to be a successful Club leader”
The first question that many will ask me
“Why do we need to be told how to lead the Club successfully?
We have been leaders in our vocation and business and have been very successful in our leadership. What more do we need to know about how to succeed in Rotary leadership?
How does it matter? May be your attitude?
Let me tell you it does make a difference.
You are fully aware of the fact that the year 2008-09 is going to be one of the most significant year in your journey. Should I address it as the pilgrimage, because it is the journey to the ultimate in human goodness. This leadership pilgrimage which you are soon going to embark upon will require all your experiences, talents and knowledge but let me draw your attention to a few points that will guide you along the path.
First point is “The Heart”
Mother Teresa, was described by the Secretary General of U.N. as “the most powerful woman on the earth” and she was asked what made her so. Filled with embarrassment, in simple words came her most profound statement “small work with great love”
It is this love that is generated through heart.
The heart is the source of emotions. Heart generates social and family instincts, builds friendships, creates compassion and affection, expresses desire. It determines the “will to do”.
That is why we say “put your heart in what you do”.
That leads us to the seconds point, “The People”
The well known corporate leader Lee Iacocca had said, “In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words, and they are, “people, product and profit ”. May I submit, in Rotary also we have three words and they are “people, people and people”- the people you work with, the people you serve and the people watching you.
Through the human relationship, unique to Rotary, you will be working with your team members and volunteers, some of whom may even have greater knowledge and better recourses than you. and yet they will be prepared to dedicatedly follow you.
In the human interaction with the people that you will seek to serve will find another enrichment. Working with elderly you will develop patience, working with the youth you will develop resoluteness, from the disabled you will learn perseverance.
Rotary will continue to sensitize you to the needs and feelings of others and in the process you will find a new dimension of leadership manifesting through you.
Story is told of water bearer who had two large pots each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried on his shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect.
At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house the cracked pot arrived only half full whereas the other arrived always full.
A year went by and the poor cracked pot, ashamed of its imperfection, spoke to the water bearer, “I apologize, because of my flaws, you have to do double the work”.
The bearer said to the cracked pot, “Don’t feel sorry. I planted flower seeds on one side of the path. Knowing your flaw I always carried you on that side. Everyday while we walked back, you watered the planted seeds. Because of you, we now have a stream of flowers. ”
You, my friends, are the water bearer. Each of us has our own imperfections. But it is cracks and flaws that make our life interesting and rewarding. You will have to take each person for what they are and look for the GOOD in them.
Good leadership consists in minimizing the show of one’s own qualities and maximizing those of others.
Now the third, the most significant point, “The Self”
When I was Club President,, the then DG Dr Anupam Desai had said, “Take your job seriously but not yourself” My wife Nayantara said “He is right – listen to him” I did. I had no other option. But the impact it had on me, I still remember.
You would think, and naturally so, that you would be the most powerful person in the Club. But remember, power comes as a guest, lingers to become a host and stays to enslave us and ultimately demolishes us.
It is the self which is so difficult to control. Can you look beyond yourself – can you consider your power to be your responsibility, your position as an opportunity for action. If you can, then you will have the power of a tiny seed which has within it the potential to become a mighty tree.
It is said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the ONLY thing”
Leadership by example has no parallel in effectiveness and what you will get to see in others is your own mirror image.
People look for – not big statistics – not big record breakers – not big heroes. They look for someone they can relate to, learn from and emulate.
I heard someone say, “In modern management parlance, humility has no place especially when you know you are the best”
That is ego.
Humility brings introspection, opens the door to enhance self-knowledge, help us to examine the emotional blocks that limit us.
Rotary stands for ““Service above Self”. It has pioneered the concept of service amongst the business and professional people. Rotary is a trendsetter. It has set values that have become its trademark. You are going to be the trustee of those values, that trademark.
Nothing short of your personal conviction and integrity will be needed recognizing that noise of bad is more harmful than the silence of good. Your conscience will always try to speak and remind you about it. When it does, make sure your line is not busy.
And be always positive. It is said – laugh and the world will laugh with you. Snore, and you will sleep alone.
I hope that “the heart”, “the people”and “the self” will enable you to touch the lives around and beyond in a way that this leadership opportunity will become a source of greatest fulfillment and enrichment of your lifetime.
Then each Rotarian in your Club will say, “thank you, you are not my President, you are my role model. You have touched my life, you have taught me the meaning of Rotary”
That will be your finest hour. And you will be blessed.
Your journey will truly become a pilgrimage to the future.
Rotary, bright, promising, dynamic for future journey, will be safe in your hands.
At the End.
Reach High, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. Put better than the best you have in to Make your Dreams Real.