Friday, May 7, 2010

Musings, Miscellany n more... Part I

I have been fortunate to have the opportunities to meet and interact with various Rotary leaders at all levels - club, district and beyond. While this gives a broader perspective of the organisation and the varied perceptions and expectations, it also provides, very often, some food for thought. I intend to share such matters which have made me think and which might make others debate those issues.



The first of these posts is based on what RID Tom Thorfinson presented at Chicago. RID Tom, as those who have interacted with him know, is both a thinker and a motivator. In addition he can make others think! In the course of his presentation on Bigger, Better and Bolder clubs he asked a question - are our clubs 'Bold' or are they 'Old' ?

Though this might, on the face of it, sound like a catchy slogan, I felt there were many facets in it for us to think about. Are we bold enough to ensure diversity in membership, adapt our communication strategies to suit current trends and change our working to make it attractive for the next generation?

In particular, it made me think about our clubs' and our districts' public image strategy and actions. Given that, we are, in this part of the world, conditioned by our age old belief, that in service and charity, not talking about it, is a virtue, it is not surprising that public image building is an activity that is generally shunned. I have heard senior rotarians talk dismissively about publicity and public image building during the early days of my rotary career. Now the question is - is this a relevant strategy in this day and age or is it that we choose to be 'old'?

One of the concerns around the globe amongst Rotary leaders is regarding the static membership base over the last decade. If I were to look at the reasons for the same, lack of public awareness about the work we do ranks as one of the main reasons for that. The amount of good work clubs around the world do is phenomenal and mind boggling. Add to that, the unique opportunity this organisation provides for fellowship and networking - We have a winner on our hands. Except that many others are unaware of the same. In a lighter vein, let me quote what I heard cricketer Sidhu say once. He said ' not publicising good work done is equivalent to winking at a girl in the dark - you know what you are doing while the one who ought to know is blissfully unaware'.

We need to let potential beneficiaries know what we are capable of doing.
We need prospective members to know what this organisation can offer.
We need potential donors to know how their money can be leveraged using the manpower and resources that we can bring to the table.
We need governments to know that we have a credible base which they can partner with, to make a difference to the community we live in.

To ensure all these, I feel, we need not do anything that we are not already doing except to make sure the world knows what we are doing. This takes me back to the question that Tom asked. Do we have the guts to be bold or are we going to stick to the old ways?

A bold approach is the need of the hour and the sooner, the clubs realise it, the better it is for our organisation.

I welcome comments and responses from the readers/ followers of my blog.

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