Pre PETS 1 Message
Good evening my dear President Elects and Welcome to our Pre PETS 1!
As you prepare yourselves to be Presidents of your Club for Rotary year 2009-2010, I encourage you to take on a positive mindset and a happy disposition in your future role as Club President. I know a good number of you may be anxious about the responsibility and this is rightly so. It is indeed a daunting responsibility to be Club President and perhaps for the first time will find yourself in the unfamiliar role of leading an international voluntary organization. But let me assure you that at the end of it all, you will find the experience rewarding and self-fulfilling.
For the next Rotary year, you will have that singular task of spearheading your Club to greater heights. As your District Governor, together with my District Leadership Team, we are determined to make sure YOU SUCCEED! This is the reason why we are holding the first of a series of President Elects Training seminars to help equip you with Rotary knowledge and soft skills to be an EFFECTIVE PRESIDENT!
So please enjoy the trainings! I only ask that you open your minds and hearts to the ideas you will hear and likewise share yours so we can all learn from the speakers and from each other. I encourage each of you to participate actively in all the sessions and I guarantee that this session will be for your benefit and that of your Club.
START THINKING ABOUT YOUR GOALS AS YOUR CLUB’S NEXT PRESIDENT
As early as now, it is important that you commence setting goals and what you want to accomplish during your year of service. List down what you want to accomplish by June 30, 2010. And from time to time, check your list as this will remind you and motivate you in achieving your goals. Simple as it sound, it works as it will keep you focused on what you set yourself to accomplish.
Begin with the key objectives you may want to consider during your year of service such as:
a. Percentage of membership retention and growth
b. Service projects you want to continue and expand
c. New initiatives you want to undertake in the four avenues of service
d. Means by which your Club can support the financial goals and activities of The Rotary Foundation
e. Activities you can do to foster and build stronger relationship among your Club members
Never lose sight of the singular purpose that in the process of the consummation of all these activities, your Club becomes more unified, cohesive, and effective in pursuing the object of Rotary.
LEARN FROM THE PAST PRESIDENTS
Tonight we shall hear from several outstanding Past Presidents who will share how they we able to lead and make their clubs an effective Rotary Club. From their sharing, you will know that being Club President is not a walk in the park and that it is a challenging task. However, they can all tell you how fulfilling it was and it is. I only ask that we listen and learn from their experience.
During my stint as a Club President, I learned so much more about what Rotary leadership is. It is all about being of service to others, leading by example, exercising humility, and most of all inspiring members to go beyond their selves and in the process, BE MORE, LEARN MORE, and DO MORE!
a. BE MORE
Inspire your members do BE MORE! This means motivating your members to participate and be active with your Club activities. It is the subtle means of converting the spectators into actors. You have to pursue the task of raising the notch of their commitment as Rotarians and mold them to be movers and achievers.
b. LEARN MORE
Inspire your members to LEARN MORE about the Object of Rotary and inculcating what Rotary does with the end in mind of having more committed Rotarians in your Club.
c. DO MORE
Inspire your members to DO MORE and go beyond mere participation into more active roles of leading committees within your Club. To be able to transform members to take the responsibilities of being Club officers or committee officers will make your leadership more fulfilling.
At the end of my tenure as Club President, the realization that our Club did well and achieved well as a team gave me much self-fulfillment. Indeed it is paramount that we empower our members to enhance our Club’s capacity to be of service to others!
ENDEAVOR TO EXCEL
Perhaps at this moment, some of you may feel that a year as Club President would seem so long but I can tell you with certainty that at the end of the day, you will agree how short the year was. At the end of it all, the intrinsic measure of your Presidency is not whether you are No. 1 among the rest but more on whether you put in your best. Right now, all I can tell you is to make the commitment to give your best. It will be a short year so you put in your best.
In my college days not so many pounds ago (hahaha!), I was a member of our school’s track and field team. I ran the 4 × 100 meters relay, the 800 meters, and the 1,500 meters. Through track and field, I developed the habit for discipline and the habit for regular practice. I was competing with myself trying to beat my fastest time. In retrospect, I realize that it was not about being No. 1 but more of about giving it my best. And so the mindset of excellence begins with the self and not with the No. 1 concept.
The thing that will propel you is the attitude of excellence. Strive to shine! This will entail discipline and self-sacrifice. And if you are daunted by those 2 words – discipline and self-sacrifice, just think it is just for a short year and alas! it can be done! So don’t hold back and give it your best as Club Presidents!
A FINAL NOTE
Bear in mind that for one Rotary year, yours is the privilege and the opportunity to lead fellow leaders and peers. Use this opportunity well. You will have power to chart the course of your Club. Use it responsibly and wisely. In the words of Uncle Ben to his adoptive son Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”.
Thank you and enjoy the training!
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