Dead Horses by the Waterhole

Can district leaders effect change in Rotary?

At the time of writing this blog, our district governors elect were attending the International Assembly in San Diego, USA, in preparation for their approaching year at the helm. This event was once a closed shop, but thanks to the internet, anyone interested can follow the speeches and even download transcripts within minutes of the presenters walking off stage. For those prepared to look, there are some truly extraordinary online resources available to help clubs with membership initiatives.

One such presentation was by Australia’s own Michael McQueen, a presenter and author who I remain unambiguously impressed with (view the presentation here). His extraordinary insights into our organisation’s battle with relevance should be required viewing for all Rotarians. In his address he quoted Paul Harris who once said “If Rotary hopes to advance its aims, it must be evolutionary always, and at times revolutionary”, and followed up by asking “As those of you who are at the helm of this organisation, will you be the evolutionary and even the revolutionary leaders that your clubs and your districts are crying out for? I sincerely hope you will, because make no mistake - the future of Rotary will depend on it.” He delivered essentially the same presentation last year to our current district governors, who he also asked to be evolutionary and revolutionary leaders.

So this all has me wondering for how long we’ve been asking and how long have we been dependent upon our district governors and other district leaders to be agents of change, because our founder’s hopes for “at all times evolutionary” have clearly not been met, and as for “at times revolutionary”… Tell him he’s dreamin’.

To be fair, I’ve seen some good examples of positive change at district administration level in my own and other districts. Credit where it’s due, the changes in training methodology, content and delivery have bordered on revolutionary in my own district. But real, meaningful and consistent change at club level (the type required to turn around our membership fortunes) has been very rare.

District governors no doubt want desperately to leave their districts in a better place than where they found it, but their success in that mission relies heavily on the drive, energy and leadership of a band of club presidents, who in turn are reliant on rank-and-file Rotarians in club land.

One of the great ironies in questioning the seemingly catatonic pace of change in our organisation is that many regular Rotarians feel that Rotary leadership at district and higher levels is deliberately retarding change. It is my experience however, having served in senior district roles for the last seven years, that the complete opposite is true. I have found overwhelmingly that district leaders are very keen for clubs to innovate and show initiative, and will even turn a blind eye toward clubs that dare fiddle with our precious Rotary rules. The messages filtering down from the highest levels of the organisation tacitly back up that stance. It is in fact conservative elements within clubs that are holding back innovation and flexibility (and ultimately growth), not district or Evanston.

It took me a while to realise it, but leadership positions at district level are predominantly about leading horses to water. I have personally delivered a number of presentations to presidents elect at PETS, and am always encouraged by the will in the room to effect change in their respective clubs. I’ve even been known to egg them on, but invariably this enthusiasm gets beaten down by the week-to-week demands of driving the presidency bus, and even the most modest of planned changes rarely get implemented. So if presidents find it hard to effect change at club level, where in theory, most members are rowing in a similar direction, how likely is it that district governors will be successful in effecting change across a district of autonomous clubs?

If I was asked what my key objectives were as District Membership chair, they would obviously be to see more members recruited and retained. That’s a no brainer. But I can’t personally recruit and retain members for every club, so my strategy has been to provide club leaders with the resources they need to make their clubs attractive and promote their work. These are made available in a number of ways: membership seminars, blogs, Facebook, training, PETS, websites, club visits and even tailored plans for clubs – for those interested, anyway.

We are lucky to live in an age where the sharing of ideas across the world has never been easier, and for many years I have been collecting good membership initiatives from all over the Rotary world together with ideas from corporations and organisations outside of Rotary. I feel confident that our district membership committee can deliver genuine assistance to clubs in need, and has the resources to help clubs work their way through any membership challenge, but Rotarians in club land have to ask for help, and be prepared to act on proven advice. Meaningful change WILL produce meaningful results, but discussing change will achieve nothing.

So back to the original question - Can District leaders effect change in Rotary? Only if horses are prepared to drink once led to the water. Regretfully, too many horses die of thirst with hooves still wet from the waterhole.

Taboo Topics in Rotary

"You can’t talk about Religion or Politics in Rotary"

I’ve heard that comment bandied about the place, and it’s had me scratching my head. Just to set the record book straight, there is no such rule. We do have rules about adopting political positions, with good reason. Our ability to be first responders with international aid such as Shelterbox depends on us remaining a non-political and secular organisation. But some members have a knack of conflating the two issues of “taking a political position” and “discussing politics”.

I have embedded below (unedited) the extract on politics from our Manual of Procedure. The extract clearly points out what we mustn’t do, but it also points out what we must do. 

Politics
RI and its member clubs refrain from issuing partisan political statements. Rotarians are prohibited from adopting statements with a view to exerting any pressure on governments or political authorities. However, it is the duty of Rotarians
1) In their clubs, to keep under review political developments in their own communities and throughout the world insofar as they affect service to their vocations and communities as well as the pursuit of the Rotary objective of world understanding and peace. They are expected to seek reliable information through balanced programs and discussions so that members can reach their own conclusions after a fair, collective examination of the issues.
2) Outside their clubs, to be active as individuals in as many legally constituted groups and organizations as possible to promote, not only in words but through exemplary dedication, awareness of the dignity of all people and the respect of the consequent human rights of the individual. (89-134, RCP2.100.)

That’s right, far from prohibiting discussion, our Manual of Procedure asks us to discuss these topics!

So, where did we ever get this idea that discussions on politics and religion were taboo in Rotary? This is a societal convention, not a Rotary convention. Obviously these are hot button topics where people hold deeply seated views and open discussion can cause conflict. So it’s easier to stifle debate. But aren't we above that in Rotary? If one’s beliefs cannot withstand the scrutiny of others, are they really worth holding?

The secret of course, is respect. Surely intelligent community citizens can hold conflicting views and still respect each other. Diversity has always been a cornerstone of Rotary membership. There’s a reason a club’s membership base cannot be all butchers. We need the bakers and the candle stick makers as well. We depend on cultural diversity, as we depend on diversity in age and gender amongst our ranks. We cannot demand diversity in our membership and expect conformity amongst our views.

If Rotary is to grow its capacity as an agent for effective change, peace and conflict resolution and the lifting of the standard of life for the world’s disadvantaged, it surely relies on a membership base that is prepared to discuss the tough issues.

The next generation of Rotarians are more likely to wear their political views on their sleeves, and if we are to engage them in our membership, we had better be prepared to include these “taboo” topics in our conversation. We can’t use catchphrases like “Join the Conversation” with our fingers crossed behind our backs hoping that the conversation is not awkward.

Sadly, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to have mature conversations about religion, but it needn't be. Respect is again the key. I was recently at a Rotary Christmas dinner where a totally appropriate and respectful Christian Christmas message was delivered. But the speaker herself (a Salvation Army envoy) indicated that she was wary of raising religion in Rotary. I didn't have a problem with it, and I'm an atheist, so I would hope no-one else would be uncomfortable.

It’s time to embrace our differences, stop worrying about stepping on egg shells and get on with the job of making the world a better place. There will always be differences of opinion in Rotary – in fact there must be. Last year my own club lost a Rotary legend, Keith Walter, a member of 45+ years. He was someone who I had an enormous level of respect for, but he was often outspoken at meetings if he felt we weren't doing the right thing. Over the years, we had a number of disagreements, particularly with regard to change in the organisation. But I can distinctly remember after every meeting where differing views were expressed, Keith would come up to me (or the member in question), shake me by the hand and say, “Well done, that was a good conversation.” And we would continue on our way as good friends. Respectful dialogue - now that’s what Rotary is all about!

How Flexible is Your Club?

In my last blog I suggested Rotary needed to focus more on service, and less on meetings. It’s amazing how many times a conversation leads me to start blogging again, and I feel compelled to produce a sequel to that last blog.

In the process of trying to create a new Rotary club in Seaford, I have put a lot of effort into seeking out a team of community minded individuals to form its initial membership base. I have just had a conversation with a wonderful young woman who has an amazing drive and dedication to work with her local community and help to make it a better place, and she can clearly see that Rotary provides a method by which she can achieve her goals. In my eyes, she will make a fabulous Rotarian. She has already attended a few of our casual meetings, and is committed to remaining involved. She has even identified other potential members for us. But she has just advised me that she is really struggling to make meetings on the day and time we are currently holding them.

To a traditional Rotary club, that would probably mean the end of any chance of recruiting her as a member. Fortunately for me, I'm not trying to build a traditional Rotary club. The club I want to build will not rely on meeting at the same time, on the same day, in the same place every week. In fact the way we meet will probably not look anything like a traditional Rotary meeting.

In my capacity as District 9520 Membership Chair, I have been asked on a number of occasions what my thoughts are on clubs meeting fortnightly, rather than weekly. I happen to know that there are clubs already working this way, and it has saved them from annihilation. In a perfect world, the ideal situation is for every club to be active and healthy and meeting weekly, but we don’t live in a perfect world, and that’s why Rotary is here. Whilst the Standard Rotary Club Constitution DOES demand weekly meetings, it also allows for (via the Club Bylaws) meetings on varying days and times, and at different venues. I commented on this in my last blog so I won’t go over the same ground again, but my basic premise is that if your club is holding a BBQ at Bunnings on the weekend, call it a meeting.

Rotary appears half pregnant on this and other similar meeting and attendance issues. Commencing in 2007, RI introduced a number of pilot schemes where 200 “lucky” clubs worldwide (out of a total of 35,000) were chosen to trial more flexible meeting and membership initiatives. I wish I had a buck for every seminar I've attended, speech I've heard, article I've read where Rotarians have been told their clubs need to be more flexible, but by the way, we mustn't break the rules. I've also been lucky enough to see the reports on the outcomes of these trials, and every one of them resulted in considerable membership growth (including a higher representation of female members and members under the age of 50) over and above that of the global norm. The results were in. Flexibility resulted in positive membership outcomes. One might have thought the RI board, having seen these positive results would be chaffing at the bit to allow more flexibility across the board. Not if it has to get past our Council on Legislation!

So that brings me back to the issue I have with the lady who would make a great Rotarian, but struggles to make regular meetings on week nights. The main reason I wanted to write this blog, is that I happen to know there are THOUSANDS of great people out there in exactly the same boat. People who would make fabulous members of YOUR Rotary club, but simply cannot make regular meetings. Maybe I can’t tell you what YOU should do, and how YOUR club should act, but I can tell you what I'm going to do, because when you’re starting a new club, you don’t have to be constrained by the way an existing club has always done things.

Along with my colleagues at the Provisional Rotary Club of Seaford, I am personally going to do everything I can to keep this lady informed, involved and welcome. We will be holding occasional meetings on weekends, because we don’t have to hold all of our meetings on a week night in the same venue. We will hold social events, service projects and fundraising initiatives, all of which we will classify as meetings, and she will receive a personal invitation to each one. In other words, we will value what she can give, when she can give it and vary our meetings to suit the increasingly busy and complex lives of the members of our community. And if the Council on Legislation hasn't been able to catch up in 20 years’ time, I won’t be losing any sleep over it.  

Maybe your club can try a little flexibility too.

Less Meetings, More Doing.

A party without cake is just a meeting. 

There was a time when we all thought that the Earth was the centre of the universe, and that everything orbited around it. Galileo got into an awful amount of trouble for daring to suggest that the Earth in fact orbited around the sun. He was even forced to recant his theory, and spent much of his life under house arrest.

In our enlightened times we now know better, but in the sixteenth century one could understand that geocentric view. In a similar way, we seem to have meetings at the centre of our Rotary universe, and everything seems to revolve around them. Rotary is a service organisation, yet despite the rhetoric, we do not demand service of our members, we demand that they attend meetings. If they can’t attend our meetings, we expect them to attend another club's meeting. As a last resort, if they cannot find a meeting to attend, we’re prepared to let it fly if they can actually do some service, and we call that a makeup. Am I alone in thinking that in our Rotary universe we have our priorities a little out of whack? Fortunately, our attendance rules have become somewhat relaxed in recent years, as we have come to the realization that turning up every week can be challenging. But the meeting is still very much at the centre of our Rotary universe.

In the same way that we now clearly understand that our planets orbit the sun, is it time that we shift our priorities in the Rotary universe? I would like to think that the Rotary universe of the future will have service at its centre, around which everything else revolves. I wonder if Rotarians in 20 or 30 years’ time will look back on the Rotary of today, and realise our meeting centric model had outlived its time.

In his two part DVD presentation, "Attracting the Next Generation of Rotarians", Michael McQueen suggested, "There were very few of you who were staring at a blank wall, with a whole lot of spare time thinking 'I wish I could go somewhere where they fined me if I was late, and we sang a song at the beginning, and we ate some food that wasn't awesome. I wish we could find a place like that.' You joined Rotary because there was some sort of outcome, some purpose that you were passionate about and you realised Rotary was a way of getting there. A way of producing that outcome."

A recent survey of young professional non-Rotarians conducted by RI found that Rotary has an image problem, and it’s hurting our ability to attract the next generation of Rotarians. Younger professionals were not interested in traditional ways of organizing as a group. They were turned off by weekly meetings, plated meals, and ceremonial songs. They are time poor, so the time they give must be effective. It's worth bearing in mind too that the largest cost of being a Rotarian lies with paying for a weekly meal (plus raffle, plus sergeant etc), and this is most certainly affecting our capacity to recruit and retain.

But so much of our identity lies with our meetings. If we can only manage to somehow put less reliance on meetings, and more emphasis on the work we do, we can perhaps begin to challenge some of those perceptions.

For some reason as recruiters, we tend to get particularly excited if we finally get a prospect to attend a meeting. We feel that we've got to first base, because they've now seen our club at its very best. If you asked 100 Rotarians about their best experience in Rotary, not many would suggest something that happened at a meeting. Admittedly, I have attended some awesome meetings, but I've also attended some duds. First impressions are everything, and if we really want our prospective members to see Rotary at its best, they need to see us out and about in the community doing our work and get involved in service. If we continue to push our meetings as the epitome of Rotary, we're in strife.

But I hear you asking, "What about that requirement of RI that we meet weekly?" Yep, I can't argue with that, but no-one said we have to meet weekly in the same hotel, at the same time, on the same day, for a "meeting". Maybe it's time to consider a new model. Sure, we might like to occasionally have a formal meeting over an enjoyable meal with a quality speaker, but we can also use our projects and fundraising initiatives as "meetings". We can meet casually over a coffee in a cafe, or over pizza delivered to a member's home. The sausage sizzle at Bunnings can in fact take the place of a meeting, so can that tree planting project. Clubs don't have to meet in person either. E-clubs meet using online video conferencing tools such as Skype™ or Gotomeeting™. Maybe RI leadership could meet online more frequently and save us rank-and-file Rotarians the cost of their international airfares!

As a long time member of a traditional Rotary club, I feel that face-to-face contact is a very important part of my Rotary experience. But I'm also a district leader whose commitments mean regularly missing out on my own club's meetings, and I have to admit that I miss catching up with my fellow members if I don't see them in a while. There are however other ways to achieve that contact than over a rump steak with chips and gravy on a Tuesday night. Tomorrow's Rotary needs to accommodate ways for people to meet that aren't meetings.

Taking the Class out of our Classification System

Rotary International President K.R. Ravindran’s speech to District Governors Elect at the International Assembly in San Diego earlier this year included the following quote:

“I believe that we have to find a way to bring back the fundamentals that built our organization: the emphasis on high ethical standards in all aspects of our lives, and the classification system that encourages a diversity of expertise in each club.”

I have always believed the intent of our classification system was to ensure diversity within our ranks. So I'm not about to question the intent of our classification system, but I am about to question the way it is often interpreted and applied when recruiting members into our clubs, some of which hold up our classification system as some sort of benchmark, and even a barrier to entry.

The average millennial (born between 1977 and 1997, now aged between 18 & 38) is expected to have 15 – 20 jobs over their working life. Can you comprehend how absurd our classification system

must appear to our next generation of Rotarians?

I want to introduce a term that I will be using in recruitment conversations this year, and that term is “Vocational Diversity”. The way I see it, our classification system seems to identify a horizontal plane of professions into which Rotary wants us pigeon-holed. Picture if you will, a line of professions: Doctor, Architect, Teacher, Retailer, Public Servant, Accountant, Police Officer. It’s true that many of us do already fit into one of these or similar professional groups, or what Rotary calls “classifications”. 

But now I want you to think of a vertical line, which better describes the stage you are at in your career, than the career itself. That line may include student, apprentice, employee, supervisor, manager, CEO, self-employed and retiree. It might even include “stay-at-home parent”. We also have representatives of all of these groups within our ranks, but the Rotary classification system struggles to cope with this method of identification, which is why I think “Vocational Diversity” is a more contemporary concept. I see the classification system solely as one of horizontal diversity, but if we want to grow into a truly diverse organisation, I feel we need to be far more accommodating of diversity on that vertical plane as well.

I recently conducted a club membership survey across the district, and included a question on the employment status of members. The result is the pie chart pictured. One of the myths we happily peddle is that Rotary is an organisation of CEOs and powerful business people. The statistics would suggest in fact that we are an organisation of retirees, although it’s reasonable to assume that some of those retirees were once from big business.

Retirees are an extremely valuable group within our organisation. They have more spare time to contribute and the life experience to act as mentors to our younger members, but they often lack the current business and professional networks to further our recruitment efforts. Executives, CEOs and managers of big business seem to lack that available time to contribute to Rotary. Perhaps the best lesson to learn from this is that rather than targeting specific groups such as executives and “big business”, we would be better off targeting the sort of people that will make the best Rotarians, i.e. recruit on personality type and motivation, rather than employment status.

I would like to leave you with a quote from another organisation that we Rotarians could learn from: “We define our leaders by the way we think, not by our title.”

Growing Young

In this, my first year as District 9520 Membership Chair, my focus has been on retention. I don’t for an instant want to forget about retention, but I feel it’s time to shift focus for my second year. There’s only so much I can bang on about the one subject, and the messages have all been sent. Hopefully some have been received and acted upon. Next year, I want to start the conversation about bringing our average age down.





Does anyone want to guess how old Paul Harris was when he founded Rotary? I suppose many have this vision of a Chicago lawyer in his 60s, which pretty much matches the stereotypical Rotarian. He was actually 36, which is 10 years younger than I am now, and ironically, I’m still considered a “young Rotarian”. Gustavus Loehr was 41, Silvester Schiele was 34 and Hiram Shorey was 42. So just to be crystal clear on this, the average age of the first four Rotarians was just over 38. Yet if we found a club these days with an average age of 38, we would be asking for the magic formula. When I go out with my Rotary friends, I’m often the only one without a Seniors’ Card, and the conversation is about my kids and their grandkids (who they can spoil and give back).




In Australia, a whopping 59% of our membership base is aged over 60, with only 7% under 40. “So what?” you may ask. Let me stress that I have no problem with the number of 60+ members in our ranks. Our organisation derives enormous benefit from both the life experience and Rotary experience of this demographic, and it’s obvious that this age group has more time on their hands than younger generations. It’s not the number of 60+ Rotarians, but the proportion which is out of whack. With just over 30,000 members in Australia, that 59% over 60 equates to 17,700 members, but the 7% under 40 equates to only 2,100. It’s that number of 2,100 that drastically needs to increase if our organisation is to survive another 100 years.




I remember quite a number of years ago reading a letter to the editor of Rotary Down under which lamented the number of young members in our organisation, but went on to suggest there must be something wrong with them if they weren’t interested in Rotary. I recall comments to the effect of, “The ‘me’ generation”, “self-absorbed” and “unwilling to give back”. As a member of said generation and a Rotarian of over 10 years at the time, I felt compelled to respond, and respond I did. My rebuttal was that the problem wasn’t with them, the problem was with us.


The simple fact is that Rotary is not a “one size fits all” organisation. I am more than happy for us to recruit the right people no matter what their age, but we simply must bring our average age down. The only way that will happen is to recruit more under 40s, and the only way that will happen is by meaningful and real change. Not just in rhetoric, but in action. The average Rotary club is a pretty comfortable fit for the average baby boomer, and our demographics and recruitment statistics back that up. We don’t have any trouble finding people 50 and over. Sure, there are some clubs for which recruitment is a constant struggle, but the overall recruitment picture sees a lot of new members in the 50+ demographic. The average Rotary club is NOT however, a particularly comfortable fit for the average Gen X or Y. Again, there are exceptions to the rule. I personally know a good number of Gen Y members, and they are seriously special people. But they are rare.





In response to globally depressing trends of young member uptake, RI Headquarters undertook a “Young Professionals” campaign in 2013 which uncovered some confronting findings from focus groups of young professional non-Rotarians all over the world. We have major public image challenges to even get this group to take notice of us, and once we do, our messages aren’t matching their experiences when they visit a club. But the biggest question we must ask is, “Are we serious about attracting a younger audience?” Because getting serious means change.





I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but in a few months we’re holding a special event with a hope to finding some. The Young Professionals Forum will be held at SILC Flinders University on August 8. This is a FREE event and it will incorporate a seminar specifically dedicated to attracting young professionals. Please put the date in your diary now, and more information will follow. Bookings are essential via www.trybooking.com/HCPP

Ham & Pineapple Rotary

Ham & Pineapple Rotary

My son can be a particularly picky eater. One of his favourite meals is ham & pineapple pizza. We occasionally make pizza at home, and I wouldn’t ever bother putting anything on his pizza but ham and pineapple, because he would just pick it off. Occasionally we grab a pizza when we’re out, and that’s exactly what he does – picks off anything and everything that is not ham or pineapple. I sort of think ham and pineapple pizzas are a bit on the boring side, but he just loves them that way.

So, what’s this talk of pizza got to do with Rotary?

If my Rotary International experience was a pizza, it would be a super supreme. There’s a bit of everything and I just woof it down. If I think of my greatest Rotary experiences, it’s hard to go past the three international conventions I’ve attended, including last year’s in Sydney. For a Rotarian, it’s the greatest show on Earth. I know that it’s hard to make an international convention every year, but when it’s in your own back yard, it’s hard not to. The second greatest experiences for me have been the numerous District Conferences I’ve attended. A few weeks ago I drove my wife and kids 7 hours to Ballarat for an amazing experience. DG Jerry and his team pulled off a truly remarkable conference, with highlight after highlight, and my family had a great time enjoying what Ballarat had to offer whilst I was attending the plenary sessions.

But apart from me, there were only 228 other Rotarians from our district who made the trip (over 20 of whom were working behind the scenes to make the show happen). Accompanying partners and guests took the attendance to well over the 300 mark, but I’ve been scratching my head, wondering why only 229 Rotarians out of a total district membership of 1,369 would come to such an amazing event. That’s just under 17%.

Many Rotarians cannot get away from work commitments. I ran a catering business for 5 years, and wiping out a weekend meant saying no to 5 or 6 functions, and at the time, I just couldn’t do it. Affordability is also an issue. Whilst the registration cost is quite reasonable, accommodation, petrol and meals all add up. Some Rotarians are getting on in years and their health precludes their attendance at such events, and sometimes the conference will clash with other important events in our lives, so it’s just not possible. I get that. But I feel the overwhelming majority of people who elect not to attend a district conference are just not interested in “super supreme” Rotary. They like ham and pineapple Rotary, and will pick off anything that’s not ham or pineapple.

District Assembly and the many other training events offer more variety to the Rotary pizza too, as do visits to other clubs, attendance at other club fundraising events, or district events like the 110th Birthday or the Rotary Race Day. Taking on a role at district level is like walking into a pizza shop – there is just so much variety on offer. You can choose what roles take your interest, and take advantage of your expertise. It’s just like choosing which extra toppings you want on your pizza.

Think of the pizza analogy from a recruitment perspective too. We need to offer a broad range of pizza at our pizza shop, because the customers wouldn’t walk through the front door if ham and pineapple was the only variety on the menu.

But here’s the kicker. If you never even try those extra toppings, you’ll never know what you’re missing out on. I fear that so many Rotarians are not getting the most out of their Rotary experience, and many end up leaving the organisation because ham and pineapple got a little bit boring after a few years. Rotary has so much to offer beyond weekly meetings. Not everything is for everyone. Even I will pick the olives off my pizza. But you’ll never know how good pizza can be if you pick off everything that’s not ham or pineapple.