Is Rotary following its own Guidelines?

    Rotary International has been in a serious membership situation for almost two decades.  Many long time Rotarians were, and still are, aware of the major issues.  However, aging organizations tend to create personal centers of power - silos - that follow separate agendas and perpetuate inbred practices.  The Organization Cemetery is filled with those who succumbed to this nepotistic disease.  Organizations that want to cure this affliction are usually wise enough to seek outside, objective diagnosis and advice.

    Rotary discovered it had so much inbreeding that it had forgotten who its customers were and what business it was in.  Fortunately, it sought treatment.  In 2011, Rotary began a rebranding initiative with Seigel+Gale.  In January 2012, Seigel+Gale presented its research results and recommendations to Rotary's Directors and Trustees.  Unfortunately, the initiative's importance was downplayed and demoted because one or more of Rotary's centers of power were following personal agendas.  This delayed critical examination and implementation of beneficial recommendations and allowed popular opinion to believe that Rotary had paid over a million US dollars for a new logo.  This unfortunate and unwise delay changed this Rotatorialist into The Angry Rotarian.

   RIPE Ravi's recent comments helped convert The Angry Rotarian into A Hopeful Rotarian.  Rotary's Messaging Guidelines, posted on Rotary's web site in January, 2014, reinforced the conversion.  Unfortunately, examinations of the web site upon which the Guidelines are posted along with recent spoken and written comments by some senior leaders indicate that many in Rotary are not familiar with the Guidelines.  Would this be because the Guidelines haven't been internally marketed?  Are the Guidelines being ignored?  Are contradictory or conflicting training materials and public information being corrected or taken out of circulation? 

If Rotary leaders do not lead the way by following Rotary's Messaging Guidelines, why should staff or associates?  What 'message' does this send to clubs and Rotarians?

Rotary's Messaging Guidelines

Rotarians, socially and ethically, are responsible leaders; connecting has and always will be their driving force; and they make the world better - one community at the time.

Simplified summary, page 3 Rotary's Messaging Guidelines, 

a result of Siegel+Gale's Research presented to Rotary 

leaders two and a half years ago.

The importance of the Messaging Guidelines, available at this link, lies in that:

·       "leaders" should be defined by mindset and approaches (psychographics) instead of labels (generations, genders, ethnicities, etc) or titles,

·       Rotary's strength lies in local Rotary clubs - who the local Rotarians are, and

·       Connecting (networking) with each other, they make their communities and the world better.

The Messaging Guidelines represent a major shift in Rotary's guiding mentality.  These guidelines define the Rotary organism as 'Rotary' and can only help Rotary in its efforts to create Rotarians.  Rotary must now eliminate internal silos and concentrate on creating Rotarians.  It is they, advancing the Object of Rotary and using Rotary's attributes, that will connect with each other and make their communities and the world better. 

Rotarians make the world better, 

One community at the time.

THE OBJECT OF ROTARY MADE SIMPLE

We all think we choose what path we take in life, who we socialize and mix with, what views we hold. But those decisions are actually shaped by networks of people - David Brooks.

The purpose of Rotary International is to create Rotarians.  

It does so by chartering local Rotary clubs and encouraging them to create Rotarians by advancing the Object of Rotary.  To make it easier to understand how the Object of Rotary can and does influence club members, here it is made simple.

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST: The Development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.

Rotarians have the opportunity to create relationships with many business, professional, and community leaders.

SECOND - High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society.

Being a Rotarian authenticates the person and their business or profession.

THIRD - The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life.

Rotarians nurture this personal characteristic; the cornerstone of building and sustaining relationships.

FOURTH - The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

Rotarians become better world citizens and often build lasting international relationships.

 rotarians influenced by the Object of Rotary have made their families, businesses, communities and the world better.  What they did is a by-product of who they are and the impact the Object of Rotary had on them personally.

Rotary Leader Membership Information

Big Data can work for or against attaining goals.  Complicated reports, which are all too common in this electronic age, can work against goals because few leaders will bother to filter and manipulate the data to get information they consider important. Useful reports should be simple, accurate, and furnish only the information necessary to help make decisions.  Rotary International's (R.I.) purpose is to create Rotarians.  Its membership reports should be simple, accurate, and easily accessible.

As a Past District Governor and former Rotary Coordinator, a report similar to the one pictured would have been wonderful.  In the pictured report names are fictitious and membership numbers representative.   Note that the report presents club presidents and district leaders with comparative numbers.  It also presents Directors and Coordinators with a clear Zone Membership Status.
   In this report, which club(s) should be recognized for membership achievements?  Which club(s) could use assistance in what action - retention or attraction? What would be helpful educational programs for Directors, Coordinators, District Governors, Presidents, Membership chairs?

Check out the total Regional and R.I. Rates, Indexes, and the Net Losses of Rotarians.  If this type information had been given to Directors twenty years ago, is there any chance R.I.'s strategic planning would have taken a different direction?  So simple yet so potentially effective.

(The Excel Spreadsheet pictured is available upon request.)