WHERE DOES ROTARY GO FROM HERE?

          Why do membership-based organizations flounder?  Almost always, it is because the organization's leaders are either unaware their organization is floundering or are aware but do not know why.  This is only logical because, if organizations' leaders knew what was happening and why, they would try to prevent it from floundering.

          So why don't leaders know what is happening?  Most often it is because the reasons are subtle and evolve over long periods.  Such conditions are difficult for leaders to grasp, particularly in organizations with frequent leadership changes, if short-term plans with realistic, measurable goals and results do not exist.  Such plans should always keep the organization's long-term vision in site.  Its short-range plan and long-range vision should;

• be centered on the organization's unique, differentiating value proposition; 
• have an unmistakable definition of who it wants to attract into membership; and
• be clear on why those it wants to attract would be willing to exchange time, talent, and treasure for membership.

Without agreement on these issues, there cannot be adequate planning of any type, and it will be difficult to develop and support membership. Is this where Rotary is at this time? If so, where does it plan to go from here, and how will it get there?
     To create effective short- and long-range plans for Rotary International (RI) to continuously market and support membership development, its leaders should, at a minimum, use the following thought processes:         

1.  Define the characteristics of those RI wishes to attract into membership.  Who is going to pay for the services RI has to offer and how many potential buyers exist?  What is a realistic expectation of how many who qualify will actually become members?  How many will remain Rotarians and for how long?

2.  Have a brief but well defined mission statement. A brief mission statement should define why RI exists.  It should succinctly describe RI's core supporters, and the value proposition that will attract them to Rotary.

3.  Overcome poor management.  Instead of understanding what its supporters are saying, leaders often lose trust and start trying to micro-manage.  They do not react to what is actually happening because they do not know why it is happening. They usually rely on excuses instead of reasons, and often believe that they know what their supporters want and need better than their supporters.

4.  Learn from failure.  Learning from failure is difficult because very few former or present leaders want to actually admit that their past, or present, actions did not or are not working.  In doing so, they are not learning the whys of what happened or is happening, therefore they cannot effectively react.

Few places are less forgiving to organizations than competitive, ever-changing social atmospheres.  RI was quite successful adjusting to such conditions between 1905 and 1995. Since then,overall membership has stagnated, primarily due to declining membership in some legacy regions. So what happened and why did it happen?  Does RI have any idea where it is going from here or how it is are going to get there?

Service is not Integral to Rotary; It is Rotary's Reward - -

A reader of the August 1 Post The Heart of Rotary is not Service asked, "Don't you believe that the original framers of the Object of Rotary wanted service to be integral to our organization?"

    "No", I replied . . . "Integral implies that service is embedded in the organization whereas  The Object of Rotary's opening paragraph says, '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: . .' " An ideal is a standard, moral value or belief.  Adopting an ideal becomes a way of life; something that is less subject to be replaced by whims, ideas, or changes in circumstances.  Nowhere does the Object of Rotary even imply that service would be embedded in or used as an adjective to describe the Association of Rotary Clubs, which evolved into Rotary International (RI).

     The original framers wisely constructed the Object of Rotary so it could be adopted by any person, at any time, in any place, and under any social, political, or religious system.  They wanted the Ideal of Service to be a value embedded in Rotarians; a value that would help them make their personal, business, and community lives better regardless of where they lived, worked, and/or played. 

   RI President Barry Rassin, in his August 2018 message, says, "A well-known saying goes, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." That doesn't mean people should ignore the needs outside their own homes; instead, they should pay attention to the needs within.

       It can be tempting, when our priority is service, to focus only on the things that look like service: the projects, the planning, and the work that yields a visible benefit to those who need it. But to do that work effectively, we need to keep our own house in order. In Rotary, that means conducting ourselves in accordance with the principles of Rotary, treating others with respect, and following The Four-Way Test. It means maximizing our impact by planning carefully and stewarding our resources wisely. And it means looking after the long-term health of our organization by ensuring that our membership is strong, engaged, and healthy."

       Attempting to make service integral to RI or any of its member clubs promotes concretizing the results of putting the Ideal of Service into practice.  RI itself is encouraging concretizing when it pressures clubs to report outcomes such as volunteer hours and service projects or when it asks clubs to set targets for projects and contributions to TRF.  These may appear to be sound business practices that generate favorable public images, but concretizing results often leads to the results exceeding the Ideal in priority.  This common organization mistake has led to the bankruptcy of once successful organizations, including General Motors and Kodak, and hindered RI's growth, particularly in legacy regions. 

The quantity and quality of service projects (including polio eradication), volunteer hours, and dollars contributed to TRF are the organization's rewards for attracting and retaining Rotarians who choose the Ideal of Service as a way of life, and the only true measure of the organization's long-term health is reflected in RG Indexes.

The HEART of Rotary is not Service.

The HEART of Rotary is the Object of Rotary, and it continually pumps Rotary's lifeblood,  the ideal of service, throughout the Rotary network.

Humans have brains, hands, arms, legs and feet that will function as long as they have a constant supply of lifeblood.  Rotary International (RI) has over 35,000-member clubs that will function as long as they have a constant supply of lifeblood.  What is critical for Rotary's governing body to understand is that Rotary's lifeblood is not service, it is the ideal of service.

     Rotarians should realize that Rotary is alive because Rotary's heart continually pumps the ideal throughout its network.  Rotarians, living the ideal each in their own way, use their brains, hands, arms, legs and feet to build connections and bring awareness that improves their local social fabrics and strengthens Rotary's worldwide network. 

     The ideal manifests itself in many different ways.  For example:

• Rotarians in India overcome many social and logistical difficulties to build a water reservoir. 
• Rotarians in metropolitan and suburban clubs use influence and money to help teachers improve student reading skills and graduation rates in local schools.
• Rotarians in Argentina obtain a Global Grant to furnish equipment to help a school for the blind. 
• Rotarians in Africa find individual donors and volunteers to help rural area schools.
• Rotarians in North Carolina provide beds to help families stabilize their housing situation.
• A Rotarian anywhere in the world helps a stranger in need.
• Rotarians undertake a worldwide project to eliminate a crippling disease, starting in their own local social fabric and spreading globally.

     Humans continually check on their heart's health by monitoring their blood pressure and understanding the numbers.  They do not even try to monitor its result - the lifetime accomplishments of the heart's body.  RI should measure its heart's health by monitoring its RG Index and understanding the numbers.  It should not waste resources trying to remain healthy by monitoring its heart's result - the quantity of service projects, volunteer hours, and/or dollars contributed by clubs and/or Rotarians.

 Humans' body parts cease to function when they stop receiving lifeblood.  RG Indexes would identify regions of the Rotary network where the supply of lifeblood is dangerously low; where caring RI leaders who are properly prepared and supported would take corrective actions. 

Is Rotary International Governance's Approach to Brand Management and Membership Development Stuck in the Era of Slide Rules and Handheld Calculators?

In the 1950s, after 33 months, four days, eight hours, and twenty minutes in the infantry, I entered the University of Florida intending to earn an engineering degree.  One glorious birthday, my wife, who had scrimped on our grocery money, surprised me with a Post Versalog slide rule, the elite hand calculator of the day.  That slide rule served my calculation needs, including sitting for my Professional Engineer's examination in 1972.  Programmable calculators were just coming on the market. In the 1980s, I purchased a Hewlett Packard 48G programmable calculator (The display shows the Rotary Club of Sarasota's annual retention rate).  Then, of course, came the age of computers, and my engineering firm adapted new technologies.  My slide rule and HP48G served their purposes very well, but what was purposeful back then became outdated and had to be retired.

    Our son followed to the University of Florida.  Now the owner of an engineering firm in Charlotte, NC and past president of the South Mech Rotary Club, he recently related this Tweet to me: In the 1990s, I used to go to a joint called “Burrito Brothers.” They had great burritos. One day, a friend of mine got the tacos, something that no one in UofF history had ever dreamed of doing. Fascinated, I asked him, “How are they?” My friend replied, “Meh. I think there’s a reason they don’t call them ‘Mexican Food Brothers.’”

            I’ve always used this as an illustration of the idea that organizations should stick to what they are good at, i.e., what their purpose is.

    Rotary International (RI) and its member clubs have only one purpose: develop Rotarians by advancing the Object of Rotary in local social fabrics throughout the world.  This alone makes the world better, one community at the time.  Are the institutions and practices that may have once been useful in helping RI accomplish its purpose similar to my slide rule and HP48G; still useable but substantially less effective?  For example:

• District Conferences and International Assemblies'?  If their goal is to help develop Rotarians, are they accomplishing this purpose? In North America and other legacy regions, obviously not.  What systemic issues need to change?
• Membership Month? Retaining and attracting members is a fulltime priority, yet this tradition clearly needs to change because it annually delivers the perception that developing membership is important only one month out of the year; that the other eleven monthly topics are equal in importance. What about changing this practice to where all monthly topics highlight how being associated with Rotary clubs differentiates Rotarians from all others who do good things?
• Public Imaging?  How do RI and district public imaging approaches (Facebook, Twitter, Rotarian Magazines, Videos, Institutes, Seminars, etc.) differentiate Rotarians from the billions of other people who support local and international projects and programs?
• Cost of Membership.  Clubs consistently hear suggestions about cutting the cost of membership, yet RI and districts increase dues every so often.  Shouldn't RI, districts, and clubs justify these dues increases by creatively improving Rotary's value proposition to Rotary clubs; to Rotarians?

     RI's People of Action brand revitalization is a start, but will take much more than redesigning logos and producing action photos and videos to revitalize membership.  RI and its administrative districts must have new, systemic value proposition deliverables that differentiate RI and Rotarians.  Short-term membership development thought processes have been used for over two decades.  It is rather obvious that they have not been successful.  Rotary Senior and Staff leaders that do not recognize the need for systemic changes in attitudes, long-term planning, and the creation of unique value proposition deliverables have their mindsets stuck in the slide rule and HP48G era.  

Where are Rotary's visionary leaders?