In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand Issue 2 | Page 54
A simple exercise you can
do as a club is the ‘KSS’
technique. Ask yourselves
three easy questions:
•
What would we like to keep
•
What would we like to start?
•
What would we like to stop?
Traditions
Do you sing, say ‘grace’, hold a ‘sergeant’s session’, ring
the bell, have heads and tails? Are you holding on to all
of these traditions because you actively want to … or
just because no-one’s ever thought of reviewing them?
Culture
What’s the culture in your club? The language and talk
that’s used speak volumes. Is everyone respectful and
mindful of diversity – for example, is language used
gender and age-appropriate?
However you tackle it, for your club to be successful,
there needs to be great communication for starters,
and the key questions regularly posed: what’s
important to members and what changes would they
like to see.
about changing people’s lives through projects or
programmes – and these don’t happen by accident.
Rotary is not just a social club; service is fundamental
to a Rotarian’s experience. It engages us and provides
a priceless opportunity to find out what our passions
are.
What service projects is your club doing? What have
you done in the past? What are you planning in the
future?
Rotary’s founder, Paul Harris, spoke of the need
for our organisation to be evolut ionary, and
emphasised, sometimes, we’d need to step it up and
be revolutionary, too. Earlier this year, the Council of
Legislation took action to give clubs more flexibility in
their meeting schedule and membership:
•
Clubs can change meeting days and times
•
The requirement to meet weekly has been
removed
•
The meaning of ‘What constitutes a meeting’
was changed
•
Clubs are allowed to offer different types of
membership (such as associate, corporate or
family membership)
•
Membership qualification has changed,
and business and professional criteria was
removed
In New Zealand we
have a culture of giving
– in fact, we’re ranked
third in the world.”
Cha-cha-change
Remember, we are all evolutionary beings: life is not
the same as it was five, 25, 50, a 100 years ago. It’s
okay to change something if it’s not working anymore.
We really need to move with the times. I love this
quote from Australian Rotarian Michael McQueen:
“Trying to resist change is like holding your breath.
Even if you are successful, it doesn’t end well!”
Let’s talk about diversity. Diversity is an opportunity
to grow your club. Think: age, ethnicity, gender and
vocations. Women in Rotary, for example, are a
growing group. What are you doing to attract more
women?
Looking to invigorate your club and boost
engagement? You can’t go beyond putting a focus on
service. The signature “Rotary moments” are generally
Who now qualifies for
membership? Those
who demonstrate
‘good character,
integrity, and
leadership; possess
good reputations
within their business,
profession and/or
community; and are
willing to serve in their
community and/or
around the world’.
So, the council’s removed the shackles and
empowered Rotary clubs to do new things, be more
flexible, to allow a NEW Rotary.
Decisions your club makes today will determine
what the Rotary of tomorrow looks like. We need to
have conversations in our clubs about where our
members want it to go, what they want it to look like
in the future, and how to stay relevant not only to our
members but our communities.
Big-hearted Kiwis
At the heart of Rotary’s being is altruism. In New
Zealand we have a culture of giving – in fact, we’re
ranked third in the world.
So, what do we know about what makes volunteers
tick? A recent survey casts some light on that:
Page 54 | In Gear - Rotary in southern New Zealand - District 9980 | www.rotarydistrict9980.org