The Six Essential Traits of a Rotary Leader
PDG Chris Offer
One of the great running gags in the Peanuts cartoon strip is Charlie Brown kicking the football and Lucy pulling the ball away.
One year Lucy says to good old Charlie Brown, “Think how the years go by, Charlie Brown ... think of the regrets you’ll have if you never risk anything..." – of course Charlie takes the risk and Lucy pulls the ball away.
Leadership is about taking risks. Your task as a Rotary leader is to move Rotarians from where they are to where they have not been.
There is risk in making change in your club or in your district;
there is risk in asking Rotarians to move in a new direction, there is risk in using new technology.
In the past few years, I have spent a lot of time in airports. I always stop at the bookstore and look at the shelf of leadership books. There are often books on the characteristics of leaders. It started me thinking about what are the essential qualities of a Rotary leader.
Today I want to talk about why I believe leadership is critical to Rotary’s development and what I think are six essential traits of a Rotary leader.
This is a personal list. The list is based on my experience inside and outside of Rotary.
A student went to his master and asked, “Master what is a flower?” The master answered, “Go ask the flower.” That is what I try to do.
I ask the Rotary leaders who I respect and who are exceptional leaders what they feel are the most important skills of a Rotary leader.
Rotary cannot rise above the quality of our leadership.
Let me repeat - Rotary cannot rise above the quality of our leadership.
The qualities of Rotary’s leaders determine our future.
Successful Rotary leaders come with a wide variety of personal characteristics
We all know successful Rotary leaders that we wondered what enabled them to be effective.
Some are smooth and some are rough. Some are charismatic and some are enigmatic.
Despite the great diversity among Rotary leaders, there are some characteristics or traits which all successful Rotary leaders have. I think of the many leaders I worked with in my 31 years as a police officer. They were not all chiefs of police – many were constables their whole career but they were leaders.
Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration—of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes.
Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine. I have had the pleasure in my police and Rotary careers to work with leaders with these attributes. Each stands out as a beacon that helped me move further than I believed possible.
Training Club presidents to be leaders is expensive. It costs several thousand dollars to train each of us to be a club president. That includes district and club costs for
The Rotarians who pay the bills expect value for their money and strong leadership from all of us.
I have informally surveyed Rotary clubs about their fundraising and have concluded that on average clubs raise about $1000 per member. The clubs represented here today have a combined membership of more than 5,000 members or close to five million dollars in charity dollars being managed each year. A good reason for good leadership at the top.
Lester Pearson, Prime Minister, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Rotarian described the attributes required to be Prime Minster and I think they also describe a District Governor. Pearson said,
“You will need the hide of a rhinoceros, the morals of St. Francis, the patience of Job, the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the leadership of Napoleon, the magnetism of a “Rock Star” and the subtlety of Machiavelli.“
I believe that club president is not a position – it is an activity. You are going to leave a leadership legacy. But a positive legacy doesn’t just happen. The legacy you leave is the legacy you live. What you control is the way you lead and do things now.
As a leader, you will affect the Rotarians in your club and they will take what they learn forward into the future of Rotary. You see in my view it’s largely a myth that leaders single-handedly have all the answers.
That they don't need to take advice. And that they get it right the first time and never change course. You should always be prepared to take advice. But you do need to be decisive. To make the judgment calls. And to change course if that’s what’s warranted.
Let me give you my personal list of the six essential traits of a Rotary leader.
The first essential trait of a Rotary leader is Communications skills. You must be able to speak effectively in public to be a successful Rotary leader and you must have good writing skills and listening ability.
A club president will speak at 50 meetings in a year; a governor will give presentations to 40 to 80 or more clubs plus dozens of other events. District and zone committee and taskforce members are expected to give presentations at club, district and zone events.
Verbal communication is the most effective way to move from ideas to action and from action to results. Communications is, beyond doubt, an essential skill for Rotary leaders.
Rotary’s emphasis on public speaking separates Rotary leaders from leaders in the private and public sectors. Few leadership positions require so much public speaking. A Rotary leader’s personal communications style – how good he or she is at exchanging information – contributes more to Rotary’s efficiency than the results of any organizational brilliance.
The second trait of a Rotary leader is Candour. Rotarians will believe and follow someone they trust. The 4-Way test is more than a banner on the wall or a card in our wallets. Rotary leaders must live the 4-Way test.
I am not talking about malicious dishonesty. I am talking about people who do not express themselves with frankness.
Lack of candour is telling your aunt that you like the pink and green polka dot scarf she gave you for your birthday and then being baffled why you get a similar gift next year.
Lack of candour in Rotary is telling the club membership chair they are doing a good job when the club is losing members and has no strategies for membership growth. It is often easier to say nice things than to tell the truth. However, it is not about protecting the feelings of the other person – it is about our own feelings and it is about making things easier for ourselves.
Other people know the truth and you lose their trust and support when you ignore reality.
I am not saying tell the club membership chair they’re doing a crummy job – I am saying sit down with them and talk about how to improve their performance and club’s membership.
Leadership is also making the difficult decision to replace them if that is the only solution.
We feel that a little white lie is better than hurting someone’s feelings. The trouble is it does hurt them and others and it hurts Rotary. Integrity and candour are characteristics that Rotarians recognize. When you stretch the truth – it will always snap back at you.
Candour is perhaps the most important component of trust. When we are truthful about our shortcomings, or acknowledge that we do not have all the answers, we earn the understanding and respect of others.
Lack of candour blocks smart ideas, fast action and good people contributing all the views and enthusiasm they have. Candour is saying nonsense to all the myths about why people don’t join Rotary such as it’s too expensive, the attendance rules are too strict or young people do not want to join Rotary. We know none of these are true.
General Eisenhower demonstrated the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He'd place the string on a table and say, ‘Pull the string and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it and it will go nowhere at all. It's just the same when it comes to leading people.
There is nothing scientific about adding candour to Rotary leadership. To get candour, you reward it, praise it, and talk about it. You make heroes out of Rotarians who demonstrate it. Most of all you demonstrate candour even in an exaggerated way.
The third essential trait of a Rotary leader is Vision.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the slogan of the complacent and the overconfident. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to do nothing.
It's a mindset that assumes (or hopes) that today's realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion.
Rotary leaders take proactive steps to solve problems as they emerge or look ahead to prevent problems.
In his autobiography, My Road to Rotary, Paul Harris said, “We need men of microscopic visions who will explore the molecules, atoms, and electrons, but we also need men of telescopic vision who will explore the stars.”
A clear, shared vision has a magnetic pull if people are inspired and empowered to help the vision happen.
Remember what Lewis Carroll wrote - “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”
A good manager of a Rotary club knows which road to take – A great Rotary leader with vision knows what is at the end of the road.
Good Rotary leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.
In Rotary, it is easy to act as if you are a weathervane, always changing your viewpoint and words, trying to please everyone around you. However, good Rotary leaders are beacons, not weathervanes. They do not change with the wind rather they Lead the Way.
Dreams and visions can inspire Rotarians to extraordinary accomplishments.
JC Penney a member of the Rotary Club of New York once said, “Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk.”
In Rotary when we embody our vision, we can look into the eyes of our Rotary friends and say, "I am giving my time and energy to the fulfillment to this vision. I'd love you to help me. However, even if you don't, I am going to do this. One way or another, I am going to make this happen."
The fourth trait is Commitment. A Rotary leader must demonstrate dedication to Rotary International and the Object of Rotary. Individual commitment to group effort - that is what makes Rotary work.
Past RI President Royce Abbey at the 1989 RI Convention in Seoul stated, “Commitment is . . . the language of service. We are made to be committed to an ideal; whether it is excellence in competition, business, or service to mankind . . . achievement rests on the determination and effort of individuals.”
J.K Rowling is an incredible story of commitment - a single mother who wrote her first book in an English teashop during her child’s naps. Today she is one of the richest women in the world and a person that encouraged more children to pick up and read a book then possibly any other person in the last decade.
As we wait for the last Potter book due in July we should contemplate J.K. Rowling’s commitment to writing books that have been translated into hundreds of languages – yes even an American translation.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K.Rowling’s character Albus Dumbledore says,
“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”
Is that not what we want in Rotary? To disregard language and cultural differences and commit to the Object of Rotary.
The old Scottish definition of leadership "To show the way by going first" captures the courage expressed in action, which is essential to leadership.
Former president Jimmy Carter demonstrated this step effectively. He wanted people to catch the vision of providing quality housing for low-income people. Rather than giving speeches about his passion, he and his wife Rosalyn picked up hammers, put on overalls and started hitting nails for Habitat for Humanity.
After months of embodying his passion, then he started giving speeches. And people listened. How can you not listen to a person who has calluses on his hands?
In 1936, a Rotarian by the name of Winston Churchill, you may have heard of him, wrote an article in the Rotarian called Consistency in Leadership. Churchill said, “The only way a man can remain consistent amid changing circumstances is to change with them while preserving the same dominating purpose.”
The fifth trait is Passion. Passion sorts out the leaders from the managers.
Management is about order and control, but leadership is about rallying people around an idea.
While Rotary positions or titles confer authority, the ability to take Rotarians towards a common goal marks a true leader. Leaders are usually seen as active, expressive, and energetic. They are optimistic and open to change.
A Rotary leader's courage to fulfill their vision comes from passion, not position.
One of the things that I have believed over the years is that the primary role of a Rotary leader is to encourage optimism, even in a difficult situation. This is not the same as being a Pollyanna.
Such a leader empowers followers, making them believe that they can accomplish worthwhile but very difficult tasks. Leaders actually create energy in groups by being positive without becoming unrealistic. Passion is the reason 99.9% of the worlds children are polio free today.
Canadian writer W.P Kinsella’s book Shoeless Joe was turned into the movie Field of Dreams. We all remember the line, “build it and they will come.” It is about turning dreams into reality.
One of my personal heroes is Harry Jerome. Some of you may not recall Jerome but in the 1960’s he was the fastest man alive holding world records in the 100 yard, 100 meter and 220 yard sprints. There is a wonderful statue to Jerome in Stanley Park showing him in his unique thrust as he reaches the finish line.
Remarkably he represented Canada in the 1960, 64 and 68 Olympics. Olympic Gold eluded him. He did receive an Olympic bronze medal and gold at the Commonwealth games.
Canada lost a true hero in 1982, when Harry Jerome died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 42.
Harry’s personal motto was “never give up”. He was my track coach in high school and it is where I personally saw leadership by example. I saw passion and commitment.
Harry was on the track for a hour in the morning before the school track team arrived, at noon he ran up and down the stadium stairs with bar bells on his shoulders and after school he spent hours just training in the starting blocks. Harry demonstrated titanic passion, vision and commitment.
For a 17-year-old kid it was an incredible lesson that I have never forgotten and hope I have followed in the past 40 plus years.
If you have a passion for Rotary, a lofty ideal – if you build your Rotary dreams with passion and on a sturdy foundation, they will come true.
The sixth trait of a successful Rotary leader is Creativity. Successful Rotary leaders are not afraid of thinking creatively. Whether an idea has already been tried makes no difference to the exceptional leader.
He or she sees better ways of doing things and knows that every idea can be expanded, made better, enhanced or broadened. The successful Rotary leader is willing to try new things and expand on a vision.
I am reminded of the professor who handed out an exam to his students. One bright fellow in the front row said, “Professor this is the same exam we had last year.” The professor replied excellent observation, however this year the answers are different.”
It is the same with your Rotary club. The questions are the same.
The questions are the same but a creative Rotary leader has new answers – and this is what this Rotary assembly is about – not to give you old answers but to point you in the direction to find new answers.
Peter Drucker said, “Leadership is not a magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
I compare a Rotary leader to a symphony conductor. To conduct the symphony you do not need to know how to play every instrument but you do need to know when they are being played well.
Technology is a good example of this type of leadership. You are not a deprived leader because you do not have a blackberry, a personal plog, are currently installing MS Vista or upload all your presentations as podcasts. However, as a leader you do need to know who in your club can assist with technology and advance Rotary to new audiences.
Paul Harris said, “If Rotary is to realize its proper destiny, it must be evolutionary at all times, revolutionary on occasion.”
I will close with another quote from Lester Pearson. In his autobiography, Pearson explained his success,
“I did it by hard work and long hours, by making it evident that I was available for whatever was to be done; by welcoming every opportunity for new and more responsible duties; and by accumulating all the experience possible in all the varied aspects of my profession.”
In Conclusion let me say that communications, candour, vision, commitment, passion and creativity are traits that can be developed. None of the essential traits of a Rotary leader is GENETIC, for many of us; they are the results of hard work over many years.
I have talked to many successful Rotary leaders; almost to a person they have said that they have worked over the years to improve their skills.
Some have done it through formal classes and Rotary seminars, others through observation and practice; but all have worked hard at honing their abilities.
You as the current and future Rotary leaders are the stewards of all that Rotary has accomplished in 102 years. You have the task of leading the Rotarians in your club. The hope, the success and the triumphs of Rotary are in your hands.
The future success of Rotary rests on your shoulders. You are in the right place, at the right time, with the right set of capabilities to create a bold future for Rotary.
Lead from the front, lead by example; lead with passion – Rotary Shares -good luck.
PDG Chris Offer,
Phone 604-940-9365
Email Chris Offer@dccnet.com