Governor's Winter Message

The runner in each of the initial legs of a relay must exert his best effort and then pass the baton quickly to the next runner, allowing the teammate to hit his stride quickly. The runners must be prepared mentally and physically to handle the baton. If the baton is dropped, or passed awkwardly, the race is lost. Well, what does this have to do with our service as Rotarians?

Rotary divides most of its leadership responsibilities in one year increments. Leadership including club presidents and district governors typically serve for one year. On the first of July, we look around and see new faces in many of the important positions in the Rotary world. This has advantages. It allows us to spread the responsibility for leadership among a wide pool of capable individuals. We bring a fresh perspective and new vitality to our organization each year. New leaders mean new ideas. It acknowledges that we are volunteers and many of us have families and professions that also require our attention. We may be able to devote a significant amount of time and energy to our club or district for one year but find it difficult to keep this high level of commitment indefinitely.

With the advantages of this system come some challenges. We tend to think of each Rotary year as a distinct enterprise as we have new leaders each year, novel themes and often innovative emphases. Most of us as leaders prepare well in the months before our terms begin and then hit our strides in a month or two after taking office, but do we keep up the pace through the last months of our terms?

I think of Rotary as a relay race with an unlimited number of legs rather than a series of events taking place over the course of many years. The race began 102 years ago and will continue indefinitely if we continue to recruit and retain new members and to form new clubs. The beneficiaries of this race are not spectators enjoying the thrill of brisk competition but all of mankind - every life we touch with our scholarships, exchange programs and humanitarian projects at home and abroad.

How should we run this relay? As incoming leaders in our district and clubs, we must prepare for our leg of the race. We have to formulate a strategy and be ready to take the baton and run. Incoming governor, David Moyers, has already met with his leadership team and preparation has begun in earnest for Rotary year 2007-2008. The presidents-elect training seminar for seven districts in Southern California and Nevada begins on Thursday, March 1. Preparation and planning are vital to success.

Some of us are running our leg of the race now. We prepared well; the pass of the baton from our teammate was smooth, and we've run hard for more than half of our leg. Now let's finish with a mighty kick. I know we may be proud of what we accomplished during the past eight months (and each of our clubs has much to celebrate already). Yes, we're a bit winded, and we can feel the burning in our lungs and our legs. But no relay team ever won a race with a runner who slowed down and jogged into the pass. We have to fill our final months with the same creativity, determination and energy as we had when we sprinted at the start. That means new ideas, new projects, strong and focused leadership and a renewed emphasis on what we set out to achieve one year ago.

Remember, we wanted to follow RI President, Bill Boyd's, call to Lead the Way by bringing clean water to those without it, alleviating hunger and improving health, promoting literacy and embracing the family of Rotary. We Proclaimed Rotary proudly and regularly by spreading our organization's message of hope and inspiration to the uninitiated. We sought to Make Membership Matter by seeing to it that our clubs were the attractive, interesting and useful organizations which we knew they could be. We determined to Look Beyond Our Borders to do the good work of Rotary because this is how Rotary promotes peace, understanding and goodwill. We aspired to Create Character in our members because character is critical to the continued success of our organization. We resolved to Teach Our Children by our words and our deeds because our children are the family and the future of Rotary. We pledged to Build Continuity because Rotary is a cooperative venture which works best when we learn from those who precede us and guide those who follow.

Please join me now in sprinting to the end of our leg of this noble race. Then pass the baton adeptly to a teammate to race on. Our fans, the homeless man, the hungry child, the forgotten veteran, the young woman with a Rotary scholarship who will bring hope to others because of the gift she received, will remember this race for a lifetime.

Warmest regards,

Scot