I don’t think we have a Membership problem in Zone 8, we have a BIG Leadership problem in our Clubs and Districts.

Opinion article by PDG Andy Rajapakse, Assistant Rotary Coordinator

Do you have any of these 10 Habits of Bad Leadership? 

Every year in March and April, Rotary Districts spend 1,000s of hours and over $1 Million dollars conducting our annual training for incoming Club and District leaders. How is it that year after year majority of our Clubs and Districts in Zone 8 fail to grow? In our zone today we have over 200 Clubs with less than 10 members! Only 4 Districts in Zone 8 recorded growth in the last 3 years! We don’t have a membership problem. We have a BIG Leadership problem inside our Clubs and Districts.

Growth is the only measure of leadership. Be it a Rotary Club, a company, a city, a country, or even a family! If a football or cricket team is not winning matches, we change the captain or the coach. Imagine doing the same in Rotary Clubs and Districts? At our District training and Rotary Leadership Institute sessions, we speak of good leadership qualities. To change the process of your thinking, let me share 10 Habits of Bad Leadership I have seen over the last few years. When we identify weaknesses, it’s easier to fix them. Most of them are our bad habits and habits can be changed. The choice is ours to win or to lose!

Top 10 Habits of Bad Leadership:
1. Not having a Vision for your Club or Districts.
2. Fear of failure to take risks.
3. Self-Centeredness with “I am the Boss” syndrome.
4. Lack of confidence to delegate to the best for the job.
5. Failure to produce growth of Club or Districts.
6. Lack of empathy to feel the pulse of members.
7. Inability to use the latest technology for communication.
8. Lack of courage to be innovative.
9. Lack of ability to prioritize.
10. Unable to make quick decisions.

Yes, leading volunteers is different from leading a team of highly paid staff members. But when “we volunteer to volunteer”, we take responsibility for our volunteering role. And if we volunteer to lead a volunteer organization as a District Governor, Assistant Governor, Club President, or Rotary Coordinator the responsibility is far greater than the responsibility we take in a paid job, because our actions have a lasting impact on the volunteering experience of the members. Is it why so many good people leave Rotary as our Club and District leaders fail to meet their expectations?

To me, Leadership is not content. Leadership is context. This means the conditions you are called to lead. Like understanding the expectations of members, not yours; the outside environment of the day, like a global pandemic. Strategies we adopt and organizational culture we inherit as a leader. Leadership is all about influence. Influence is the relationship with our team, our peers, followers, other people of influence, media, and the public. Whenever a charismatic leader with a vision was elected to lead a Rotary Club or a Rotary District there was membership growth, increased contributions to Rotary Foundation, and enthusiasm among members to stay in Rotary?

What I see as the "TOP Bad Habit" of leadership in many volunteer leaders is their “fear of failure”. Failure is the feedback that leaders cannot get from books or university degrees. Courage is the resistance to fear, not the absence of fear. When I took office as Governor of District 9640 on 1st July 2020 it was the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Believe me, I was scared. But I had the courage to overcome my fear to lead our District with enthusiasm and vision to a record 14.4% growth of net +167 members to be the 25th largest growth Rotary District in the world in 2020-21. Can you imagine, in that crazy year in 365 days we attracted 384 new members to our 58 Clubs, started 5 new Rotary Clubs, 2 new Satellite Rotary Clubs including the famous environmental caused based "Koala Lovers" Rotary Club, 3 new Rotaract Clubs, a new Interact Club and the first Rotex (Rotary EX- exchange students alumni) Club in our District? And 100% of Clubs contributed A$465,000 to Rotary Foundation.

It was a brave team effort by all our members, Club Presidents, Assistant Governors and District Chairs. I was only the courageous inspiration & strategist. There are no bad teams. There are only bad leaders. So, when we select District or Club leaders, make sure they have a proven track record in their roles. Not because they are our best friend or was in that role for 3 years! Every leader must be an example. People don’t follow failures. 

How can we fix our declining membership problem in Rotary without first fixing our Leadership problem? Is it time we provide new opportunities for new style leadership coaching for our incoming Club Presidents and District Governors so we can change history? John F. Kennedy, 35th US President, said “One person can make a difference. Let us give everyone the opportunity to try.” Our role as zone and District leaders is to create more leaders, not followers!

So, when can we start a new future direction for every Club in our Rotary Zone 8?