RLI Officers Available for Meetings at Birmingham

Any past, current or incoming district leader interested in the RLI club leadership development program is invited to contact RLI International Chair, PRID David Linett to arrange for an informal meeting with RLI officers during the Birmingham Convention. Send a request to Dave at ginlin@aol.com.

Random Thoughts About Leadership

The growth of RLI around the world has been an education in many ways for the many Rotary leaders who have been a part of that growth. When seeking Rotarians who will lead in the establishment of RLI divisions/districts it is interesting how differently many approach such a task. What is it that differentiates the prospective leader who succeeds from the one who doesn't? Both types may sincerely want to accomplish building a project, but only one type may achieve the goal. The noted management consultant and author, Peter F. Drucker, has said, “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans” . With desire to do something, but without a strong commitment, very little usually happens. Of course, there may be other factors in the failure to achieve a goal, but lack of real commitment is certainly an important factor.

PAYPAL is Now Available for Breakfast Ticket Purchases

RLI Executive Director Michael Rabasca has arranged with PayPal to expedite the payment for RLI Convention Breakfast tickets (and annual dues as well). Simply follow the directions below. (Of course checks in US Dollars can be used.)

Secure a PayPal account on the internet (PayPal.com—No charge)

• Follow PayPal instructions to send funds to m.rabasca@comcast.net
• Include your name and district when sending funds to Pay Pal

Here are the Birmingham RLI Breakfast Facts:

Date: June 24, 2009

Place: Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC

Time: 7:30 a.m. (doors open 7:00 a.m.)

Principal Speaker: Past R.I. President Cliff Dochterman

Speakers: R.I. Vice-President Monty Audenart and R.I. Director Michael Colasurdo, Sr.

Who may attend: Any Rotarian interested in leadership development for Rotary CLUBS

Price: US$ 45.00 per person

How to register: Mail check, use PayPal or Bank Transfer or contact RLI Executive Director Michael Rabasca, 210 Thomas Road, Mendham, New Jersey 07945 USA, m.rabasca@comcast.net.

Rotarians may also click on the ticket shown on the Home Page of www.rotaryleadershipinstitute.org for a registration flyer and payment options.

Welcome New Divisions/Districts

RLI is pleased to welcome the new Brazil—Sao Paulo Northwest Division. The initial member districts are 4470, 4480 and 4540. Chair of the new Division is District 4540 Governor Antonio C. Marchiori of Jaboticabal, S.P., Brazil. The district contains part of Sao Paulo State and parts of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul. The other two District Governors are 4470 Governor Manoel Carlos M. Zaffalon and 4480 Governor Jair Pinto da Silva. We thank RIDE Antonio Hallage, RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for Latin America for facilitating the creation of the new division.

We are also pleased to welcome District 9690 as a member of the Australia-Southern Division. The new member district is part of New South Wales. The Agreement of Membership was signed by DGE Paul Reid with the support of DG Paul Erickson and DGN Marilyn Mercer to be effective on July 1, 2009. The Chair of the Division is PDG Cathy Roth.

Another warm welcome goes to District 9630 as a member of the Australia-Northern Division. The district covers part of Queensland. The Agreement was signed by DG Christopher J. Wright with the support of DGE Nicholas Curry and DGN Anne Brand. The Chair of the Division is PDG John Boag.

We thank RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair Cathy Roth for her wonderful efforts to spread RLI throughout the ANZO Region.

Correction

Regional Vice-Chair Jim Henry conducted a faculty orientation program in Council Bluffs, Iowa—not Omaha, Nebraska for Heartland USA Division. We regret the error.

Personnel Update

PDG Tam Mustapha has been appointed an RLI International Vice-Chair for Special Projects, a new position. Tam, a physician from Valatie, New York, USA was formerly the RLI International Secretary and has been a very active member of the RLI International Training Team. He has been a Vice-Chair of the Northeast America Division and has held many other positions in that division.

Succeeding Tam as RLI International Secretary is PDG Ward Vuillemot of Skaneateles, New York. Ward is also serving as Executive Director of the Northeast America Division, RLI's largest division with 31 districts. He will also be the RLI Systems Officer.

For the new officers of the newly reorganized South Asia and India divisions, see the article below.

Gupta to Lead South Asia Reorganization

At a meeting of the four (now five) divisions in India in New Delhi, the RLI leaders developed an umbrella organization for the region. The region consists of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Chosen to lead the South Asia Region was Past Rotary International Director Sushil Gupta of New Delhi. PRID Gupta served as a Director from 2003-5 and has since been very active in the RAG for Disaster Relief and many other Rotary projects. The Senior Advisor to the organization will be Past Rotary International Director and Trustee Kalyan Banerjee of Vapi, India. Other officers are PP Binod Khaitan of Kolkata, Executive Vice-Chair, PDG Subhash Saraf of Pune, India, Secretary, Extension Chair and Coordinator for Zones 4A and 4B, and PDG Rekha Shetty of Chennai, India, Treasurer and Coordinator for Zones 5A and 5B.

A Central India Division has been added to the previously organized Eastern India, Northern India, Western India and South India Divisions. The Division Chairs continuing are: PP Atul Dev, Northern Division and PDG Sandeep Narang, Eastern Division.

New Division Chairs are:
Western—PDG Ulhas Kolhatkar
Central—PDG Rajendra Rai
Southern—PDG Kesava S Pillai

We congratulate RLI International Vice-Chair (who remains in that international position) Binod Khaitan and the India RLI leadership for their wonderful work in expanding a quality leadership development program in Nepal and India. We are looking forward to adding Sri Lanka in the future to the RLI family of districts.

International Training Team Visits

Recent visits of the International Training Team members to conduct faculty orientation sessions and logistics meetings included:

• Heart of America Division at Peoria, Illinois USA—PDG Dan Spencer
• Heartland USA Division at Council Bluffs, Iowa—PDG Jim Henry
• Sao Paulo, Brazil Division at Sao Paulo—RIDE Antonio Hallage
• Nepal and India at multiple sites—PDG Tam Mustapha and PDG Knut Johnsen. PDG Tam spent five weeks in Nepal and India going from one venue to another in four RLI Divisions.

• Cairo and Hurghada, Egypt—PDG Ward Vuillemot
• Karachi, Pakistan—PDG Abe Clymer
• Other training team visits are possible before July 1.

A full schedule of visits is expected for the 2009-10 Rotary year. The above does not include training visits by trainers within their own divisions or some promotional visits by RLI Officers, including Regional Vice-Chairs. More about these visits will appear in future eBulletins.

RLI PHILOSOPHY

“Having leadership skills does not alone assure good Rotary leadership. An effective Rotary leader must ALSO have Rotary knowledge, perspective about where Rotary has been, where it is now going and a vision of what Rotary can be.”