“Good leaders are always driving changes. They derive a sense of satisfaction out of the change they drive. Great leaders always do something for people. I call it altruistic because it is good for the people. They are progressing towards goals that the society needs.”

— John P. Kotter, Professor Harvard Business School (In October 2001, Business Week Magazine rated him the #1 “leadership guru” in America based on a survey they conducted of 504 enterprises.)

A Rotarian recently raised the question whether it is necessary for a Rotary Club leader to know very much about The Rotary Foundation in order to be an effective leader. The questioner stated that all that is necessary is for the leader to know that the Foundation does great things around the world. We will leave that judgment to our readers. However, RLI has seen through its courses reaching many thousands of Rotarians throughout the world, that the average Rotarian knows almost nothing about The Rotary Foundation.

RLI believes that basic education about TRF is essential to good Rotary leadership. In its several Foundation and Foundation related courses during the three Parts of the basic curriculum, attendees not only learn an appreciation of the function and programs of TRF, but the knowledge of TRF that enables them to inspire and educate others in their clubs. While Foundation-run Training Programs are essential for those participating directly in Foundation activities, those training programs necessarily do not reach the average Rotarians who attend RLI courses. Thousands of average Rotarians now have a much better understanding of the critical role played by TRF in our great organization.

On the RLI website Home Page (www.rotaryleadershipinstitute.org) is the flyer for the Montreal RLI Breakfast together with a page describing alternate payment methods, including PAYPAL. Early registration would be appreciated. The breakfast price is in US dollars. If anyone has questions about this event, please contact RLI Executive Director, PDG Michael Rabasca, m.rabasca@comcast.net.

RLI is pleased and honored to welcome three new members of the RLI Intl. Senior Leaders Advisory Board, all from Japan:

Past Rotary International Director and current Trustee, Sakuji Tanaka.
Trustee Tanaka was the Chair of the Birmingham Convention Committee and was previously a member of the R.I. Leadership Development and Training Committee that reviewed RLI at one of its meetings. He has long been a strong supporter of RLI's leadership development program.

Past Rotary International Director Yoshimasa Wanatabe.
PRID Yoshi has a long record of participation in leadership training events. He served as an International Training Leader at a San Diego International Assembly and was a GETS trainer in Japan. In 1999 he served as an interpreter, English to Japanese, at the International Training Leader Seminar in San Diego.

Past Rotary International Director Masanobu Shigeta.
PRID Masa has an excellent record for his participation in leadership education and the cause of literacy. He was an International Training Leader for two years and a Zone Coordinator for the R.I. Education and Training Task Force. He has served as a Zone Coordinator for the Literacy and Numeracy Task Force and was a member of the R.I. Literacy Committee and Chair of its Literacy East Asia Sub-Committee. In that same year he was Area Coordinator for North Asia of the Literacy and Education Task Force.

With District 3220, Sri Lanka, joining the South India and Sri Lanka Division of RLI, the RLI member districts now cover 99 countries and territories around the world. The current District Governor and Acting District Chair is Bhashkumar D. Rasjasuriyakumar Rajan and the Division Chair is PDG K.S. Pillai. We thank PDG Rekha Shetty, South Asia RLI Coordinator, for her assistance in inviting District 3220 to join RLI.

RLI welcomes District 5370 as a member of the Canadian Prairie Division. The Agreement of membership was signed by District Governor Terry A. Drader. The district covers the northern part of the Province of Alberta, part of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories, all in Canada. The new RLI member district also has the strong support of DGE Jackie Hobal. The Division Chair is DGE Al Bergsma of District 5360.

Rotary International Director Jose Alfredo Sepulveda of Mexico has become the 12th RLI International Regional Vice-Chair for the newly created region of Northern Latin America. The new region includes the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Dominican Republic and Mexico. Director Sepulveda is the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the R.I. Board of Directors. He will serve as liaison between the International RLI and possibly four RLI divisions in that region. We are very proud to welcome Jose Alfredo Sepulveda as an International Officer of RLI.

PDG Jose Adolfo Herrera of the Dominican Republic has been appointed Chair of a new Mexico/Dominican Republic Division of RLI. Herrera has served Rotary International as an RRFC (1996-98), an RRIMC (2006-9), an International Training Leader at Anaheim, a Zone Institute Chair and a member of various R.I. and TRF Committees. He was a facilitator for the Membership Coordinator Seminar in Skokie in 2009. A civil engineer and businessman, he is also a university teacher and dean of the Engineering Faculty. The initial districts of the new division will be announced in a future eBulletin and the division is expected to become operational in early February.

So far, this has been the busiest half Rotary year ever for RLI. RLI International Training Team Members have traveled to 18 sites (including those scheduled for December) for faculty orientation sessions and courses. Several divisions and regions have also held breakfasts or other events at Zone Institutes and our 52 divisions have conducted numerous courses, annual meetings and other events. (See RLI Calendars on the RLI Website).

In this issue we print two reports of important RLI activities.


From RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for ANZO, PDG Cathy Roth:

AUSTRALIAN RLI BREAKFAST AT ZONE 8 INSTITUTE

As the sun streamed through the huge arched windows of the histories Civic Centre in the vibrant city of Newcastle, on the central New South Wales coast, ninety attendees at the Zone 8 Institute were attending the second annual RLI breakfast in the Hunter Room.

Current, past and future officers of RI, Rotarians, and a number of spouses, attended, and included PRIP Glen Kinross (representing RIP John Kenny who was unable to attend the Institute), RID John and Janet Lawrence, PRIT Brian Knowles, PRIT Ian and DGN Juliet Riseley, and RIDE Stuart and Adrienne Heal from New Zealand, as well as Institute Chairman PDG Phil and Nerrie Lacey.

Speaking on "Service and Knowledge" PRIT Barry Thompson, accompanied by his lovely wife Joan, reminded a hushed audience of the need for all Rotarians to understand the basis of their Service - why we serve and how we serve. The rapturous applause acknowledged his outstanding presentation.

A panel of PDGs Allan James (D9630), Sylvia Byers (D9460), Jennifer Scott (D9690) and John Wigley (D9800) spoke on RLI in their Districts - each emphasising a different aspect of the RLI - and PGD Ann White concluded the Panel presentation with an overview of the training materials. Question time evoked excellent and insightful questions, well answered by the panel.

The next months promise to be busy ones with, as a result of attending the breakfast, a number of Districts now expressing interest in taking RLI back to their Districts.


From PDG Nancy Gilbert, Chair of the Shining Waters Division (Ontario/US districts in Zone 24)

The Shining Waters Division started off on a great note with the October 31st training by PRIVP Mike McGovern of 27 faculty from 5 districts. Keeping up the momentum, D7070 offered its first Part 1 course on November 14th in Belleville, Ontario (at the east end of D7070).

Twenty-four Rotarians participated with a range of experience in Rotary from 3 months to 18 years. The facilitators did a wonderful job and the participants enthusiastically dove into the material. A sample comment from the day: "It is always a rejuvenating and pleasant experience to go to a Rotary event. This one, however, was even better than that. I learned more about Rotary in one day than I had in 4 years and had the pleasure of meeting so many people of like minds who were equally eager to learn. You will indeed see me in Part 2 (Bruce, RC Cobourg)."

More reports coming in future eBulletins!! See the RLI Training Calendar at www.rotaryleadershipinstitute.org and click on RLI Organizational information and then RLI Calendars.

District 7000 which encompasses the Rotary clubs of the island of Puerto Rico, has joined the RLI Sunshine Division (Florida and Georgia, USA and part of the Caribbean). The Sunshine Division consists of thirteen districts and is led by PDG Tim Schuler, Division Chair. PDG John Richardson is RLI Chair for Puerto Rico. That district was formerly a separate division of RLI.

District 5040 of the Cascadia Division (British Columbia, Canada), has been using an online software program called "GoToMeeting" to conduct online discussions. It was the first RLI district to introduce this technology. RLI courses have been held in Whistler, Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia. The District RLI Chair is DGE Penny Offer.

A faculty training update session was held in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada under the leadership of DGE Mark Brown and Atlantic/Atlantique Division Chair, PDG Dorothy Britten. Others involved in organizing and leading the program included PDG Gord Hankin, PDG Mike McPherson and Kathryn Atkin. 29 Rotarians from the Maritime Provinces in Canada attended the sessions that included a review of the new RLI curriculum. Visiting members of the RLI International Training Team were PDG Tam Mustapha and PDG Tim Placey.

A full program of RLI courses are being held in the Central/South Division of Argentina and part of Uruguay. Led by PDG Juan Pedro Torroba, the Division has also been active in providing Spanish translations of RLI documents. The Spanish translation of the new Part I course outlines is already on the RLI materials website.

Editor's Note: Limited space prevents us from reporting all of the many hundreds of courses and other RLI activities held every month, but we will do our best to report some of these programs every month.

THE Annual Intl. Curriculum Committee meeting will be held on January 8-10, 2010 at the Doubletree International Plaza, Orlando, Florida, USA. Every division is invited to send representative(s) to this meeting. The Home Page of the RLI Website contains a link to the meeting flyer with registration information and a tentative schedule. Tim Schuler, PDG, Chair of the RLI Sunshine Division is the Organizing Chair for the meeting. PDG Bevin Wall, Chair of the Zone 33 Division is Secretary and Editor to the Committee.

“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.”