DISCURSOS - Rotary International

Your Support From RI
John Hewko
RI General Secretary
Good morning!
It’s great to be here today to address this incredible class of district governors-elect and to speak
with you at a little more length than I have done so far. Because, as important as it is to know
where the fire exits are and what time the buses are leaving, there is of course a larger reason
why we’re here, and that is helping all of you lead your districts to the most successful year possible
in 2013-14.
As district governors-elect, all of you are looking ahead to a year of hard work, ending in the satisfaction
of a job well done. Your focus now is on preparing for that job: on doing everything you
can do to make your year, and your district, the best it can be.
It’s natural that here in San Diego, your thoughts will be centered most on what will happen from
July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014.
But today, for the next 18 minutes, I’d like to ask all of you to join me in thinking beyond that —
about how to ensure that the good you do as district governors endures long after your year is
over and how you can profit from the experience of your fellow Rotarians, and the support of RI
and the Secretariat, to keep your good work going for as long as possible.
Let me start off by saying something all of you already know, which is that Rotary International
truly is an organization unlike any other. There are plenty of humanitarian organizations out there,
plenty of other service clubs, lots of nonprofits and NGOs with great missions doing great work
— but Rotary is the only one that gives talented and accomplished individuals, of any background
and profession, the chance to step forward, to put their skills to work, to really make a difference
themselves.
It’s an amazing platform for each of us, and my job as general secretary — and the job of everyone
who works at Rotary International — is to help every Rotarian in the world, in every Rotary
club in the world, to achieve as much as they possibly can, not just this year but in all the years
to come. And that is why I would like to ask you, as Rotary leaders, to keep in mind two related
concepts — two watchwords at RI that can be brought to bear on nearly everything you do as
district governors.
They are continuity and sustainability.
Continuity is a word that we’ve been using in Rotary for many years. Every Rotarian, and every
Rotary leader, is a link in a chain. Our success can’t ever be measured by our own strength. It will
be measured by how well we link what was done before us to what can be done after us.
To this end, I’d like to encourage you to make and keep a strong connection, not just with the current
governors in your districts, but with as many past district governors as possible — and with
the governor-nominee as well. Learn from the experiences of past governors, and stay in touch
with the governor who will follow you. Communication between generations of leaders means
that fewer lessons will need to be relearned, and less will fall through the cracks. Effective communication,
planning for each changeover, and developing district strategic plans that go three to
four years out into the future means that it is less likely that the work of last year’s officers will be
abandoned when a new class takes office.
International Assembly Speeches 2013 27