3

From the Secretariat

of Rotary International
35 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, U.S.A.

 

CLUB SERVICE

FILE 116

 

 

The R.I. Secretariat serves as a clearing house for information which may be
useful to Rotary clubs. This file and many others are prepared from various sources
of information. Suggestions are appreciated.

 

 

THiS JOB OF

MRR. PRESIDENT :

You have the honor of serving as the
leader of your Rotary club at a time
when capable, aggressive leadership is
going to be more important than ever
before.

You are going to be called upon to
solve certain problems in club admin-
istration for which you will find no
precedent inthe administrations of
your predecessors. The future of the
Rotary club in your community is going
to depend toa great extent upon how
you meet and solve those problems.

YOU AND YOUR BOARD |

Fortunately, it is not going to be nec-

essary for you to face these problems

alone. When you were selected to serve
as president, your members also se-
lected a capable group to serve with

‘you as a board of directors. These men

share with you the responsibility for
the success of Rotary in your comunity.

Sen in normal times, most club presi-
dents have found that there is a de-
cided advantage in having a regular,
stated time and place for board  meet-
ings - at least monthly. When they are
held "on call” it is difficult for
poard members to arrange their own
schedules so that they can be present.
When brief meetings are held following
the regular weekly luncheons, insuffi-
cient time is available for calm, de-
liberate discussion of club matters.

   

ln these days the element of “time” is
of increasing value. Rotarians will
have to budget carefully every minute

116-May '43-Y-1M

BEING A WARTIME

PRESIDENT

if they are going to meet the demands
that will be made of them. By setting
aside a certain evening each month for
the board meeting you will make it pos-
sible for them to include this intheir
time schedules.

The board of directors is the governing

' body of the club.When the board func-

tions as it should, much valuable time
can be saved for the club as a ‘whole.
Now that each citizen is out to do all
he can to help win the war, many sug-
gestions are going to be offered to
each Rotary club--both from within the
membership and from without. "Can the
Rotary club sponsor this?”--"Will the
Rotarians do that?"--are going to be
frequent questions. The board of di-
rectors should investigate carefully
all such questions and proposals and
then present to the club for action
only those propositions which the club
can properly handle.

Treve will also be vunusual questions
on club administration. How shall we
maintain the membership at a maximum
figure despite inevitable losses to
military service? What shall we do
about the member who is devoting so
much time tocivilian defense work that
he cannot attend Rotary regularly? In
these and other questions you will want
the calm, deliberate judgment of your
board.

Emergency matters can be handled at
short special meetings, but for the
careful, long-range planning of activi-
ties you will find your work easier if
you will hold regular,monthly meetings ©

of your board of directors.