THE CLUB PRESIDENT

A Personal Foreword to the President Elect

By electing you president, your Rotary
club has shown its confidence in your
capacity for leadership. This is some-
thing to be proud of. It is also a real
responsibility for it means that to you
more than to any other person your
fellow members entrust the welfare of
the club. This year of service will
bring you great satisfaction because
of the loyal support your fellow mem-
bers will give you.

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 ad-
ministration for which you will find no
precedent in the administrations of your
predecessors. How shall we maintain
the membership at a maximum figure
despite inevitable losses to military serv-
ice? What shall we do about the mem-
ber who is devoting so much time to
civilian defense work that he cannot at-
tend Rotary regularly? In these and
other questions you will want the calm,
deliberate judgment of your board.
The future of the Rotary club in your
community is going to depend to a
great extent upon how you meet and
solve those problems.

Naturally and properly you want this
year to be constructive and, if possible,
the best the club has ever had. That
means careful planning and prompt
execution. Ideals must be translated
into accomplishment.

As president you will assign to others
many duties connected with club ad-
ministration and program, but the final
responsibility is yours. You must see
that your fellow officers and your com-

mittees do their work effectively and
on schedule. Both idealism and good
business practice should be character-
istics of the administration of a Rotary

Club.

Three-Fold Opportunities

Your opportunities as club president
are three-fold:

You appoint committees

You preside at meetings of the club,
the board, and the aims and ob-
jects committee

You give leadership

For your performance of the first two,
certain aids are available. In the lead-
ership function you are largely “on
your own.” It calls for the best you
have in earnestness, devotion, skill and
study. Keep in mind that you are the
leader of mature men and that they
have chosen you for that responsibility.
Remember that you are president of a
Rotary club, an organization which has
a very definite purpose and program,
as implied in its objects. Your obli-
gation to your club, as well as its duty
to the Rotary movement require that
you understand its purpose and that
you do the best you can to further its
program during your year as presi-
dent. In this duty you will have not
only the confidence and loyal support
of your fellow members, but also the
experienced assistance of your district
governor and other RI. officers and of
the R.I. secretariat. Add to this ex-
perience a wholesome exercise of your
own imagination and you will have
a successful year.

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