THERE is more into the Rotary Club International than just the four-way test. It is an enabling environment for leaders. And if only all Rotarians will be true to its core, its societal impact goes beyond weekly meetings and the promotion of the four-way test. This column features the lecture that I created for the Rotary Club.
On the invitation of the Rotary Club of Entrepreneurs and Professional, through its charter president Sarah Deloraya-Mateo, the chairman of PELS 2025, I became a speaker at its President-Elect Learning Seminar (PELS) held in Jeju Island, South Korea, last March 21 to 23, 2025, at the Hotel Sirius.
The governor-elect Veronica Yu has full force support of six past district governors from the Philippines and three district governors from Korea. Rotary Foundation trustee PDG CW Hyun was keynote speaker. It was attended by some 55 presidents-elect of Rotary Club District 3780 and some 154 delegates from the Philippines.
I grew up memorizing the Rotary Club’s (RC) four-way test, namely: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Who will miss these in every corner of where RC is present. I am not a Rotarian but is a husband to Rotarian Dr. Lyne and a friend to many Rotarians. I refused to be a Rotarian as I couldn’t commit to the regular weekly meetings and the other tasks required of its members.
This article gives way to a lecture that I conducted, which was applauded, with a standing ovation in the end, and I felt duty-bound to share not only to Rotarians but to everyone who may want to learn a neglected competency needed in our times — leadership.
Leadership defined
Acknowledging that there is just too much management and too little leadership in many societal and workplace settings, I started by dichotomizing leadership and management, not to draw the line between the two equally important concepts, but to focus on what matters most to leadership.
The power of influence in leadership is derived from the trust at personal level toward the vision (the ideal state of the future) authentically shared and strategically communicated by the leader to everyone else in the organization. The everyone knows (and joins) where the organization is heading.
The effectiveness of leadership looks into “doing the right thing” as management focuses on efficiency of “doing the thing right.” The excellence follows as doing the right thing right from the beginning and all the time by everyone.
The leader’s focus on the future demands innovation and change, while the manager focuses on the present and ensures the status quo. The leaders anchor on purpose and strategies, as they ask the why, while the managers concentrate on the schedules and the rest of the questions for the structures, processes and procedures toward the destination or the goal. The leaders ensure the journey instead. The managers measure the performance based on standards as leaders see through the potential of its people.
Upward to the top
Leadership is like ascending through the staircase. Initially, the person takes the step through the position entitled to a right to be followed and where people are bound to follow because they need to. This is the starting point but is a dangerous stage as the dependency to leadership on position is a volatile variable. But this initiates a stance where the next step may be taken forward and upward — permission, where people follow the leader because of the relationship built and because people want to. The danger of this stage is the fragility of relationships as the basis for leadership. The third stage forward is production, where leaders are followed for their results and therefore for what they have done. This establishes greater and measurable value for leadership that can objectively pave the way for the ascent. The fourth is people development, where leaders capitalize on the reproduction of its leadership and where people follow for what the leaders have done for others. At the acme of leadership is the person, where the leaders gain respect and follow for who he is and for what he represents. The upward journey is through position > permission > production > people development > person, which progressively gains for the leader the right > relationship > result > reproduction > respect. This framework is attributed to John Maxwell. To ascend, the leaders need to assume the integrated roles to model, mentor, motivate and multiply. The proposed framework
People-of-Action-with-Rotary is an output-process-outcome model using the acronyms for the words People, Action and Rotary. I am known for this approach in organizing my presentations.
Purpose-driving action refers to the responsibility of a leader to model and influence actions that are driving deeper and greater purpose among everyone within the organization. The sense of purpose becomes an infectious dynamic that ensures a self-actualizing experience for everyone in the organization. The actions taken individually and collectively drive the sense of purpose and vice versa.
Empathy-guided compassion gives the opportunity for sensemaking of the “shared suffering” for groups which the organization chooses to empathize and embrace. The unity to serve resonates as the north star for people to engage in the spirit of abundance.
Outcome-oriented transformation achieves the change from within which leads to the development of tenacity and resiliency of the organization from its core. The end-in-mind is defined in the beginning and inspires change that is rooted from within — creating a transformative process of personal and collective development.
Prosperity-sustaining inclusion promotes agility in the diverse organization ever ready to pivot amid adversity. It respects individuality and uniqueness that celebrates diversity as a strategy for co-creative innovation and differentiated organizational equitability where no one is left behind.
Life-giving obligation to serve develops reciprocity and symbiotic relationship that strengthens coexistence and synergy with team spirit. The team spirit and collaborative nature are capitalized toward a life-giving commitment to serve. Prosperity is what others have become because of the leader.
Empowerment-driven navigation makes the journey a yearnful experience for everyone because of the growth-mindset it promotes and the intentional development it builds as a culture. As leaders, the journey is valued as much as the destination.
People-of-Action-with-Rotary Model provides for a framework that unifies what matters most to the organization like Rotary Club. It provides for the recipe for action, interaction and transaction to “unite for good” of the Rotary Club.
In the words of DGE Veronica Yu, “beyond the gratitude and overwhelming happiness that we all share and cherish in the experience, is the enabling environment created by a group learning together and uniting for the good of humanity.” To charter president Sarah Deloraya Mateo, “we enter to learn, and we go forth to serve.”
-END-
SOURCE: The Manila Times
On the invitation of the Rotary Club of Entrepreneurs and Professional, through its charter president Sarah Deloraya-Mateo, the chairman of PELS 2025, I became a speaker at its President-Elect Learning Seminar (PELS) held in Jeju Island, South Korea, last March 21 to 23, 2025, at the Hotel Sirius.
The governor-elect Veronica Yu has full force support of six past district governors from the Philippines and three district governors from Korea. Rotary Foundation trustee PDG CW Hyun was keynote speaker. It was attended by some 55 presidents-elect of Rotary Club District 3780 and some 154 delegates from the Philippines.
I grew up memorizing the Rotary Club’s (RC) four-way test, namely: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Who will miss these in every corner of where RC is present. I am not a Rotarian but is a husband to Rotarian Dr. Lyne and a friend to many Rotarians. I refused to be a Rotarian as I couldn’t commit to the regular weekly meetings and the other tasks required of its members.
This article gives way to a lecture that I conducted, which was applauded, with a standing ovation in the end, and I felt duty-bound to share not only to Rotarians but to everyone who may want to learn a neglected competency needed in our times — leadership.
Leadership defined
Acknowledging that there is just too much management and too little leadership in many societal and workplace settings, I started by dichotomizing leadership and management, not to draw the line between the two equally important concepts, but to focus on what matters most to leadership.
The power of influence in leadership is derived from the trust at personal level toward the vision (the ideal state of the future) authentically shared and strategically communicated by the leader to everyone else in the organization. The everyone knows (and joins) where the organization is heading.
The effectiveness of leadership looks into “doing the right thing” as management focuses on efficiency of “doing the thing right.” The excellence follows as doing the right thing right from the beginning and all the time by everyone.
The leader’s focus on the future demands innovation and change, while the manager focuses on the present and ensures the status quo. The leaders anchor on purpose and strategies, as they ask the why, while the managers concentrate on the schedules and the rest of the questions for the structures, processes and procedures toward the destination or the goal. The leaders ensure the journey instead. The managers measure the performance based on standards as leaders see through the potential of its people.
Upward to the top
Leadership is like ascending through the staircase. Initially, the person takes the step through the position entitled to a right to be followed and where people are bound to follow because they need to. This is the starting point but is a dangerous stage as the dependency to leadership on position is a volatile variable. But this initiates a stance where the next step may be taken forward and upward — permission, where people follow the leader because of the relationship built and because people want to. The danger of this stage is the fragility of relationships as the basis for leadership. The third stage forward is production, where leaders are followed for their results and therefore for what they have done. This establishes greater and measurable value for leadership that can objectively pave the way for the ascent. The fourth is people development, where leaders capitalize on the reproduction of its leadership and where people follow for what the leaders have done for others. At the acme of leadership is the person, where the leaders gain respect and follow for who he is and for what he represents. The upward journey is through position > permission > production > people development > person, which progressively gains for the leader the right > relationship > result > reproduction > respect. This framework is attributed to John Maxwell. To ascend, the leaders need to assume the integrated roles to model, mentor, motivate and multiply. The proposed framework
People-of-Action-with-Rotary is an output-process-outcome model using the acronyms for the words People, Action and Rotary. I am known for this approach in organizing my presentations.
Purpose-driving action refers to the responsibility of a leader to model and influence actions that are driving deeper and greater purpose among everyone within the organization. The sense of purpose becomes an infectious dynamic that ensures a self-actualizing experience for everyone in the organization. The actions taken individually and collectively drive the sense of purpose and vice versa.
Empathy-guided compassion gives the opportunity for sensemaking of the “shared suffering” for groups which the organization chooses to empathize and embrace. The unity to serve resonates as the north star for people to engage in the spirit of abundance.
Outcome-oriented transformation achieves the change from within which leads to the development of tenacity and resiliency of the organization from its core. The end-in-mind is defined in the beginning and inspires change that is rooted from within — creating a transformative process of personal and collective development.
Prosperity-sustaining inclusion promotes agility in the diverse organization ever ready to pivot amid adversity. It respects individuality and uniqueness that celebrates diversity as a strategy for co-creative innovation and differentiated organizational equitability where no one is left behind.
Life-giving obligation to serve develops reciprocity and symbiotic relationship that strengthens coexistence and synergy with team spirit. The team spirit and collaborative nature are capitalized toward a life-giving commitment to serve. Prosperity is what others have become because of the leader.
Empowerment-driven navigation makes the journey a yearnful experience for everyone because of the growth-mindset it promotes and the intentional development it builds as a culture. As leaders, the journey is valued as much as the destination.
People-of-Action-with-Rotary Model provides for a framework that unifies what matters most to the organization like Rotary Club. It provides for the recipe for action, interaction and transaction to “unite for good” of the Rotary Club.
In the words of DGE Veronica Yu, “beyond the gratitude and overwhelming happiness that we all share and cherish in the experience, is the enabling environment created by a group learning together and uniting for the good of humanity.” To charter president Sarah Deloraya Mateo, “we enter to learn, and we go forth to serve.”
-END-
SOURCE: The Manila Times