Never having the experience of working for someone who failed to deliver a paycheck on the date and time expected leaves me with the question of how I would react under those circumstances. I suspect I would not continue working at that place for very long.
While Rotary doesn’t issue paychecks that can be deposited into your bank account, Rotary does pay off in the form of what I call ‘karma points’ or good feelings. Famous behavioral psychologist Abraham Maslow explains that individuals work to fulfill a need, and in the case of most Rotarians that need is what he called self-actualization.
Many of us want to be recognized by Rotary leadership in the form of public acknowledgement, plaques and simple mentions in newsletters and emails. A significantly large numbers of Rotarians don’t seek external recognition; they simply want the self-satisfaction of knowing they have done something worthy; they help out, write checks and do all of their community service for their own personal self-actualization.
As a Rotary leader we must make sure they get the pay they deserve? I think of it as not so much of a problem of gross pay, but avoiding withholding. It is simply a matter of not withholding the opportunity of our members to realize their deserved self-satisfaction.
It is often with the best of intentions that we become an impediment to other Rotarians achieving the level of self-satisfaction they deserve. When we ask people to accomplish a specific task with a defined goal and then define the process in a step by step recipe we preclude our followers from being creative. On some occasions we over manage others with a limiting definition of success that limits on what can be accomplished. Leadership is different than management; when properly implemented our followers become our leaders and our high level of satisfaction comes from knowing their success was built on our leadership.
The best of our Rotary leaders are seldom presidents, directors, governors or committee chairs. They are the members who help others create visions and set worthy goals; they are the cheer leaders who provide resources and encouragement, they are the ones who know when to stand back and watch what others can accomplish, and yes they are the ones who pick up the pieces and reset and restart when necessary. One of my favorite quotes comes from a guy named Walt Disney, “Dream, believe, dare and do.” Leadership is about helping others dream, believe, dare and do.