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Netnet Camomot

“You say you want a leader: But you can’t seem to make up your mind/I think you better close it/And let me guide you to the purple rain.”

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Prince is dead. And my initial response was, Maayo gani nakakita na ta ni Madonna.

This is one of the things that a Pinoy has to deal with–some popular artists not coming here until they’re almost 60.

Coldplay will be here in November 2016 and U2 in February 2017. Their Pinoy fans are already celebrating, happy that finally they can watch their idols perform live.

Concerts belong to that group of experiences that can be defined as, hmmm, “investing in memories.” Because having a selfie with your idol in the background during that concert is as difficult as having a selfie with this “Beverly Hills, 90210” actor that my sis saw at a tourist attraction in Cebu last week. She was able to say hi to him, but that’s the only interaction the Hollywood actor was willing to have during his vacay.

Singing, though, is one thing that Pinoys love to do, and that’s exactly what happened at the dinner fellowship that the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro East Urban hosted right after its “Presidents-Elect Training Seminar” (PETS) for Rotary International District 3870 (RID 3870) last Friday. Hey, the district has a Tina Turner!

All of the PETS’ participants have had a long day by then after listening to the speakers talk about what it takes to be a good leader. But these participants are Rotarians who always have some energy willing to be revived with yummy food, some dancing, some singing, and RC CDO East Urban, headed by Pres. Conchitina Lagonera, deserves heartfelt congratulations for being able to give the participants the best of both worlds: helping the incoming presidents prepare for their term, and showing to them that there should be a good balance between work and fun to keep the Club alive.

Oops. No, it’s not work. District Governor-Elect Jing dela Calzada said it’s passion, not work, if you love what you do.

I wrote about this in a previous column–that Rotary is work work work. I think I got that wrong. I think it should be this instead: that passion for Rotary with its motto, “Service Above Self,” keeps us working for Rotary?

Rotary is a voluntary organization. But I’ve always said this, that the voluntary part is in the beginning, when one is invited to join Rotary–saying yes or no to that invite is a choice that the potential recruit can still have. But once he’s inducted as a Rotarian, he now has the responsibility to pay dues, and join its projects, activities and meetings.

The club president has to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each of his members so he will know what project to assign to whom. He can’t make the non-writer produce press releases. He can’t make the non-dancer join grand production numbers. He can’t make the manager who has to be at work from 9am to 5pm be the chairman of a project that starts at 8am–well, that project chair can always delegate, but still…

Still, despite this knowledge on strengths and weaknesses, the club president has to deal with characters and personalities that remained unrevealed for years and only emerged during his presidency. These would shock him at first but he has to choose to keep moving forward otherwise at the end of his term, he will have regrets for not doing his best.

I was the Rotarian who would rather maintain a low profile, with no plans at all of becoming a club president. We had this Wednesday Club during the early years of the Club. That was our fellowship after the meeting where we would eat, drink and be merry. And that was me as a Rotarian.

It was only when I became club president that I morphed into this serious Rotarian as I tried to inhale the Presidential Citation, District Goals, Strategic Plan, Club Leadership Plan, Vibrant Club, Club Assembly, Rotary Club Central, and so on and so forth, ad infinitum, ad nauseam!

It’s the new Rotarian, however, who has to memorize acronyms–DG (district governor), DGE (district governor-elect), DGN (district governor nominee), DGND (district governor nominee designate), AG (assistant governor), PE (president-elect), etc. If there’s a P added, i.e., PDG, PAG, that means Past: past district governor, past assistant governor.

There’s this acronym, RIPR, whose first three letters could send chills down your spine, like the Facebook posts about Prince after he died. But in Rotary, RIPR means Rotary Internal President’s Representative.

Prince was this artist who was sometimes described as eccentric. But that worked for him. He remained mysterious as his star continued to shine through the purple rain.

Remaining true to himself must be one secret that a club president must adopt, too. After all, he already had all those strengths and weaknesses when the members convinced him to become president.

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