Dear Jan,
I think you have gotten the wrong end of the stick here. Nowhere did I call any person a Zombie or suggest that there was such a thing as a Zombie person. If you go back and reread the blog, you will see I was warning of the danger of a Club becoming a Zombie Club. I was simply trying to communicate a vision of what we should be aiming at, i.e. being a Vibrant Club, and what the characteristics of such a Club might be.
Let me break out your comments and respond to them individually.
" ... there are members in most Rotary Clubs who have made considerable contributions to their clubs and perhaps the Rotary District and Rotary International, in the past." I totally agree and have not said otherwise. I applaud these people and think they deserve recognition; however, a Club needs to be balanced between the interests of these people and newer members who are willing to put in the effort their seniors did in the past. In Rotary, we are all equal and deserving of respect.
"These Rotarians may no longer have a” high level of energy, enthusiasm and participation”, perhaps due to illness or advanced age". Again, I absolutely agree and have never said otherwise. In your hasty reading of the piece, you confused my comments - which were applied to a club overall and its characteristics - with comments applied to people. I never applied any of these comments to people and I resent the suggestion that I would do such a thing.
"Are these members going to be given the new classification of Zombies" This is an unhelpful and totally inaccurate reading of what I said, and I am disappointed that you would twist my words like this.
"We should not make them feel undervalued and unwelcome because they are no longer “vibrant”. These Rotarians are part of the diversity of a club." Yet again, I totally agree - these Rotarians are PART of the diversity of our Club; they are not the only, or even the most important part of it. Diversity is crucial, and something in which our Club as a whole is seriously lacking. So our challenge is to work out how, while valuing the contributions made in the past, we move forward in ways that make us relevant to today’s potential Rotarians. Whether we like it or not, they are not the same as we were at their age. Approaches and solutions which served us in the past may not work any longer and we must be ready to embrace and try the new.
It is important to be aware and conscious of the attributes of a vibrant club as these are the attributes that we should be aiming for. Every decision that we all make, every day in a Rotary context, pushes us in one way or another. Hence, the need to be vigilant and aware of the consequences of our decisions.
One of the main reasons that I took on the job of President was that the Club was ready for change and the Visioning Workshop proved that. I undertook to lead us in that process as that is what the majority of members said they wanted.
Many people do not like change, yet change is the only constant in life. Don't shoot the messenger; rather see what you can change to help us become a more Vibrant Club.
President Monica Mulholland
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