Message from the Executive Director
Rotary International: The Four-Way Test, PMI and PAM
By: Barbara C. Higgens, PMI Executive Director
Is it the truth?
It is fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
(Source: The Four-Way Test of Rotary International)
Earlier this year, I joined Rotary Club International, following in the footsteps of my dad who has decades of perfect attendance in the organization and was the president of the Dunedin, Florida chapter. As he worked and vacationed, he visited Rotary Clubs throughout the USA and around the world. I brought him with me to a recent meeting as part of the “show and tell” segment. Folks were awed! While times have changed since my dad first joined the club, (women are now accepted as full-fledged members and missed meetings can be made up online), Rotary’s focus remains constant, reflecting the motto: “Service Above Self.” Founded in 1905, the club now boasts more than 32,000 clubs and over 1.2 million members worldwide.
Rotary appeals to me on a number of levels. For example, the founder was a Chicago attorney who worked as a plumber (among other things). In addition to working to eradicate polio, another of the goals of the organization is to provide clean water around the world. This fits neatly with the work we do at PMI. And with an unofficial credo of “having fun and doing good,” the group works hard to support and serve the local community in which PMI is based.
What has struck me as we prepare to “Take Charge of Change” (the theme of our Fall Meeting), is that Rotary’s Four-Way test includes principals which also guide PMI. We reference the guidelines noted at the beginning of this article as we build consensus, reach out to legislators as a resource and establish position papers. We work hard to represent the interest of our members and the industry fairly and honestly – no hyperbole or hysteria here – just the straight story. Maintaining our credibility is essential to being trusted and relied upon as we move forward.
Like PMI, Rotary is a proponent of the value of networking. As part of the “having fun” objective, at the end of May this year, Rotary sponsored an outing to a Chicago Cubs baseball game with proceeds from ticket sales going to charity. I found myself seated next to the District Governor of Rotary, whom I had met before. On his right side was his lovely and very exotic-looking wife. She introduced herself and I nodded back, responding with my name. With that, my husband tapped me on the left shoulder reminding me that I had failed to introduce her to him.
Oh no! I did it again. I hadn’t really paid attention to her name. I had just nodded vapidly. How rude. Darn it! (I hadn’t been tuned in and between playing my tenor drum in the middle of 18 bagpipers in the competition circle, flying in a Cessna #172 for years without a headset or ear plugs and countless hours of cranked up rock and roll, my hearing has likely suffered a bit.) NOW what do I do — I can’t admit I wasn’t listening or that I had already forgotten her name. After all, I had already nodded!
Then it came to me! With her exotic appearance, it was a sure bet that she had an equally exotic name. I leaned forward and said sweetly…. “I’m sorry. Can you tell me again how to pronounce your name?” With a puzzled and almost sympathetic look on her face, she replied in a loud, clear and firm voice…. “It’s PAM.”
Lesson learned. I was mortified. I need to listen better! (And stop nodding vapidly.)
Rotary also seems to teach that there is balance in the universe. Fast forward to July 20th when I was asked to speak at a Board meeting and dinner for a local plumbing contractors organization. For as many times as I have spoken with Executive Director, S.J. Peters, I always have to stop to think to get the acronym straight for his organization, the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Authority of Northern Illinois. Is it pam-cani or pan-cami? Well it turns out that in one of life’s ironies, my embarrassing experience at the Rotary Cubs game paid off and offered some value after all! I now know I will never again forget which way it goes…. turns out it’s PAM-cani. How great is that!?