As I begin my term as President and my first attempt at writing a piece for the Contact I realize that my overall Rotary knowledge is quite limited. When Keith asked me if I was willing to fill in as President this year my response was an automatic “yes.” It was an automatic “yes” because that is what I do. It is very difficult for me to say “no” whenever I am asked to do something that has the potential to help our community in any way.
The Steubenville Rotary has supported our community since its inception and will continue to do so into the future. For that to happen, however, our current members need to step up and help us recruit new members and become more engaged as we try to expand our community involvement.
Since agreeing to become President of our club, which I consider a big honor, I have been trying to learn more about Rotary. I took my time at the President’s training conference seriously and tried to gain as much knowledge as possible. The one thing that became very obvious to me was that most clubs are facing the very same issues as us. I also learned that many others taking over as Presidents of their club knew as little and, in many cases, less than me. To be honest, that was a big relief to me.
In my quest to gain knowledge about Rotary I came across the Rotarian Code of conduct. I thought it was remarkable, very simple but says it all and very pertinent to our current political and business environment. I thought I would share just the first of four principles with you in this month’s contact.
“As a Rotarian, I will act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life.”
Is that an oxymoron in today’s political and big business environment? I kind of chuckle at the following improbable statements. “As President, or as Senator, or as Congressman, I will act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life.” “As CEO of X Corporation, I will act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life.” I don’t think so in many cases.
It is becoming acceptable today to ignore ethical standards. Integrity doesn’t matter. We watch our elected national officials ignore ethical standards on a daily basis. CEO’s of many of our major corporations have one ethical standard: to make more money. It happens because it is becoming acceptable. There is no price to pay for unacceptable behavior.
This attitude can never become acceptable to Rotarians. Integrity does matter. So do ethical standards.
By now I am sure you realize that I have become very cynical about our elected national political leaders. But I do wonder how many of our elected officials are Rotarians? It gives me hope that some are and that eventually they will wake up and work to improve the situation in Washington.
The bottom line is each of them as Rotarians have the same obligation as each of us: to act with integrity and high ethical standards in their personal and professional lives. I believe we have a club with members who strive to meet this principle. I am proud to be a member of the Steubenville Rotary Club with each of you.
