The email address used for this eBulletin (Internationalrli@gmail.com) is used only for this purpose and IS NOT monitored regularly. That address should NOT be used for correspondence to RLI officers. Email addresses for RLI officers are shown on the main website and the site also contains "contact us" on the home page.

We mourn the passing of PDG Rudy Estrellado of Manila, Philippines. Rudy was the founding Chair of the Philippine Division of RLI and successfully recruited all ten Philippines districts for the program in record time. He was a wonderful Rotary leader in every way-as a R.I. Training Leader, Chair of the Philippines College of Governor and in many other positions. He was a retired General in the Philippines Air Force. He will be greatly missed.

"Our system rewards those who can amass technical knowledge. But this skill is only marginally related to the skill of being sensitive to context. It is not related at all to skills like empathy. Over the past years, we've seen very smart people make mistakes because they didn't understand the context in which they were operating."

—David Brooks, noted columnist and author, New York

The quote above is only one of many emphasizing that technical knowledge does not necessarily assure great leadership. The missing characteristics are "vision and empathy" based on in depth knowledge and understanding of circumstances. As noted previously, a well known Harvard Business School professor has lamented the lack of visionary and creative leaders among the graduates of the business school. Our own Past R.I. President Luis Giay has spoken at the International Assemblies on the need for visionary leadership in Rotary, and this is also a problem today in many, many types of businesses, non-profits, governments, etc. The need is great today for leaders who can produce constructive change, who are innovative and creative, who can really solve problems, and who are not satisfied with the status quo. Leaders make things happen-managers often seem to be in a holding pattern.

RLI is pleased to welcome the Venezuela Division. The initial district is 4380 in the western part of Venezuela. The District Governor and Chair of the Division is Andres A. Baffigo Fuentes. Arrangements are in process for the initial faculty orientation.

We also welcome District 6690 as a member of the Heart of America Division. District 6690 covers part of eastern Ohio, USA in Zone 31. The District Governor is Atmaram S. Gawande of Athens, Ohio. Coincidentally, his photo may be seen on the inside cover of the March Rotarian Magazine. The Chair of the Heart of America Division, now with 15 member districts in Zones 30 and 31, is PDG Richard Wagner, a member of the Intl. RLI Curriculum Committee.

PRID Michael J. Johns of Cleveland, Ohio is now the RLI Intl. Regional Vice-Chair for the new North Central USA Region. Past Director Michael served as a Director of R.I. during 2007-9. He has been a great supporter of RLI expansion in Zone 29 and his Region will include Zones 28 and 29. RLI has been gradually adding Intl. Regional Vice-Chairs in order to provide greater support to Divisions as it grows steadily around the world.

RLI's main website and its materials website are being updated at least twice each month. A special effort is being made to post curriculum and other items in various languages used by RLI Divisions. The latest posting of translated curriculum outlines is in Japanese. The Webmaster for both sites is Louisa Okell of Arkettype in New Milford, Connecticut USA.

The Breakfast flyer, including ticket purchase information is posted on the RLI website Home Page (www.rotaryleadershipinstitute.org ) together with a page describing alternate payment methods, including PAYPAL. Early registration is most appreciated. The breakfast price is US$ 32.00 per person. If anyone has questions about this event, please contact RLI Executive Director and Breakfast Chair, PDG Michael Rabasca, m.rabasca@comcast.net .

The principal speaker will be Past Rotary International President Richard D. King of California, USA. His very appropriate topic will be "The Visionary Leader-How Great the Need." Also expected to attend and offer remarks is Rotary International President Nominee, Kalyan Banerjee of Vapi, India. Remarks will also be given by two representatives of the R.I.Board: R.I. Vice-President Eric Adamson of Virginia, USA and R.I. Director Antonio Hallage of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.

RLI International Vice-Chair for Training, PDG Frank Wargo has spent most of February in India and Sri Lanka conducting faculty orientation programs and participating in RLI courses in all of the five divisions of India. He also represented RLI at the Annual Meeting of all South Asia Divisions in Mumbai in early February. More on Frank's activities in the next RLI International eBulletin.

RLI trainers and officers, PRIVP Serge Gouteyron and PDG Jacques di Costanzo, both of France, and PRID Stan Tempelaars of The Netherlands, participated in an organizational meeting of a new RLI division in Belgium. The meeting took place in Brussels in February and was convened by PRIT Bernard Rosen and PDG Daniel Tieman, both of Belgium.

PDG Jacques di Costanzo will also lead a faculty orientation program in Algiers in early March for District 9010, a member of the French Division. The District Governor is Youcef Leffad of Algiers. Other countries in that district include Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.

RIVP Eric Adamson, who serves as a Special Advisor for RLI, spoke about RLI as part of his presentation at the Mexico multi-district PETS in Puebla, Mexico in February. RID Jose Alfredo Sepulveda is the RLI Regional Vice-Chair for Northern Latin America.

PRID Sushil Gupta, Chair of the India RLI Organization, spoke about RLI in part of his remarks to the District Conference of 3080 in Chandigarh, India.

(We regret our inability to mention all of the RLI courses and activities conducted around the world, but we hope to be able to write about some of them from time to time.)

• The Central/South Division in Argentina is actively conducting courses and faculty training under the leadership of PDG Juan Pedro Torroba, who is also an Intl. RLI Trainer.

• The Egypt Division held a course on February 13 offering Parts I and II in Alexandria, Egypt under the leadership of Division Chair, PP Colette Haggar. Evaluations were excellent and one participant said, "I cannot find words to thank you for such a rich and educative seminar. I really believe in the phrase that says, 'to build a strong Rotary club, educate the members.'"

• 21 Rotarians participated in RLI courses at Patan, Kathmandu, Nepal in December. Participating as a visiting faculty member was PDG Subhash Saraf of Pune, India, who is the India Organization Secretary and Expansion Chairman. Also present was District Governor Ratna Man Sakya of District 3292. The Chair of the Nepal Division is PP Dilendra Shreshtha.

• The RLI Sunshine Division (Georgia, Florida, Caribbean) has been requested to supply all the facilitators for the all Florida multi-district PETS. All the facilitators have taken training sessions from the Sunshine Division and have had experience leading RLI discussion groups. PDG Tim Schuler is Chair of the Sunshine Division.

“Having leadership skills does not alone assure good Rotary leadership. An effective Rotary leader must ALSO have Rotary knowledge, perspective about where Rotary has been, where it is now going and a vision of what Rotary can be.”