Rotary Visioning Process

History of the Visioning Process 2002 – Strategic planning session led by Rotarian Steve Wilcox assisted St. Croix Rotary Club to double membership and attain a clear agenda… As a result, the Rotary Visioning Process was developed by Steve Wilcox and his facilitation team As of 2009 – Visioning Process has been conducted in Rotary clubs across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand History of Rotary Club Vision Facilitation Process In 2002, a Rotary club along the St. Croix River, NE of St. Paul, MN, was having trouble maintaining club membership and felt their club lacked direction. A concerned member of that St. Croix club happened to know Mr. Steve Wilcox, a fellow Rotarian also from MN, whose profession was to facilitate planning with businesses. Steve was asked to help the St. Croix club with strategic planning to help give it direction and boost its membership numbers, which he gladly did. Great energy and ideas were shared that evening among the club’s members during the facilitation. By 2008, with the direction and enthusiasm they now had, that small St. Croix Rotary club doubled in size and had created a clear agenda for themselves. Since the initial Visioning Facilitation Process started in 2002 in MN, Steve Wilcox grew his Facilitation Team to include three people, and created a method to help other Rotary clubs around the world grow their membership and steer them in a meaningful direction. As of 2009, the Rotary Club Vision Facilitation process has trained over 400 volunteer Visioning Facilitators in 60+ districts across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. An average of 10-20 new facilitators are trained each month to continue the success and energy of the program. The Visioning process has helped Rotary clubs either stabilize or grow in membership, as well as given them a clear purpose and direction.

What is Visioning? A mental picture of the RESULT you want to achieve A picture of REAL RESULTS coming from REAL EFFORTS A picture from the future…energizing the present Laura Wilkinson - mentally visualized herself winning the gold medal A vision is a mental picture of the result you want to achieve---a picture so clear and strong it will help make that result real. A vision is not a vague wish, dream, or hope; it’s a picture of the real results from real efforts. It comes from the future, informing and energizing the present. Mental visioning was demonstrated by Olympic Gold Medalist, Laura Wilkinson. Laura was the one who ended China’s 16-year dominance of the Olympic Women’s Platform Diving event, becoming the first American in 36 years to win gold in women’s diving…And Laura didn’t practice her maneuvers in the pool much…Laura was unable to practice physically until just 3 weeks before the Olympic trials because of three broken bones in her foot. Instead of practicing her dives physically in the pool, she was forced to mentally visualize herself executing perfect dives on deck. The power of Visioning was the main vector for her Gold Medal win in the pool.

Why Have a Visioning Session? Executing a carefully crafted plan or task, as Laura Wilkinson did requires Visioning. In Peak Performance literature, which guides elite athletes, the use of imagery is known as “the master skill of high achievers.” As Yoga Berra said, “if you don’t know where you’re going, chances are you’ll end up someplace else.” “If you don’t know where you’re going, chances are you’ll end up someplace else” -Yogi Berra

Without a Vision… …We end up with conflicting directions

So…Let’s begin Who are we? Where are we? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? How will we know when we’ve arrived? Whether we’re laying out plans for our organization or wondering about the next family vacation, we need to focus on 5 important questions: Who are we? Where are we? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? How will we know when we’ve arrived? 2. For the most part – we know the answers to the first two questions: “Who are we?” ( Rotary club), “Where are we? (Boise, ID). The third question (“Where do we want to be?”) is the one we will focus on tonight. 3. In a few minutes we will hand out an exercise that will release you to become a “high achiever” for Rotary. We will ask you to vision your club not as it is today but as it has become 5 years from today.

Taking the First Step… The writing exercise will assist you in visioning your club FIVE years from today… NOT as it is… But, as it has BECOME As mentioned in the previous slide, you will be given a writing exercise which will assist each of you in visioning your club NOT as it is…but as it has BECOME. A vision is not the same as goals or objectives; those come from the head. A vision comes from the heart. Statements such as “we will” are not allowed. These are events that have already happened. Don’t worry what others will think of your answers. This is the time to throw all your crazy ideas on the wall. Rational thought will come later. Let your imaginations soar…think outside the box…suspend your practical side and allow yourself to dream grand dreams Think Outside the Box Suspend your Practical Side Dare to Dream

Making It Happen The Visionary Process Agenda Developing the Vision Collecting the Visions Extracting the Visions Unifying the Visions Harnessing the Visions So…what can you expect to happen tonight (the Visioning Process Agenda) Develop the Vision; In a few minutes, each of you individually will be asked to place yourself and your club 5 years from today and describe (with passion) the great and wonderful things your club has accomplished Collection: Once that exercise is completed – these visions will be collected and documented for all to see Extracting: In order to obtain some type of group consensus, a voting process will be conducted Unifying: This process will help summarize and the group’s visions and consensus Harnessing: The ultimate step in the Visioning Process is to assist your club in re-focusing. The final piece of the process in to develop a basic action plan that will assist in keeping tonight’s excitement and momentum alive.

Club Action Plan ACTION WHO WHEN (Specific Date) Compile the Facilitation Wall Chart Amanda 2-23-12 Create a vision statement, elevator speech 2-29-12 Schedule a club Assembly about the Visioning Process Darin Assemble Visioning Development Team-March Meeting- Membership Promotion and implementation Board Monthly Strategic Plan Champion Paul (Needs Charles Action Plan template)

The Future Does Not Come to Us… Remember… The Future Does Not Come to Us… We Create the Future Thank You