RTI VICE PRESIDENT

RtI VICe PResIDent

THE POWER OF SMALL ACTIONS

By Mr JAYANT AGRAWAL, Round Table International Vice President, 2021-2022

"The more emotional you are in a situation, the more memories you will have of that situation in the long run." – Abhijit Naskar

MOST OF US CAN RELATE to the above quote during our career as Tablers. The tabling experience of brotherhood and oneness when we meet and greet fellow brothers becomes so close to us that we cherish and build it for most of our life. As we very well think of the present, it is of utmost importance to start thinking of the future. Our membership scenario in the last ten years definitely puts up a question on our contribution towards our vision and, more importantly, the responsibility each of us has in keeping the legacy alive and moving with flying colours.

As most of us retire in the next five years, it is high time each member of the fraternity gives that extra thought and finds new prospects for our movement. As we grow and put our footsteps in new places on the world map, existing associations must take due care with strategic succession planning.

Simple activities such as talking about the movement to personal and professional contacts and following programs like Each-One-Bring-One can be a good start. Realizing and promoting the bottom-up approach of our movement, every association should prioritize extension as an essential factor of the plans and their execution. The RTI Board is already empowering the regional teams to focus on growth with a "Qualitative Quantity" policy and planning and implementing new ways to incentivize the growth through Explore Round Table and restructuring the WMC fund. Further, the RTI University provides the necessary training and tools to empower the associations to develop and retain their members.

We have seen many successful strategies implemented by associations concerning membership extension. Such practices should be shared and implemented after making adjustments based on the local dynamics. It is only through collaborative efforts at each level that RTI can increase the numbers by at least 5% globally to provide a strong base for the future. Finally I would like to quote,

"Because maybe I don't want to leave the planet invisible. Maybe I need one person to remember something about me." - Carul Ritka Brunt.

I keep all of you with an open thought by replacing planet with tabling and how a small effort of yours can make a big difference.

Yours in table

Jayant Agrawal

vicepresident@round-table.org