Posted by Margaret Mason on Sep 22, 2021
The meeting was held on Zoom. Twenty three members participated and there were two apologies. Five members from the R C of Monash joined our meeting.
The chair was Linda O’Brien and the guest speaker was Kevin Bailey.
President Helen welcomed members, the guest speaker and visiting members from the R C of Monash. The visiting Rotarians from Monash wanted to experience what a breakfast club is like. Zeki, from the club explained that they were once a breakfast club but changed to an evening club some years ago but are considering reverting back to being breakfast club.
Linda introduced the guest speaker, Kevin Bailey. Kevin was in the SAS and was also a financial planner. He was also Consular General for Timor Leste and was awarded the AM in 2017 for significant services to the Timor Leste/Australian relationships and also to the financial industry.
Kevin is a motivational speaker and the subject of his presentation was “Leadership that Makes a Real Difference”. His talk was most inspirational and covered a whole range of issues, particularly about Timor Leste. He touched on the post WW II Australians who have become complacent because of the blessings and improvements in economics and conditions. He said that few people look to serve and many tend to accumulate wealth and have the mentality of “what’s in it for me”. He stressed that one has to live a life of significance to be fulfilled and to leave a legacy of service. We need to stand up for causes we believe and think is right even if it goes against the grain.He cited the example of the Lutheran minister in Hitler’s Germany ( D. Benhoffer) and what he did during that time.
Kevin then went into some of his own background which shaped what he is today. He then talked about Suhnana Gusmal and what he did for Timor Leste and his fight to have Timor Leste become independent of Indonesian rule. Kevin then discussed and listed the qualities of leadership.  Leadership is lonely and costly and leaders will have to make hard decisions. He said that integrity is the first piece of leadership. One has to say and do the right thing, have a conviction of the right thing and live by one’s conscience. A great leader will have a great vision and share it. A leader also has to prioritise relationships, have friends with character and strength and need to lead for legacy. Kevin also made a point about having to get our own house in order first.
The talk was followed by an interesting Q and A session and a very brief Sergeant’s session, where everyone who was not supporting Melbourne to win the Premiership was fined..