training you. what can we do? nothing much! we can only do one thing and that is to continue to train new staff. leadership training is very essential. i commend the rotaract club for its immense contribution to training. making a difference making a difference is one of your rallying calls. it is a powerful one. but making a difference in what and to whom? i believe that you can make a difference on many levels. although we may not know it, we do make a difference to people ’ s lives irrespective of our position in society. we as parents make a difference to our children. we as managers and leaders in our organisation make a difference to the people that we work with. as national leaders we make a difference to the whole country. at these multiple levels of effectiveness the key to making a difference however must be at the personal level. we get that personal level right then we can influence people the right way. we get that wrong we are bound to fail. i always believe that personal victories must also precede interpersonal victories. link to communities the other theme that strikes me as very interesting is the link between corporate fiji and the communities. this is an important theme. several of your sessions today will cover this corporate responsibility. profitability is no longer the only driving force of corporates although it is still important. this larger responsibility to society has grown in global attention in recent years. why? in my view it has to do with sustainability. corporates now realise that we live in an interrelated world. no one is an island anymore. globalisation is here to stay. what one country or corporate does affects many other things in the country and the whole world. global warming is a classical example. one day if we are not careful we will all disappear under the waves. so whatever we do we now must ensure that we do them in a sustainable manner. polluting your backyard is not sustainable. dealing unfairly with your workers is not sustainable. ignoring the community is not good corporate sense. corporates are now linking more closely with the community than ever before. i commend rotaract ’ s for its community work. i am told that some proceeds of your attendance today will go towards buying computers for vishnu deo memorial primary school. this is certainly a win - win combination – where the youth are trained and the community benefits from the fees that you collect. actions not words i like your vision “ take the lead

the best processes in the world but if the people behind them do not want to follow them productivity will suffer. if you have the best degree from the best university but you lack the willingness to work you will not go far. a good frame of mind is the first thing to have. positive thinking i also believe that your role right now as an organisation could be on spreading a positive mental message that we can and will overcome our challenges. we hear of a lot of gloom and doom all around us. i know that we have huge challenges to overcome. but we should all collectively say that we can overcome them. the youths of today like your club can play a leading role. youth exuberance and positivity can be very contagious. you can change how our decision makers and the larger community think and act by your actions. but saying that you should have positive thinking is easy. but actually doing it is not that easy. how do you think and act positively? let me share with you how i do it. i regard myself as an optimist – always looking at the bright side. a few things that i do are : • when i am feeling down i always think of something coming up later that is more pleasant than the present task. • when i feel stressed, i deliberately do things very slowly. • when i feel angry or hurt by someone i call a time off. that gives me time to retain control. losing control is the worse that you can do for yourself. • i always believe that every one of us has a strength and it is just a matter of taking the time and the goodwill to find that out. • mistakes are opportunity for learning ; and • listening to others and be flexible is a strength not a weakness. i tell you that positive thinking will take you a long way to where you want to go. it is powerful. some of you must have watched the recent speech by us president obama to the joint congress on the economy. you would have noted that he was rallying everyone to think positive saying many times that the good times will roll again in america and everyone standing up and applauding. positive thinking can go a long way in overcoming our problems. capacity building another way that you can help the economy is through training and building capacity and leadership. it is an excellent thing to do. capacity is the greatest challenge that we have. professional staff like you continues to leave us for greener pastures abroad. we spend a lot of resources in