Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it certainly helps to have passionate, trusted leaders who know what it takes to make things happen.
As the president of the Rotary Club of Peterborough, Betty Halman-Plumley must lead the way to change every day but, as one of only a handful of women to hold the position in the more than a century history of the Club, she is aware that her responsibility as a leader extends well beyond the role of most presidents.
While the Rotary Club of Peterborough — comprised of community members looking to make positive and lasting change — was founded in 1921, its involvement of women does not date quite so far back. Only in 1989 did the club’s constitution change to officially allow women in the club the following year.
Though certainly not eagerly welcomed by all members at the time, Susan Mackle and Eleanor Phillips became the first female members of Peterborough Rotary in 1990, with Mackle later becoming the first female president in 2001-2002. Halman-Plumley is only the fifth female president of the club since then.
Even on a global scale, only in 2022-2023 did Rotary International welcome its first female president: Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland.
As one of the first female leaders of the Rotary Club, Halman-Plumley shares how she manages the pressure of leadership, the importance of inclusion, and how she manages to do it all while wearing heels and her best lipstick.
I don’t see it as a burden, I see it as a light I’m drawn to.
As the oldest of four children born within five years, perhaps it’s not surprising that Halman-Plumley knows she was “meant to be a CEO or leader.”
Or perhaps it’s not surprising because, no matter the sector she has worked in — from her current role as a division manager with IG Wealth Management, to having been the program director for Ontario Early Years Centre, to being past president of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough — she has always been leading the way.
“They have all been about supporting teams and being really focused on how we’re moving forward,” she says of her past roles. “All my experiences together just builds and grows from that.”
Despite how natural leadership comes to her, it was not lost on Halman-Plumley just how significant the role of Rotary Club president would be when she stepped into the position in 2023. Having been a member of the club for upwards of a decade, she knew how meaningful it was to fill the role as a woman.
“I don’t take it for granted,” she says. “I think about it a lot and I’ve always thought about it through my daughter, and now my granddaughters. How do I want to show up for them? I want people to be proud and I want people to say, ‘Look at her, look at this woman doing it, and she’s passionate and has a heart for this’.”
While that alone could be more than enough pressure for a lot of people to bear, Halman-Plumley does not let the weight get to her, but rather lets it motivate her.
“I think about it a lot, about who I am and who is watching, but I don’t see it as a burden,” she says. “I see it as a light that I’m drawn to at an impossible way.”
You have to take care of yourself first.
Between being a mother and grandmother, to working and being an active community member, it’s not difficult to see that Halman-Plumley is a very, very busy woman. But she’s more than okay with that because she loves everything she does.
“Women can do it. We can juggle a lot of things,” she says. “When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”
That said, she is certainly familiar with stress and has had times of being overwhelmed and getting in over her head.
“When I was in college, I did have a time of burnout, and I’ve had times where I’ve been exhausted,” she recalls. “I learned so much from that and now I’m very aware of what that feels and looks like.”
“You have to take care of yourself first,” she adds, noting that rest is especially important when it comes to leading others. “Rest your mind, body, and spirit, and then build on that.”
For Halman-Plumley, taking care of herself means daily walks and taking the time to be quiet, reflect and reconnect. But, she adds, it also means surrounding herself with people who support her, whether it’s personally from having a network of women she can travel and go for dinner with, to professionally surrounding herself with those who keep her grounded.
“I’ve had great coaches many times in my life and coaches are phenomenal because they help you focus and move towards your goals,” she says. “I really believe in coaches.”
Similarly, both in her profession and the Rotary Club of Peterborough, she notes that leadership can only go so far. It’s the team who really makes things happen.
“At IG, I have a great team that supports me and my clients,” she says. “And with Rotary, there’s a great board and great people around that. As the president, I say ‘Here’s where we need to be moving’ and steering the ship, but everyone is all hands on deck all the time.”
We need the combination of experience with fresh ideas
One of the things Halman-Plumley values most in her work with IG Wealth Management is legacy planning through intergenerational wisdom and connecting with family members.
Proving just how much her leadership roles build off each other, this is a philosophy she similarly brings into her community work by encouraging not only women but people of all ages and expertise to join Rotary.
“We need the combination of experienced Rotarians and newer Rotarians working together,” she says. “I’m such a believer that we need to bring the wealth of experience and knowledge and passion from people have been involved in Rotary way longer than I have, but then also the fresh, new, and other ideas that new Rotarians bring. You need them both.”
The idea of bringing in all views and perspectives was also a priority when Halman-Plumley started different programs for the Ontario Early Years Centre, and one that she will likely continue well beyond her time as Rotary Club president.
“I think that’s just how I’ve always been, and that’s who I am,” she says. “The philosophy is let’s build on the experience and wealth of knowledge that we have and bring in the new, different ideas and perspectives and have it all come together.”
Be yourself.
One of the best compliments Halman-Plumley ever received was being told she brings an “intelligent mind and beautiful heart” to the position, and that’s exactly what she strives to do each day.
“Being in this position sometimes means having important conversations with people and, other times, it’s also having compassion, so it’s who am I as Betty and also who I am as a woman,” she says, noting that it means not shying away from being a feminine leader — even if it means, she jokes, being the first Rotary president to reapply her lipstick before introducing a speaker.
“What I love about this world of inclusiveness is I feel I can be myself. I can be a woman that puts on lipstick and wears high heels and loves to get dressed up and be a feminine woman, while also being in a leadership role.”
As a music lover, adding a bit of herself in the role even includes encouraging speakers to dance their way to the podium.
“I want people to leave feeling so excited and happy and passionate and proud to be a Rotarian and thinking ‘I want to join this amazing group’,” she says.
But just as she is able to expertly balance all aspects of her life, Halman-Plumley finds a way to balance the fun and the work in the Rotary Club. As president, she had prioritized developing their strategic plan and looking to add to the lineup of legacy projects like Five Counties Children’s Centre, Camp Kawartha, and the Rotary Greenway Trail.
“What I love is you can go anywhere in the world and you’re part of a big family in the Rotary Club,” Halman-Plumley says. “As Betty, I can only do so much, but collectively as a club in Peterborough, and internationally, we can have a bigger impact. Some Rotarians are so generous with their time and money, it’s incredible, but they also know that that’s pooled with other Rotarians to make an impact.”
For more information about the Rotary Club of Peterborough, visit www.peterboroughrotary.ca. For membership inquiries, email membership@peterboroughrotary.ca.
