TRIBAL LEADERS WITH CHARACTERSpirit Lake Leadership Training Project

Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.

Introduction to Courageous Leadership

The goal of our Leadership Training is to help project directors and other managers become courageous leaders to address common reservation concerns such as:

• time management• maintaining schedules• meeting quotas, and• employee absenteeism.

Courageous Leadership: Our tradition

“Integrity. Sitting Bull’s contemporaries, both friends and foes, respected his integrity. He understood the legitimizing force of integrity and established an uncompromising ethical code of cooperation and trust among his people. The Sioux in 1876 …. (and) today, could not afford to follow liars, thieves, and fakers.”

Source: The Genius of Sitting Bull, 13 Heroic Strategies for Today’s Business Leaders.

Courageous Leadership: Today

Our training emphasizes the importance of having the courage to make decisions, make exceptions when justified and still stand by your policies, not backing down when employees demand to have the rules waived for them.

Our technical and management tools will help directors, board members, and supervisors become courageous leaders. These tools will enable them to manage their positions with more understanding of how to motivate employees through ethical decisions, consistent procedures, and fair policies.

Facets of Courageous Leadership

1. Commitment- a leader in the tradition of Sitting Bull starts by a commitment to the people, to service, not self-interest. This is a Sioux tradition, being selfish has long been unacceptable in our tribe, as it is unacceptable in our leaders today.

2. Knowledge - the Sioux defeated Custer because they had knowledge of the numbers, the tactics and the weapons possessed by the opposition. They studied the competition.

3. Honesty - Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and other historic Sioux leaders faced the weaknesses within their own ranks and addressed those weaknesses.

Historic Sioux leadership: What did Sitting Bull know?

Sitting Bull’s View

1. At stake was the survival of the Sioux as a people.

2. Success required that the warriors of his tribe work together for a common purpose AND that they work with other tribes.

3. Each chief, each warrior, each member of the tribe must put the survival of the people above selfish interests.

4. Success required the ability to change, even using the tools from the white men, such as rifles and horses.

Custer’s View

1. Custer was interested in his personal glory.

2. Subordinates who did not agree with Custer did not have any place in his organization.

3. Custer’s interest was in money and power for himself. All historical accounts show very little concern for his men. He, on the other hand, was always well-dressed and well-fed while those he was supposed to be leading often went hungry, neglected and ignored by their leaders.

Writing Assignment

Take 15 minutes to write about your experiences on the reservation with a “Custer” style of leadership.

What similarities to Custer’s leadership style do you see on the reservation today?