My friend and I were talking about a book she was reading titled, Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development, by Miriam Jorgensen with the Forward by Oren Lyons. Because she knew about my Tribal Leadership Institute project, she highly recommended I read the book. "It talked about every thing you are doing," she told me. Apparently, the book, which I plan to go out and buy this week, ties the majority of the problems on the reservations back to the tribal constitutions. Most tribal constitutions do not have a separation of power clause in them, and according to the author of the book, this is why tribal councils as well as tribal organizations are always operating in crisis mode. My friend went on to tell me what the author recommendations were, long-range planning, separation of powers, etc.
So why don't we Indians implement the author's recommendations? After all, most of us want positive change on our reservations. In my opinion, the reason we don't is because of our character or lack of character. It will take a person or persons with strong character to stand up and change a system that most tribal members think is unchangeable. By strong character, I mean a person who lives by our ancestral values of courage, honesty, perseverance/fortitude, and generosity. Here is an example when these values/virtues come into play.
First, if we are going to change the reservation we have to start somewhere and that somewhere could be you! Let's say you are a supervisor and one of your workers is chronically late, falsifies timesheets, has a big mouth, and always threatens to run to the tribal council at any hint of you disciplining her. When you finally work up enough COURAGE to take action against this individual, I can guarantee you that the worker's bark is far worse then his/her bite. First, the tribal council or board member he/she runs to will have to get the rest of the tribal council to support his/her actions. Second, other workers will see your courageous behavior, and will behave accordingly. Lastly, you will feel so much better about your self.
Let's assume you, the supervisor, are initially unsuccessful because no one has the courage to help back you up. Besides, they all know the worker as a big mouth troublemaker. The worker will then try to make you look bad. He/she may start rumors like you don't do your work, you come in late, you leave early and you take two hour lunch breaks. He/she will probably recruit like-minded individuals to harass you. This is where the virtue PERSEVERANCE/FORTITUDE comes in. Moreover, this tactic will only work if what he/she says is true. This brings me to the next virtue, honesty.
If you go to work on time every day, actually do work while you are there, and don't go over the allowed time for coffee and lunch breaks, and you punch out after quitting time, your HONESTY will be noticed and not only protect you from false accusations, but you will be a role model for your workers to follow. You will be surprised at the correlation between a supervisor's work habits and the workers work habits.
Finally, let's say the troublesome worker could not get anyone to support him/her so realizes if he/she wants to keep his/her job he/she better settle down and become a good worker, and he/she does. You now have a chance to call upon the virtue of GENEROSITY and praise him/her for doing a good job. Even going as far as generously letting him/her leave early on a Friday or take an extra half-an-hour off for lunch some day.
A dysfunctional workplace can become a healthier, happier place to work by simply following the virtues of courage, honesty, perseverance/fortitude, and generosity.
Now think what would happen if several more tribal supervisors started to follow your example?
So why don't we Indians implement the author's recommendations? After all, most of us want positive change on our reservations. In my opinion, the reason we don't is because of our character or lack of character. It will take a person or persons with strong character to stand up and change a system that most tribal members think is unchangeable. By strong character, I mean a person who lives by our ancestral values of courage, honesty, perseverance/fortitude, and generosity. Here is an example when these values/virtues come into play.
First, if we are going to change the reservation we have to start somewhere and that somewhere could be you! Let's say you are a supervisor and one of your workers is chronically late, falsifies timesheets, has a big mouth, and always threatens to run to the tribal council at any hint of you disciplining her. When you finally work up enough COURAGE to take action against this individual, I can guarantee you that the worker's bark is far worse then his/her bite. First, the tribal council or board member he/she runs to will have to get the rest of the tribal council to support his/her actions. Second, other workers will see your courageous behavior, and will behave accordingly. Lastly, you will feel so much better about your self.
Let's assume you, the supervisor, are initially unsuccessful because no one has the courage to help back you up. Besides, they all know the worker as a big mouth troublemaker. The worker will then try to make you look bad. He/she may start rumors like you don't do your work, you come in late, you leave early and you take two hour lunch breaks. He/she will probably recruit like-minded individuals to harass you. This is where the virtue PERSEVERANCE/FORTITUDE comes in. Moreover, this tactic will only work if what he/she says is true. This brings me to the next virtue, honesty.
If you go to work on time every day, actually do work while you are there, and don't go over the allowed time for coffee and lunch breaks, and you punch out after quitting time, your HONESTY will be noticed and not only protect you from false accusations, but you will be a role model for your workers to follow. You will be surprised at the correlation between a supervisor's work habits and the workers work habits.
Finally, let's say the troublesome worker could not get anyone to support him/her so realizes if he/she wants to keep his/her job he/she better settle down and become a good worker, and he/she does. You now have a chance to call upon the virtue of GENEROSITY and praise him/her for doing a good job. Even going as far as generously letting him/her leave early on a Friday or take an extra half-an-hour off for lunch some day.
A dysfunctional workplace can become a healthier, happier place to work by simply following the virtues of courage, honesty, perseverance/fortitude, and generosity.
Now think what would happen if several more tribal supervisors started to follow your example?
