Last week, I had the opportunity to do a presentation on my Tribal Leadership Institute at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. I presented to eight (8) BIA schools. I explained our website features and how they worked. I also talked about the five courses we are planning on developing. I then spent some time going over our first course, Introduction To Ethical Issues On Indian Reservations, which is completed.
I received several comments and questions after the presentation. One lady said she enjoyed my presentation, but disagreed on what I was doing. Another person was more interested in my website than the content of my course, and another person asked why I was picking on Indians when the rest of society is just as, if not more, corrupt than Indian Reservations.
However, a good sign that people were interested in the message of the Tribal Leadership Institute occurred when several asked for my card (I didn't have any) after I finished. One person told me she was going to speak to a director of a program to inquire if I could come train the rest of the administration. "I like the way you talked about gossip," this person told me, "We had ____________ come in, and ____________ said, 'put a rubber band around your wrist, and when you gossip about someone, sting yourself.' As if...," the person went on to say.
What I said about gossip was taken from the book, Waterlily, by Ella Cara Deloria. Ella Deloria said something to the effect that speech is sacred. Of all the creatures the Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) made, he gave the power of speech only to us humans, and we should not abuse it by talking ill of other people.
However, I kept to the central message of the Tribal Leaders Institute, which is, you cannot be an outstanding worker, supervisor, CEO, or other type of leader without incorporating courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity into everything you do.
Because most of the people attending the presentation were in a leadership position, I talked about courageous and ethical leaders versus cowardly and unethical leaders. One of the aspects of leadership is how do you react when you make a horrendous mistake?
I said, "If you are a courageous and ethical leader, you will immediately take responsibility for your mistake." By acting courageously you will ensure no one else is mistakenly blamed for your mistake. Furthermore, you will apologize for your mistake as soon as you find out you made it, and announce to the appropriate parties what you will do to ensure it does not happen again.
Cowardly and unethical leaders will avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes at all cost. They will try to shift the responsibility to their supervisor or fellow worker. Usually, they try to shift the blame to a fellow worker who has the opposite leadership characteristics (courage, honesty) as they do.
One thing is certain; you cannot be a cowardly, unethical leader and make ethical, courageous decisions.
I finished by asking: "What type of leader are you?"
I received several comments and questions after the presentation. One lady said she enjoyed my presentation, but disagreed on what I was doing. Another person was more interested in my website than the content of my course, and another person asked why I was picking on Indians when the rest of society is just as, if not more, corrupt than Indian Reservations.
However, a good sign that people were interested in the message of the Tribal Leadership Institute occurred when several asked for my card (I didn't have any) after I finished. One person told me she was going to speak to a director of a program to inquire if I could come train the rest of the administration. "I like the way you talked about gossip," this person told me, "We had ____________ come in, and ____________ said, 'put a rubber band around your wrist, and when you gossip about someone, sting yourself.' As if...," the person went on to say.
What I said about gossip was taken from the book, Waterlily, by Ella Cara Deloria. Ella Deloria said something to the effect that speech is sacred. Of all the creatures the Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) made, he gave the power of speech only to us humans, and we should not abuse it by talking ill of other people.
However, I kept to the central message of the Tribal Leaders Institute, which is, you cannot be an outstanding worker, supervisor, CEO, or other type of leader without incorporating courage, honesty, perseverance, and generosity into everything you do.
Because most of the people attending the presentation were in a leadership position, I talked about courageous and ethical leaders versus cowardly and unethical leaders. One of the aspects of leadership is how do you react when you make a horrendous mistake?
I said, "If you are a courageous and ethical leader, you will immediately take responsibility for your mistake." By acting courageously you will ensure no one else is mistakenly blamed for your mistake. Furthermore, you will apologize for your mistake as soon as you find out you made it, and announce to the appropriate parties what you will do to ensure it does not happen again.
Cowardly and unethical leaders will avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes at all cost. They will try to shift the responsibility to their supervisor or fellow worker. Usually, they try to shift the blame to a fellow worker who has the opposite leadership characteristics (courage, honesty) as they do.
One thing is certain; you cannot be a cowardly, unethical leader and make ethical, courageous decisions.
I finished by asking: "What type of leader are you?"
