In my courses, my blogs, and my newsletters, I usually focus on what I deem are the two most important virtues a person should possess - courage and honesty. I am not the the only one who admires these two qualities. Courage and honesty meant everything to our ancestors. You were despised by everyone in the tribe if you were a coward; and if you were a liar, you were put to death. Two highly respected researchers, a husband and wife team (Gus Lee and Diane Elliott-Lee) viewed courage so essential to leadership that they wrote a book entitled, Courage: The Backbone of Leadership. They point out that without the quality of courage, you will do more harm than good in whatever position you hold. (Sound familiar?) They go on to say something to the effect that courageous leaders inspire ethical behavior from their workers because they first require it from themselves. (Is that why we do not have courageous and honest workers?) Great leaders from Aristotle to Sir Winston Churchill deemed courage as "the first of all human qualities."
However, after a year and a half of researching and writing about unethical behavior on Indian Reservations, I am beginning to realize that to become a courageous and honest tribal worker (as opposed to a cowardly and dishonest tribal worker), you first have to want to make a decision to listen to your conscience. And, I am beginning to think most people do not have a conscience to listen to anymore.
How can entry-level workers keep coming to work late or not show up at all and not have some remorse? How can administrators lie, cheat, etc. to cover up their own incompetence? How can CEOs continue to ignore problem employees or other problems that result in the mistreatment of some employees and the rewarding of undeserving employees? And, how can tribal council members continue to make decisions that are best for their political futures instead of making decisions that are best for the entire tribe. (Sounds selfish doesn't it?)
It is because they do not listen to their conscience. (Some people say they don't have one.) So, if you are a tribal worker who steals from your employer, who comes in late all the time and/or misses work regularly, who falsifies your timesheets, who uses your political connections to keep you out of trouble, etc., then you are not listening to your conscience.
So how do you get tribal workers to listen to their conscience? The best way is for YOU to listen to your conscience and change YOUR character first. Whether you are an entry level worker, a lower level or upper level supervisor, a CEO, a governing board member or a tribal council member, once you start listening to your conscience, you will find amazing good things happening. You will become a role model for other workers. If you are a higher level administrator, a CEO, or a tribal council member, you won't have to wonder if people are just kissing your butt when they say nice things about or to you. If you truly start listening and making decisions based on your conscience, when people say nice things to you or about you, it will be true, and they will really mean them. And, you will not have to lie or commit some other unethical acts to keep your job or to win the next election.
The negative impact of tribal workers who do not listen to their conscience increases as they move up the chain-of-command. An unethical entry-level worker will not have near the harmful impact that an unethical CEO or Tribal Council member has. For example, an unethical entry-level worker does not have to make decisions that will affect hundreds of tribal members. They do not make decisions that will determine whether on not a person is hired or fired. Higher level tribal workers have an enormous impact on many, many people's lives. You would think they of all people would listen their conscience. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
I think it is time for each one of us to examine ourselves to see if we have a conscience, and if we do, then let us start listening to it.
