Traditional values & tribal management: I. Honesty1
Traditional values and tribal management: I. Honesty
(One in a four-part series)
AnnMaria De Mars, Ph.D. & Erich Longie, Ed.D.
Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (1995) defines a leader as: a person who has commanding authority or influence.
How does a tribal manager become an ethical and effective leader? In a historical review of Native American leaders, Dr. Erich Longie found effective leadersshared these common characteristics; caring, compassionate, courageous, honest, humble, respectful, and served the people before themselves (Longie, 2008a). Case studies of leaders across many tribes support the same traditional Dakota values referenced many times in the Introduction to Ethics for Tribal Workers course (Longie, 2008b). These were courage, honesty, perseverance/ fortitude and generosity. In this series, we address how each of these virtues apply to tribal management, with reference to both Native American history and the management literature.
In “The Age of Turbulence”, Alan Greenspan (2007) makes the point that trust is the basis of a healthy economy. We lend money because we trust that we will be paid back. We buy products because we trust they will be as advertised, that the company will return our money if they are defective. We pay people because we trust them to do the work for which they are employed. We invest in companies because we believe they will pay back our investment.
“A staple of storytelling in Indian Country has to do with political interference in business activity. Over and over one hears of voided leases, hired or fired cousins, politicized management, and enterprises drained of funds by tribal council interference.” Cornell and Kalt (2005)
Do these stories sound familiar to you? It seems that many of our tribal workers have lots the traditional value of honesty.
Every dollar that these violations can be reduced can be applied directly toward improved goods and services. Misuse of government for personal gain takes place both through direct, albeit circumspect, appropriation of funds, e.g., putting relatives on the payroll who perform no actual work, purchases of goods and services from political supporters for far in excess of market value (Cornell & Kalt, 2006, Jennings, 2006). Creation of policies and rules that favor the governing bodies are another way that public funds are directed to individuals in a completely legal manner, e.g., an unrestricted budget for training allows for numerous trips for school board members to attend conferences in resort locations. The destructive effects of this pattern of unethical behavior extends beyond the monetary value lost. When government is the means to wealth and power, without regard for qualifications, tribal members spend their efforts jockeying for political positions rather than investing in economic development. Those who do have resources to invest, including private philanthropy, government agencies and corporations, are all reluctant to do so if they perceive a significant portion of their funds will be siphoned off through mismanagement and petty theft.
It wasn’t always this way. Quite the contrary, in 1807, Joseph Brant,a Mohawk, stated.
Among us we have no prisons, we have no pompous parade of courts; we have no written laws, and yet judges are as highly revered among us as they are among you, and their decisions are as highly regarded.
Property, to say the least, is well-guarded, and crimes are as impartially punished. We have among us no splendid villains above the control of our laws. Daring wickedness is never suffered to triumph over helpless innocence. The estates of widows and orphans are never devoured by enterprising sharpers. In a word, we have no robbery under color of the law.
(Quoted in Armstrong & Turner,1971).
All of these characteristics can be considered important ethics in our society. Traditional leaders of the past were not afraid to live their ethics. They also dared to face reality. They defined underlying problems of the tribe so those very real problems could be solved. In “The genius of Sitting Bull: 13 heroic strategies for today’s business leaders”, Murphy (1993, p.25) describes the famous Sioux leader as follows:
“Sitting Bull overcame the temptation to deny the reality of his situation. He spoke clearly and truthfully to his people, even if they did not like what they heard. This built a trust between Sitting Bull and his people. Chief Sitting Bull adhered steadfastly to a personal ethic of honesty.”
In advice to contemporary boards and directors, Peter de Jager (2004) had this to say,
“Based on today's headlines, one would suspect that people don't have a firm grasp on the difference between right and wrong. Yet I believe most of us know exactly when we are acting unethically, and that we act unethically with deliberate intent. … If you're unsure whether or not an action is ethical, there's a simple acid test to you. Ask yourself the question, ‘Would I have any objection to having my actions detailed on the front page of a national newspaper?’ If you can honestly answer ‘No’ then the chances are good that you're acting ethically. “
Examples of honesty in tribal management include; never lying to your employees, clients or fellow managers, and you will always keep your word. If you are writing your own personal code of ethics, as we encourage you to in numerous sections of the Tribal Leaders Institute courses, we believe you could do far worse than to start with just these two pillars of honesty.
The advantages are great. People will respect you, believe you and know that you can be trusted. When Chief Joseph said,
“From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever,”
the battle was over because he was known to be a man of his word. How many of us would like to have that kind of credibility and respect for our honesty? How many of us do? Not being honest does has its price, like the boy who cried wolf, you won’t be believed even when you are truthful. You will not have the respect or trust of your employees, your fellow board members or the public you are called upon to serve.
Is it really that simple to be an ethical leader? We believe it is, but simple and easy are two very different things.
The first sign of ethical collapse Jennings (2006) mentions in her book is “Fear and Silence”. She points out that hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in income to avoid paying taxes, using a billion dollars of company money for personal expenses, those things can’t be done with no one knowing about it. Lots of people knew, but they were afraid to say anything. While her book focused on famous ethical violations at huge corporations, the same situations exist in small companies, colleges, tribal councils and social service programs. Read through just about any topic area on the Tribal Leaders Council forum and you will see one example after another of unethical behavior where “everyone knows it is happening”. So why do so few people speak out?
The costs of honesty can be high. In “Ethics in the workplace”, Johnson (2006, p. xvii) points out..
At times you will be called upon to put aside your self-interest to meet the needs of others, to stand alone, and to endure criticism. You could risk losing your job because you “aren’t a team player” or because you have to bring organizational wrongdoing to the attention of outside authorities”
To be honest, always, not just when there is no cost, requires another traditional value, courage, and that is the topic of the second article in our series.
References
Armstrong, V. I. (Ed.), & Turner III, F. W. (Introduction). (1971). I have spoken, American history through the voices of the Indians. Chicago, Illinois: The Swallow Press Incorporated.
De Jager, P. (2004). The ethical exam. The Canadian Association, November, 2004. Retrieved from the Internet on January 1, 2009.
Greenspan, A. (2007). The age of turbulence: Adventures in a new world. New York: Penguin.
Cornell, S., & Kalt, J.P. (2005). Reloading The Dice: Improving the Chances for
Economic Development on American Indian Reservations in. S.Cornell & J.P. Kalt (Eds.) What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development. Los Angeles, California: University of California, Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center. Pp 2-45.
Cornell, S., & Kalt, J.P. (Eds.). (2006). Two Approaches to Economic Development on American Indian Reservations: One Works, the Other Doesn’t. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy.
Jennings, M. (2006). The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse: How to Spot Moral Meltdowns in Companies… Before It’s Too Late. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Johnson, C. (2006). Ethics in the workplace: Tools and tactics for organizational transformation. Thousands Oaks, CA : Sage.
Longie, E. S. (2008a). Tribal Leaders Institute: What, who, why & how. Retrieved from the Internet January 1, 2009
Longie, E. S. (2008b). Introduction to ethics for tribal workers. Retrieved from the Internet January 1, 2009
Murphy, E. (1993). The genius of Sitting Bull: 13 heroic strategies for today’s business leaders. NJ: Prentice Hall.