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Some time ago, I wrote a post about a person I label a super self-serving individual, an individual who is willing to commit any unethical act as long as it serves his selfish needs. I now gave this person a name, Joe, The Tribal Worker.
Joe appears to have super natural powers. He seems to be working at several jobs at the same time, and I know I met him at each reservation I visited. If you know Joe why don't you share his escapades with us via this forum.
Joe, as well as being unemployed for an extended length of time, has held a variety of jobs. He was a dishwasher and bus driver at the school, employed by a grant, worked at the college and for the tribe, at one time was program manager, board member, and even served a term as tribal council member. In short, Joe has held almost every tribal job there is.
Joe The Tribal Worker, as the social scientist would say, possesses a unique self-serving bias when he analyzes himself. To paraphrase a poster presented at the 14th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society: Self-serving individuals have no self-honesty when assessing their character. Instead, they perceive their own abilities, behaviors, and attributes through their own self-serving bias. They often compare themselves with others who they imagine may have poor ethics and avoid comparison with those who have better ethics. They also distort the character of individuals who have better ethics in an effort to invalidate a comparison between them and highly ethical individuals.
Joe, the Tribal Worker, is a very dangerous man. Why do I say Joe is dangerous? Because of the irreparable harm he does to his reservation community while serving his own self-interest, because self-serving individuals who strive for power are most likely to abuse it. They do not have the virtues, integrity, and wisdom, to use power and influence fairly and correctly. Joe will not hesitate to rig elections by swaying mass opinion about ethical candidates; he is not above blackmail, bribery, or intimidation to further his needs. For example, when Joe was employed as an administrator at the school, he did not care if his actions hurt the education of children (even his own). He looked at the school as an employment agency for his relatives and fought very hard to get them hired.
Joe, the Tribal Worker, has a winning personality and has good communication and listening skills so he appears to be relating to those who come to him for advice. He has boundless energy to promote his crooked causes.
Now that I have introduced you to Joe The Tribal Worker, be on the lookout for further posts about Joe and his adventures as his unique self-serving bias allows him to commit a variety of unethical acts and still sleep well at night.
Last edited by ericstev (2007-10-05 16:44:51)
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Before I begin to illustrate Joe, the Tribal Worker’s job experiences, I want to spend a few minutes explaining why I created him.
First, Joe does not represent any real individual. On the other hand, there is a little of Joe in all of us. He represents the part of our character that is weak and susceptible to our self-serving desires.
Second, I created Joe’s character to focus on all tribal workers with little or no ethics, not just tribal council members and governing boards that get the blame for the majority of unethical practices on Indian Reservations.
Third, I created Joe’s character in hopes of promoting an ongoing dialogue among tribal members on the unethical practices that are prevalent on Indian Reservations. It is my belief, by openly acknowledging the ethics issues, we would be galvanized into taking steps to do something about them – instead of just gossiping about them. Our "Tribal Leaders with Character" course includes a discussion on the Ethical By-stander. We are hoping the Ethical By-stander recognizes him/herself as such and becomes an agent of change.
Lastly, I want to encourage tribal members (staff, supervisors, directors, governing boards and tribal councils) to stand up to Joe, which is hard to do, because Joe belongs to a small group of unethical individuals who are very aggressive, sometime to the point of intimidating.
Why does Joe get away with his antics? Good question. I hope to get the answer from you.
Last edited by ericstev (2007-10-05 16:48:01)
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I don't know the answer but heres a Joe story for you. We went on travel to a place there were some places where some Indians fought. Not our tribe. Joe didn't go to any meetings and went on a tour bus to this place a hour or two away. We didn't see him again until we were going back to the airport. When I said something about it Joe told me a real Indian would understand the need to know our histry.
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Hello TJ – Thank you for your post and for your Joe story.
Your story about Joe The Tribal Worker is a familiar one because Joe is a frequent traveler. He goes to many conferences, meetings, and trainings, but rarely attends any of the events he is supposed to. I am surprised Joe said he was off learning the history of his tribe. Most of the time, Joe doesn’t bother making excuses – he just never attends the events.
My business partner and I presented at a CANAR conference a couple of months ago. After the presentation was started, I notice some of the participants going up to the facilitator and signing a paper. Curious, I walked over to the facilitator and asked her what the participants were signing. It was “attendance” sheet of some kind. Apparently, an organization required their employees to sign in at every event and/or workshop. Thinking about Joe, I thought “What a great idea”.
Having tribes develop some kind of documentation that will ensure Joe The Tribal Worker actually attends the events for which he has received travel funds for is one way to curb travel abuse. On the other hand, our ancestors did not need some one looking over their shoulders to make sure they were not doing something wrong. Our ancestors were honorable people who did not lie, cheats, or steal. If they did conduct themselves in a dishonorable manner, they accepted the consequences with out complaint. Below is a quote from the book The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation, written by Charles A Eastman (Ohiyesa) regarding the character of our ancestors:
“He (Indian) made no attempt to escape or to evade justice. That the crime was committed in the depths of the forest or at dead of night, witnessed by no human eye, made no difference to his mind. He was thoroughly convinced that all is known to the “Great Mystery,” and hence did not hesitate to give himself up, to stand trial by the old and wise men of the victim’s clan.”
If Joe was learning about his tribal history maybe, he will realize how different his values are from his ancestors and change – which I doubt.
Last edited by ericstev (2007-10-08 17:37:22)
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This is an interesting example. There is a Joe Tribal Worker on just about every reservation. I think I could have been a Joe Tribal Worker if I had not gone back to school myself. The problems that are created by Joe are vast. First of all, think of the rising unemployment rate because Joe is monopolizing the jobs on the reservation and using up all of the resources developed by the tribe. Joe want to be the chief without the title and headaches, basically. Other ethical problems arise when Joe is caught up in all of his reservation roles and when they begin to overlap and affect the lives of others. Joe's self-serving attitude does nothing to solve the problems that arise in Indian communities. He does nothing to work toward the unemployment rate because he is too busy taking home enough pay for two or three other tribal members. He does nothing to give back to the community, as self-serving tends to lead to "ghost workers" on the reservation. Joe is not looking to improve the tribal image because he is helping to further oppress that image by gaining profits without a sense of belonging to the community. These ethical concerns are great because if we have one Joe Tribal Worker, we may have 10 or 12 more learning the ropes from Joe's experience. Studies show that today's teenagers and youth (ages 13-21 or so) are more narcissistic than ever. I would say that this self-serving attitude is going to multiply unless it is suppressed by society.
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I don't think Joe is going to learn anything from his ancestors and change his behavior. I used to work for a woman in a tribal program. Let's call her Joette. She was always talking about how she was a real Indian and a traditional person. What MVR said is true. This woman was head of a program because she had some relatives who were in high positions. She did all the things said above. She traveled all of the time on tribal funds. She was a ghost worker who often didn't come to work. And the worst part is that if she had really been going to classes and learning more, if she had really been going to those workshops on grantwriting and meeting with those people from different agencies, she could have gotten more grants and programs for our tribe. That money that was supposed to have gone to our people and to economic development went to nothing. Not only did she keep someone who deserved it from a job, she didn't do the job at all, so we had somebody being paid for nothing and money that should have been used to bring in jobs to the reservation didn't do anything but pay for someone's new truck and trips. MVR is right. Most of the people who worked for this woman, even if they were good workers to begin with started coming in later and later. After a while, you were lucky to find anyone at that office before 10 or 11. I couldn't stand it. I quit and got a job where I felt I was earning my money and not just stealing my paycheck from the tribe.
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Thank you MVR and Anonymous for your post about Joe The Tribal Worker. They are very well stated and oh so true. They are such good examples that I will combine them and used the combined version in the introductory sections of our on-line ethics course and ethic workshops that are currently under development.
What is especially troubling is this, we all are aware of unethical behavior in the work place yet we put up with it time and time again. Why? In our Courageous Leadership workshop, I mention that we seemingly live in fear – fearful to speak up. Below is a section in which I talk about fear on Indian Reservations.
Is fear a new Indian tradition? _How could I possibly say such a thing about my own people, the Dakota, when we have a proud tradition and history as warriors? The Dakota/Lakota/Nakota, as were all Indian Tribes, were known for their extreme bravery in battle as well as their high moral character which they exhibited through out their daily lives. __Yet, today we use cowardly tactics rather than fairness and decency to accomplish our goals. We organize family, friends, and viciously attack anyone who disagrees with us to frighten them into giving into our demands. Our cowardly tactics are so effective most tribal employees are afraid to speak up when they see someone committing a wrongful act, because of fear. __Everywhere we look we see the result of these cowardly tactics; policy and procedures ignored, nepotism, and favoritism is rampant throughout our work places, people are fired without due process, we have a high unemployment yet a huge number of our jobs are filled with non-Indians, and/or non- tribal members. Yet, tribal members, and tribal leaders alike, are afraid to speak up due to fear.
What ever happened to our tradition of courage as Indian people? Our grand parents and their parents would have never acted in such a disgraceful manner. We need to somehow unlearn this self-destructive behavior if we are ever going to address all the social ills that are prevalent on the reservations today and make the reservation a good place to raise our children. We certainly do not want to pass these despicable traits to the next generation. Unless we start speaking up against unethical behavior to the workplace, our children will see Joe The Tribal Worker as their role model and emulate his as adults.
However, Joe The Tribal Worker does not fill all the jobs on the reservation. There are many dedicated, hardworking, honest workers in Indian Country, many who speak up against the unethical behaviors exhibited by other tribal workers. I applaud the moral courage of these individuals who often lay their jobs on the line every time they speak up. These courageous individuals could use some help from the rest of us.
Last edited by ericstev (2007-10-18 12:33:35)
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Joe The Tribal Worker lives on every reservation, as MVR said above. I want to share an example of Joe taking advantage of his position on a board. Joe had worked for the college and before he left had written a proposal to keep his job. The proposal was funded but he left the college for another job. A year later he asked to be paid $3,000 for writing that proposal. His request was denied. Three years later he managed to get himself appointed to the college board and talked his board buddies into paying him $7,000. He recently left the high school. Two weeks after his resignation, he went to the school board and demanded to be paid for a task he did three years ago while he was working at the high school. He presented his request to the school board at that time and he was denied. There are new members on the current school board, so he made his demands again. This school board tabled his request, but don't count him out. The last time he made demands, he benefited to the tune of $7,000. That is his incentive to continue to demand payment. And, if they don't pay him, do you suppose he will run for school board and pay himself again. Where has ethics gone???? Our ancestors must be crying in their graves.
Anonymous Me
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Now I understand why people don't want their names used. I just need to get this off my chest without committing political suicide.
I read the concept paper on an Indian crime bill by Byron Dorgan and there was not any mention of what we all know is a huge problem and that is the misuse of funds. There are a lot of Joes on our reservations.
Yes, all the problems that were identified in that paper were correct insofar as the tribal police never being able to arrest non-Indians who commit crimes. The rates of sexual and domestic violence against Indian women are truly horrible.
The unspoken truth, though, is that if we do get programs for domestic violence, alcohol abuse or crime prevention, half of the time they are run by good people like Susie Sainte but the other half they are run by Joe the Tribal Worker who just uses the money to hire his relatives and send himself to meetings all around the country. When anyone asks Joe to account for the money, he insists it is tribal sovereignty and starts talking about how we have the right to our own culture and government, all the while he is slipping that federal money into his pocket one way or another. We know this and the non-Indians know this too. It is hard for me to advocate for money for programs when I never know if it will go to a Joe who works four hours a day, if he works at all, and doesn't know a thing about domestic violence or juvenile crime or alcoholism but is a good friend of the brother of the tribal chairman.
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My Joe will step on you and push you past the point of breaking. He has committed numerous crimes, yet suffered for none. The name he has seems to be a very influential one, when the little guy tries to forge ahead he is there to try and stop but perserverance is the key. I believe very strongly in this word per-ser-ver-ence no matter what anything is possible.
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There are a few Joe's I know. There is the one I work for she lets her family get away with everything, calling in, taking food & supplies home. She lets her drug buddy get away with even more. Her buddy should have been fired along time ago, yelling, grabbing & even spanking a student. Nothing was ever done about this. She lets her family drive the work van, even during the weekends, shopping in GF. When her staff has doctors appt. if they don't have someone to cover for them, staff can't leave. But when she has anything/nothing going on she can leave & stay punched in!!!
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The person whom I will talk about is in charge of a number of people. The person will let some people know what is going on in the program and not let some other know. I think this is done so there is confusion.
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Whom i would like to bring up is the way our tribal college students get treated, when it comes to grade money or helping them out they never have any money or their account is in the red. But you always see the S/T out at a bar, drinking , has a new vehicle, nice clothes, or be out of town on a fun trip, what ever happened to EDUCATION FIRST on our reservation especially when it comes to students who are willing to be at school everyday and help elderly people. like for instance i have a friend she is going to school to be a doctor and she will be going off to a higher college to finish her degree she has planned to get that doc degree to come back and help with our indian people.
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I am one of the Joes, I really like my paying job. It has alot of responsibility, I have to transport student between the ages of 3-5 years old to school everyday and home again. During the day sometime I don't have anything to do. Then there are somedays when I don't have enough time to get the task at hand done. Go figure so what do you do with the time you have and the time you don't.
Rodney
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since the day she became the director she never once welcomed the parents. she would always be out of town or at an appointment when it was parents night, parent orientation, and so on. Never communicates to the employees about whats going on with the program, or if theres any changes about to occur. She makes all the final decisions herself without the input of the program.
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