Spirit Lake Consulting Forum

People are afraid. If you think someone on the Council might read what you said and you lose your job then you are not going to write it here. Maybe he was afraid his boss would read it and holler at him. People are afraid their relatives and neighbors will think bad about them. Oh hear you are making our tribe look bad. It was tradition to teach people wrong by shaming them and the rest of the tribe would look down on what they did. Now I think that tradition is backwards and even if a person is doing the right thing by bringing up the relatives hwo got hired or the person whp spent the tribe's money on buying themself a new truck still all their relatives give you the evil eye. I even know of people who have been threaten to be beat up for saying something. So it is one thing to  talk about it to you but another to put it up when someone could point to it and say you said it and maybe get back at you.

What kind of attitude is that? Don't you think that is part of the problem? If the Council is running all these programs shouldn't they be using computers? Every election you hear this one is going to do this for the people and that one is going to do that but then they get elected and can't even bother to learn how to use a computer. I was going to say how many can't use a computer but then I thought of some council mmembers I know and you are right. Maybe there is someone n their office who could print it out for them. I think they should be learning how to do their jobs though and learning how to use a computer themselves.

In the media, you hear titles such as super predator, super villian, super athletic etc.  Is there such a thing as a super egotistical self-serving individual?  An individual, who always has his/her self-interest, or his/her's family and/or friends’ interest in mind when he/she does something.  The reason I ask this question is because, in writing the curriculum for our on-line ethics course we me mention many unethical types of behavior.  However, we don’t attribute “all” ethical behavior to any one tribal employee.  Instead, we say, this person embezzled, this other person stole, another person falsified timesheets etc.

In this post, I want to write a composite of an individual who in my view would match a description of person who is a super egotistical self-serving individual.  My question is, does this type of person exist on Indian reservations?  Read on and judge for yourself.

In my view, a super egotistical self-serving individual is one who’s greed and corrupts character leads him/her to takes advantage of every situation he/she encounters.  If they are on a board or committee, decisions such as travel, per diem, hiring/firing is not based on what is good for the organization but what is good for the individual and their family and friends.  If they are director of a program, they do not hesitate to use the programs recourses for their own use.  They are quick to befriend relatives of tribal council members, board member, and directors when it will serve their purpose.  They vigorously attack anyone who stands up to them, willing to do what every it takes to discredit them.

How does a super egotistical self-serving individual manage to do all this?  Good question.  This person is usually charismatic, and has very good political skills.  They often take advantage of peoples’ passive behavior to bully people them and they will lie and cheat to get their way.  They will also start rumors about a person who stands in their way of benefiting from their corrupt behavior. Finally, no one, not even family members can convince them to change their ways nor will consequences for their behavior change them.  They will just blame someone else for their problem and go about their “business” as usual. 

Do you recognizes the person I just described?

I hold a monthly job readiness class and during the class we have mock interviews and practice interviewing techniques. In one of my classes an adult learner said "I want to be a tribal worker because you guy's got it made, You come in late on mondays, take 2 hr lunches, leave early on Fridays except for the Friday after pay day when you don't even bother to come in." Wow, what an eye opener, as tribal workers, this is how we are seen in our communities by the people we are here to help. Ethical Leaders, great!!, but we need to be responsible in being ethical people period. I too have fallen into the pit falls of not comming to work on time, taking long lunches, using my annual and sick leave to earn my 80 hours a week.  My attendance is about 78%, I have to really ask my self. "Is this acceptable to Me?" I can't really worry about what time the council gets to work or even what time my boss gets to work or my co-workers. I am more concerned about what time I get to work and what I do at work. I think that we all need to take personal responsibility for our selves. as far as posting goes, a lot of people are not computer literate.

I cannot agree more with Evelyn’s post about each person taking responsibility for his/her own actions. Unfortunately we are only human and we all have weaknesses that cause us to make poor decisions not only in the workplace but in our lives as well. Like Evelyn, I too find myself sometimes showing up for work late or missing work to spend the day running errands. In all honesty, I don’t feel that bad when I’m late or when I have to call in to work because I don’t do it all the time. But I also want to make sure that I don’t gain a reputation for being late to work and/or not showing up at all because that will affect my chances of getting any jobs in the future. I plan on getting my Elementary Education degree and eventually becoming a teacher here on the reservation. I realize how important it will be show up to work everyday and on time because the students will be waiting for me. My days will be busy, fun, and sometimes stressful as I manage a classroom full of young children. I know that I should be working on my punctuality now before I begin my teaching career so that I can have a good work ethic to along with my wonderful personality : )