Sioux Traditions in Management
When an employee would come to me with a problem, I would
say, "What is keeping you from solving this?" Often, they
would say, "It's a policy." I would tell them on the spot
to ignore the policy and I would be responsible for the
consequences. Other managers who I consider successful give
the same story,
"It is amazing how quickly things can get accomplished when
I am willing to state that I will take full responsibility
for the decision, and if anything goes wrong, feel free to
tell people to come back and talk to me."
Decisiveness and self-responsibility are characteristics of
a successful leader. People want to follow a decisive
leader, one who sees what needs to be done and then does
it. Easy to say, hard to do, especially if you live in a
small community where if you fail everyone will know about
it. That is why you need courage.
You also need flexibility and generosity. Leadership can't
happen by the rules. You need the ability to be generous.
When someone comes to you and says she needs to leave an
hour early because she has a sick child, you need to be
able to say, "Go ahead, don't worry about it."
Think about the discussion in the PowerPoint from the home
page of the difference in leadership styles between Custer
and Sitting Bull. Which of the management styles do you see
on the reservation? Click here to send us your experiences
(please).
For the next page, overcoming our
weaknesses, please click here.