Lessons from ethical leadership

1. GUIDELINES FOR LEADERS
Lessons in Ethical Leadership
from
Sitting Bull

2. THE LITTLE BIGHORN
This was the greatest loss ever handed the U.S.
army. Most discussions have focused on the errors
of Custer as an explanation. Here, we look at the
brilliant - and ethical - decisions made by Sitting
Bull that led to victory.

3. Little Big Horn
A contrast in ethical leadership

4. What kind of leader are you?
•We ask, what kind of leader are YOU, not what kind of
leaders do we have.
•Tribal Leaders with Character is about taking personal
responsibility.
As a leader, we applaud you for your continued
willingness to learn. At the end of this presentation are
references to continue your education further.

5. LT. COL. GEORGE CUSTER
(An Antithesis to Sitting Bull)
“Leaders like Custer . . . pursue single-minded
objectives that distort their own personal missions
and those of their organizations, corrupting the
very foundation of leadership. Existing only for
themselves and the sycophants who protect them,
they create a black hole of selfishness that
ultimately collapses in on itself.” (Murphy & Snell,
p. xxviii)

6. Results of “Custer leadership”
Two of Custer’s ethical faults were being abusive to those
who disagreed with him and wanting to take all of the credit
for himself.
As a result …
•He received fewer warnings about the superior Sioux
numbers and ignored those warning he did receive, and,
•He attacked without waiting for reinforcements.
The rest, as they say, is history …

7. “Sycophant isn’t
a Dakota word.”
A ‘sycophant’ is defined in the
dictionary as ‘a servile flatterer’. We
call these people ‘yes-men’ -- or
something worse.

8. Sitting Bull
“[Sitting Bull] chose to create a new order in which
the rights of the individual were balanced by a
commitment to the welfare of the overall
community.” Where heroic leadership builds on
shared commitment, non-heroic leadership drives
toward personal glory.” (Murphy & Snell, p. xxviii)

9. Are you Custer or Sitting Bull?
No one likes to hear about problems, but sometimes it’s
necessary.
What do you do when an employee or co-worker points
up an ethical problem? What if it would interfere with
your plans to hire an employee or get grant money that
you think you need? What if it would cause problems
because one of the people involved has political
connections?

10. What kind of leader are you?
“Leadership starts with commitment the bonding
between leader and followers behind a common
purpose.” (p. 4)
Sitting Bull: Led through commitment,
through service to others,
Custer: Led through contempt,
through selfishness and exploitation.
“For each, their vision set priorities for those under
their command …” (p. 4)

11. Do You Use Your Position for
Personal Gain?
Have you hired relatives over others who
were more qualified?
Do you travel on “tribal business” and then
spend your days shopping or sight-seeing?

12. Three Acts of Personal Courage
According to the The lessons of Sitting Bull
“. . . the first step on the path to leadership is a private
one, in which a leader solves the great paradox that
lies at the heart of leadership success: that self-
fulfillment comes from service to others.” (p. 5)
1. Recognize the need to change.
2. Search for knowledge needed to accomplish change.
3. Share the struggle to make the change a new
reality.

13. You: A courageous leader
We congratulate you on taking this path.
You are taking this course because you
recognize the need for change and are
willing to change.

14. Community of Commitment
Sitting Bull saw seven distinct steps to infuse
commitment into a group of people.
Step 1. Establish a context within which people can
understand the cause.
Step 2. Inspire hope in the cause.
Step 3. Build a consensus.
Step 4. Develop a plan for action.
Step 5. Assemble and prepare the team for action.
Step 6. Implement the plan.
Step 7. Evaluate team performance for improvement.

15. Steps to Commitment
1. Establish a context this course discuses the loss of
money and trust that comes from unethical behavior.
2. Inspire hope in the cause. How often have you heard,
o “Nothing will ever change.”
o “It won’t make any difference.”
In this course, we want you to know, to believe, that you
will make a difference.
Step 3. Build a consensus. We see this happening on
reservations now. More and more people are
demanding change from the old unethical ways.

16. Steps to Commitment
4. Develop a plan for action. This course ends with an
action plan. The remaining steps are for you to take
now. We will revisit these in our future courses.

17. Build Trust
“All leaders must instill trust in their people. Without
trust, commitment will die and the community will lose
the constancy of purpose that strengthens the group
bond.” (Murphy & Snell, p. 24)
Sitting Bull: Built trust as part of a strategy for
revitalizing the Sioux. Sitting Bull’s
people trusted him to guide them, to
serve their needs.
Custer: Custer cast distrust throughout the
ranks of his men; they did not like him.

18. Build Trust
Are you a leader that your people trust? Do you treat
people in a fair manner so that your employees and co-
workers like you?
If you think you could use a little help in this area,
please see our section on Emotional Intelligence.
Also, read our section on Moral Collapse to see the
warning signs of mistrust.

19. Live the Experience
of Your People
“Sitting Bull knew that he must first seek to
understand his people before he could expect to be
understood by them.” (p. 74)
Sitting Bull: He lived among his people claiming no
special privileges. He ate what they ate, slept where
they slept, traveled among them, and shared the
responsibilities of daily life.
Custer: He remained aloof from his people. He
treated them with the same contempt he treated his
enemies. Custer rode the best horses, ate the best food,
and slept apart from his men. He did not know them.

20. What kind of leader are you?
Do you “claim no special privileges”? Do you come
to work whenever you want, work however many
hours you want, and then expect those you
supervise or your co-workers to put in a forty-hour
week?
Do you stay in four-star hotels in Washington while
your people don’t have heat in their homes?

21. Be a Healer
Sitting Bull: Leaders bestow beneficence, generosity
and compassion upon their people. They are
responsible for their people’s welfare.
Custer: was taught to be a one-dimensional thinker.
His goals were based solely on his personal ambitions
and the careers of his benefactors. He was after
personal glory.
“For Custer, charity and compassion were alien
concepts, unmanly acts demanded by weak underlings
and provided by misguided leaders.” (p. 96)

22. Be a Healer
Compassion in the workplace: Yes, we need to adhere to
policies and procedures. However, do you have the
strength and courage to show compassion?
Rose was a tribal worker who had been sober for two
years. After the death of her son, she was drunk for three
days and missed work. The tribe had a “no tolerance
policy” and she should have been fired. When she
tearfully admitted her reason for absence, her supervisor
did not fire her, but gave her a warning that she would
be fired if it happened again, citing Rose’s two years of
excellent work as a justification for not terminating her.

23. Communicate on
Many Levels
Sitting Bull: Sitting Bull gathered information from all
levels of his people: other chiefs, scouts, tribesmen,
elderly, women, children, etc. He was in touch with all
locations of the “Sioux” world.
Custer: Isolated himself so he and his men entered the
Battle of the Little Bighorn deaf, dumb, and blind. He
failed to cooperate with superiors, ignoring orders: he
failed to listen to advice, and he paid the price.

24. Do you listen?
Are you a leader who
listens to advice, from
whatever source?
Do you listen to the
concerns of youth, of
elders, of community
members served by
your program?

25. Communicate!
The Tribal Leaders with Character project
offers multiple means of communication:
Post on the Spirit Lake Forum
(www.spiritlakeconsulting.com/forum/
Send your opinion through the “Your Turn”
forms on our website
Write an article for Miniwakan News

26. Communicate on many levels!
If you feel the need to remain anonymous, we
will respect your privacy. You never need
to include your name or email on our “Your
turn” forms.
You can log in to the Spirit Lake Forum as
anonymous. The password is tribaljoe .

27. Think of the Future
“Sitting Bull planned for the welfare of generations; Custer
planned for one moment of personal glory.”
When YOU make decisions, are you planning for the
future?
Do you look at giving a per capita payment so you can
receive more votes in the next election, or are you looking at
economic development, making the tribe financially sound,
investing in our schools and early childhood programs?

28. Redefine the
Rules of Battle
“Creative leaders redefine the rules of battle to turn their
enemy’s strengths into a weakness.” (p. 200)
Sitting Bull: He questioned all the standing assumptions.
He encouraged team learning, where people create new
ways to tap their potential. All for the good of the team.
“Team learning depends on shifting people’s focus from
their own individual performance to the way that
performance fits into the whole unfolding strategy.” (p. 200)
Custer: Shunned team learning. He held his men in
disdain. He cared little for team goals or team welfare.

29. What kind of a leader are you?
Do you share power? Do you support the
decisions of those who work for you? Or do
you allow others to ignore the chain of
command? Do you overturn the decisions
of your subordinates when asked for a favor
by a relative or a council member?

30. Welcome Crisis
A crisis is a decision point, when we choose between two
paths. This is an opportunity for us to improve our situation.
With this course, we have had obstacles where individuals
were afraid to speak out publicly for fear of retribution.
We saw this as an opportunity to create a forum,
anonymous forms, places where tribal members could
speak freely and let others know they are not alone in their
ethical concerns.

31. Measure the Results
“Without clear leadership criteria, we will continue to
place our country in jeopardy of being manipulated by
individuals who, like Custer, take advantage of the
absence of such standards to establish their own self-
serving criteria for what effective leadership means.”
Could it be that in the 21st century we are more like
Custer than Sitting Bull in our leadership styles?
Measuring our leaders against ethical criteria is one
way to return to our traditions.

32. Learn even more ..
We highly recommend the following book, quoted
throughout this presentation…
Murphy, E. C., & Snell, M. (1993). The Genius of
Sitting Bull, 13 Heroic Strategies for Today’s
Business Leaders. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.