Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation: Learn from All I Observe - Hardcover

Smith, Chad "Corntassel"

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071808833 ISBN 13: 9780071808835

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2013

Synopsis

"If you want to be successful, it is this simple.Know what you are doing, love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing." -- Will Rogers

When Chad Smith became Principal Chief, the Cherokee Nation was a chaotic and dysfunctional entity. By the end of his tenure, 12 years later, the Nation had grown its assets from $150 million to $1.2 billion, increased business profits 2,000 percent, created 6,000 jobs, and dramatically advanced its education, language, and culturalpreservation programs.

How could one team influence such vast positive change?

The Cherokee Nation's dramatic transformation was the result of Smith's principle-based leadership approach and his unique "Point A to Point B model"--the simple butprofound idea that the more you focus on the final goal, the more you will accomplish . . . and the more you will learn along the way. In other words, "look at the end rather than getting caught up in tanglefoot."

In Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation, Smith combines Cherokee wisdom handed down from generation to generation with a smart leadership approach that takestoday's very real issues into consideration. He explains why this leadership approach works and how you can apply it to your own organization, whether business, government,or nonprofit. Learn all the lessons that drive powerful leadership, including how to:

• Be a lifelong learner
• Solve problems with creativity and innovation
• Recruit and develop strong leaders
• Delegate wisely
• Act with integrity and dignity
• Don't be distracted from your objective
• Lead by example

More than a simple how-to leadership guide, Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation offers a holistic approach to the subject--how to become a powerful leader inside and direct your energy outward toaccomplish any goal you set your mind to.

Praise for Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation:

"These are lessons that can be applied to every organization. Principal Chief Smith's book on leadership is sound and provides steps for every business and organization to improve." -- Frank Keating, President and CEO, American banker's Association, and former Governor of Oklahoma

"An indelible chronicling of time-proven elements for tribal and organizational success; just as applicable today as they were a thousand years ago." -- Jay Hannah, Cherokee Citizen, Executive Vice President of Financial Service, BancFirst, and former Chairman of the 1999 Cherokee Constitution Convention

"A remarkable account of how the Cherokee Nation reached a pinnacle of success by incorporating common elements of planning, group action, and sharing credit forthat success." -- Ross Swimmer, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1975-1985 and former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, US Department of the Interior

"Chief Smith shares stories with lessons that work in business; it is not where we are, but where we aspire to go that counts." -- Harold Hamm, Chairman and CEO, Continental Resources, Inc.

"Chief Smith shares from a Cherokee perspective how to get from where you are to where you want to go." -- Archie Dunham, Independent Non-Executive Chairman,Chesapeake Energy, and former Chairman, ConocoPhillips

"Outlines the reasons for the Nation's amazing growth and stability during [Chief Smith's] term. His principles of organization, leadership, and caring make sense; they work in all organizations." -- David Tippeconnic, CEO, Arrow-Magnolia International, Inc.,and former President and CEO, CITGO Petroleum Corp.

About this title

About the Author

Chad Smith, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1999-2011, has been a powerful force in building businesses and working toward self-sufficiency for Native American Nations. He has devoted the majority of his adult life to rebuilding the Cherokee Nation and helping Cherokees learn how to help themselves.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

LEADERSHIP LESSONS from the CHEROKEE NATION

Learn from All I Observe

By CHAD "CORNTASSEL" SMITH

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Chad "Corntassel" Smith
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-180883-5

Contents

Acknowledgments
PART 1 LESSONS LEARNED
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
CHAPTER 2 Learn from All I Observe
CHAPTER 3 Leadership
CHAPTER 4 Point B
CHAPTER 5 Point A
CHAPTER 6 Between Points A and B
CHAPTER 7 Between Points A and B
CHAPTER 8 Closing Message
PART 2 LESSONS APPLIED
APPENDIX A Commitment Message at the Inauguration of Chad "Corntassel" 
Smith as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—1999
APPENDIX B 2000 State of the Nation
APPENDIX C 2001 State of the Nation
APPENDIX D 2002 State of the Nation
APPENDIX E 2003 State of the Nation
APPENDIX F 2004 State of the Nation
APPENDIX G 2006 State of the Nation
APPENDIX H 2008 State of the Nation
APPENDIX I 2009 State of the Nation
APPENDIX J 2010 State of the Nation:
Conclusion
Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

There is nothing as easy as denouncing. It don't take much to see that somethingis wrong, but it does take some eyesight to see what will put it right again.

Will RogersJuly 28, 1935

WHERE DO YOU START?

This book shares the lessons I learned over my twelve years, from 1999 to 2011,as principal chief, a time when the Cherokee Nation was transformed from chaos,confusion, and dysfunction to stability, prosperity, and a sense ofaccomplishment. The lessons to rebuild the Nation came from a number of sources:traditional Cherokee wisdom, common sense, corporate governance, marketing,biblical history, legal history, and "hard knocks"—we understood thelanguage of many disciplines. The leadership lessons and language were not thestuff of stereotypes manufactured by Hollywood. Our work was nation building,similar to that of other governments of the world. As we all know, lessons arenot learned linearly and sequentially, but rather organically and often withoutany apparent rhyme or reason. The concepts herein are not unusual. A fundamentalpremise is that we must frame and remember our lessons so that we don't have torelearn the same lessons over and over with different words and from newcircumstances. The vocabulary I choose, I remember and I use. Lessons accumulateinto knowledge and integrate into wisdom.

As a result of these lessons, by 2011 the Cherokee Nation had developed, grown,and matured exponentially:

• Jobs created by the Cherokee Nation increased from 2,800 to 8,500.

• The healthcare system grew from $18 million of services to $310 million.

• Assets increased from $150 million to $1.2 billion.

• $600 million of construction was completed.

• 100 children were enrolled in a Cherokee language immersion school.

• The Cherokee Nation became a national model for accountability, transparency,and self-governance.

• The regional economic impact of the Cherokee Nation in 2010 was $1 billion.

This book is based on a very simple leadership model, where leadership isdefined as going from Point A (where you are) to Point B (where you want to be).During my time as principal chief, it became clear to me that the more we focuson the final product, goal, objective, purpose, end, or destiny—i.e.,Point B—things get accomplished and leaders learn what is necessary tosucceed along the way. In other words, we ought to look at the end rather thanget caught up in tanglefoot.

The lessons learned apply not only to the building of tribal nations but tobusiness, government, nonprofit organizations, and, most importantly, toindividuals, families, and communities.

The Cherokee Nation is the second-largest American Indian tribe or nation in theUnited States. It has a great legacy of facing adversity and adapting,prospering, and excelling. Many do not understand that the Cherokee Nation is agovernment designated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1830 as a "dependent domesticnation" and has been recognized in the world community of nations since 1721,with its first treaty with Great Britain. That international recognitionoccurred 55 years before there was a United States of America.

The Cherokee Nation faces external and internal adversity. The externaladversity comprises hostile public sentiment and unfavorable federal and statepolicy. It is like the pendulum on a grandfather clock swinging from one extremeto the other. In the Nation's history with the United States, the full swing ofthe pendulum occurs every 20 to 40 years. At one extreme of the pendulum, theIndian tribes and nations prosper. After a time in this prosperous period,mainstream society begins to want the tribe's assets, such as logistics,sovereignty, hunting and fishing rights, or natural resources such as land,water, or oil and gas rights. At times, mainstream society has even covetedtribal children, artwork, and identity. When public sentiment grows strongenough, the federal government through treaty and law takes or permits thetaking of those assets by whatever means necessary. Thus the pendulum swings theother way. At the opposite end of the swing, the Indian tribes and nations arepoor, destitute, and desperate. During this desolate period, public sentimentonce again begins to shift toward indifference or support of tribes, and theabsence of hostile federal policy allows the tribes and nations to get back ontheir feet. As the tribes and nation begin to rebuild assets and to prosper, thependulum begins to swing the other way, repeating the cycle.

The greater adversity involves the internal challenges of leadership, communitycohesion, protecting family, and holding on to time-tested cultural values.Today, Indian tribes and nations face the same onslaught of mindless television,addictive social media, poverty culture, consumer convenience, politicalpandering, and crass marketing that weakens the informed resolve of allAmericans.

CHEROKEE NATION SOVEREIGNTY AND HISTORY

A brief legal history shows how the foundation of social, political, andeconomic relationships between the people and governments of the United States,the state of Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation developed through the years. Onoccasion, I hear anti-Indian business interests complain that the "playingfield" is not level because Indian nations have "unfair advantages." Usuallythis assertion comes from certain businesspeople in industries that have enjoyedtremendous tax breaks and subsidies from both the federal and state governments.Part I began with a legal chronology of the Cherokee Nation. What thischronology shows is that the "playing field" was set at Oklahoma statehood in1907, when the Indian nations, including the Cherokee Nation, again reservedtheir rights. The state of Oklahoma became a state subject to the rights ofIndian nations. In fact, the Enabling Act of 1906 and the Constitution ofOklahoma in 1907 specifically disclaim the state from asserting any authorityover tribal rights.

The rights the Cherokee Nation now hold were not given by the federal or stategovernment; they are rights the Nation has always inherently possessed andretained since time immemorial.

The Decline of the Cherokee Nation

As a result of the federal intrusion into Cherokee government and society in1898, the Cherokee Nation lost its lands, assets, and institutions, and theCherokee people suffered greatly. Although federal law and the OklahomaConstitution preserved Indian treaty and federal rights, the federal policy ofallotment was devastating. White people flooded into Indian Territory, soonoutnumbering the Indians, and began to devise ways of taking Indian land parcelby parcel. One federal case in 1912 cited 16,000 fraudulent land transactions inIndian Territory resulting from whites trying to take advantage of the forcedallotment statutes.

By 1920, Cherokees had lost 90 percent of their lands and were forced into acash economy. As a result, half the Cherokee population left Oklahoma during theDepression on the "Grapes of Wrath" exodus down U.S. Highway 66 to Bakersfield,California, and to other states including Texas, Washington, and Oregon. It wasan economic "Trail of Tears." An iconic Depression-era photograph by DorotheaLange captured a Cherokee woman showing her despair in a tent with her sevenchildren outside of Bakersfield, California; the photograph is often referred toas the "Madonna of the Grapes of Wrath" or the "Destitute Pea Picker." For thenext three generations, the Cherokees who remained in northeastern Oklahomabecame a poverty class.

These federal treaties guaranteed the Cherokee Nation that it would never haveto become part of a state. When that promise was broken, Cherokees wererepeatedly assured by the United States that their government would continue infull force and effect, but in reality, because of federal bureaucracies, theCherokee Nation government was nearly eliminated. The state of Oklahoma deniedin its constitution any interest in Cherokee lands, but then it enabled andencouraged non-Indians to take Cherokee lands through a host of means.

The challenges facing the Cherokee Nation were not only external; the internalchallenges were even more debilitating.

My father grew up in the heart of the Cherokee Nation during the Depression inOklahoma and had 10 half-siblings. He helped raise the family by hunting,farming, and working. He was a full-blood Cherokee and graduated from SequoyahHigh School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school. There he learneddiscipline and mechanics as a trade. He was handsome, athletic, and spokeCherokee as a first language. After World War II, he married my mom, who lived10 miles away from where he grew up. She was non-Indian and had 10 siblingsalso. He was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps, and she was a "Rosie theRiveter" during the war. They were married in 1947, and I was born in 1950.Because of the desperate economy in eastern Oklahoma, they went looking forwork. They ended up in Denver, Colorado, and my dad started a 33-year careerwith Gates Rubber Company, beginning as a tool crib helper and working his wayup to an industrial plant maintenance manager. He was transferred to Nashville,Tennessee, in 1959 and supervised 130 employees. They moved back to Oklahoma in1973, and I came back to Oklahoma in 1975 after graduate school. That year Ibegan working at the Cherokee Nation as a planner for Principal Chief RossSwimmer. That job lasted several years, and I went to law school.

Growing up, we would visit Rachael Quinton, my Cherokee grandmother, inOklahoma, attend her one-room church, go to stomp grounds, and swim in thecreek. I have three brothers and two half-siblings. I remember when I was 12years old, I was determined to teach myself to speak Cherokee after visiting mygrandmother. I found a bible in the Cherokee language and a Cherokee dictionary,and I put them in my briefcase because I was going to teach myself to speakCherokee. My dad did not teach us because, like others in his generation, heaccepted the myth that speaking Cherokee was less important than speakingEnglish.

I married Bobbie Gail Smith, a full-blood Cherokee, in 1978, and our oldest sonwas born in 1980. When he was 12 years old, I watched him do something I hadnever discussed with him. He got a bible in the Cherokee language and a Cherokeedictionary, and he put them in a briefcase because he was going to teach himselfto speak Cherokee just like I did 30 years prior.

My great-grandfather, Redbird Smith, was a Cherokee Nation senator in the 1890sand was jailed by the United States for protesting its forcible assimilationpolicy of land allotment. My grandmother was a grassroots advocate for theCherokee people. Working for the "tribe" was something I wanted to do sincecollege. I was an ironworker during high school and college, putting up thestructural steel for buildings and bridges. I enjoyed at the end of a day seeingwhat I had accomplished. In the early 1990s I returned to work at the CherokeeNation for Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller, who had a nurturing strength andbelieved in building communities.

Those were influences that encouraged me to run for principal chief in 1995 whenWilma Mankiller retired; I lost to Joe Byrd. His tenure between 1995 and 1999was disastrous. He stated he could decide for himself what orders of theCherokee Nation Supreme Court were constitutional, and then he fired the entiremarshal service for serving a search warrant in order to get copies of attorneyfee records that he would not release. He then fired the newspaper editor andthe court clerks. His friends on the tribal council impeached the entire SupremeCourt for issuing the search warrant. It was called the Constitutional Crisis.As a result, the Cherokee Nation's reputation was shot, Cherokees wereembarrassed by the resulting press, 600 employees were furloughed, and another200 were laid off. The Bureau of Indian Affairs put the Cherokee Nation on amonthly allowance because of mismanagement of cash flow and books that could notbe audited.

In 1997, I protested my predecessor forcibly taking over the Cherokee Nationcourthouse with his security force where the Cherokee Nation marshals werestationed as ordered by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court. In 1999, I ran againand won, but the Cherokee Nation was in shambles. These were the circumstanceswhen I was inaugurated as principal chief on August 14, 1999 (see Figure 1.1).That is when my learning began with great intensity.

The Cherokee Nation had enjoyed outstanding leadership in the past, namelyprincipal chiefs W. W. Keeler, Ross Swimmer, and Wilma Mankiller. W. W. Keelerwas the president and CEO of Phillips Petroleum and presidentially appointedprincipal chief between 1950 and 1970 who strove to pull the Cherokees out of aneconomic and political abyss. Ross Swimmer, principal chief between 1975 and1985, established a sound financial and business foundation for the CherokeeNation. Wilma Mankiller was the first woman elected principal chief and was achampion of community self-help, women's rights, and Indian rights during hertenure between 1985 and 1995.

My favorite saying is, "Adversity creates opportunity." For the Cherokee Nationand most organizations and governments, the greatest adversity is lack ofleadership, and the greatest opportunity is to develop leadership. The adversityof the Constitutional Crisis of 1999 created an opportunity for the people ofthe Cherokee Nation to develop leadership and gain perspective. They knew whatthey didn't want and that they needed to seek leadership, solutions, andresources to make things better.

How do you rebuild a nation after decades of "bureaucratic imperialism" by thefederal government, erosion of traditional culture by the mainstream povertyculture, and the patronizing belief of the American citizenry that AmericanIndians are cartoon characters or casino rich?

Green Roof: Who Should Take Care of My Mama?

A poverty culture based on being a victim, blaming others, expecting somethingfor nothing, and transferring responsibility to others encroached on thetraditional Cherokee values and attributes of self-reliance, cooperation, andconfidence. The result: a number of Cherokees felt helpless and like victims. Itwas a feeling imported from and shared with the general population. Some peoplecall this an "entitlement" mentality. Like a disease, an undeserved sense ofentitlement seemed to have spread across America, infecting many poor and evenwell-to-do Cherokees.

I remember very little from my sophomore English composition class at theUniversity of Georgia in 1970 except for a personal story told by the professor.He was a small man with a mustache; he was complaining about the small SocialSecurity check his mother got and how it was not enough money for her to get by.He said she had raised four boys, and the U.S. government should provide herenough money to live with dignity. He was Canadian! I was afraid to ask thequestion on my mind: "If the government is not taking care of your mother, whydon't you and your three brothers do it?"

Contrast his story to that of Lizzie Whitekiller, a 96-year-old full-bloodbilingual Cherokee woman. She is the type of person who lives life fully. Fortyyears ago, she and her husband, "Gete," built a U.S. Department of HousingMutual Help "Indian house." The house had wood siding and was designed to lastonly 30 years. It is immaculate today because her 11 children take care of herand the house. At age 62, she went back to school and got her GED. Every year,100 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildrencome home to her house for a family reunion. She handmade a quilt including eachone's picture. Their family is truly a family because of her. She showed that wedid not have to feel helpless and like victims.

As principal chief, the first column I wrote for the Cherokee Phoenix in 1999was called "Green Roof." I wrote it at the beginning of my administration, whenwe were searching for the ideas, words, and ways to lead our people andourselves to be stronger and more positive. This column foreshadowed many of thelessons I would learn in greater detail and articulate better in the comingyears.

"Green Roof"By Chad Smith, Principal Chief

Almost a decade ago, my father passed away. Left behind was my mother, who livesalone in the home my family built. Several years ago, the home developed a roofleak.

Whose duty was it to fix the leak? Whose obligation to replace the roof? Who hadthe obligation to see that my mother was warm, dry, and comfortable? Was it thefederal government's responsibility through some federal program? Was it thestate government? Was it Cherokee Nation?

The answer is a simple one that is found in the lessons my father taught each ofus as a part of his legacy; it stems from the culture of the Cherokee Nation. Hewas a special man.

I have three brothers. It was our duty and responsibility to fix the roof. To usbelonged the honor of taking care of our mother. That honor is a great one,which was accepted with pride and joy. My brothers and I replaced the shingleswith a green metal roof. It was our privilege.

I have heard many stories about families since I took office as principal chief.One of the saddest was from a grandmother who came into my office in awheelchair. She deeded her comfortable home to a son in return for her care forthe rest of her life. The son mortgaged the house for $30,000. He took the moneyand wasted it in Las Vegas and other places. Then he vanished, leaving hismother defenseless and with a mortgage that she could not pay. The elderly womanhad five other adult children. She came to my office asking for help because thecounty sheriff was going to foreclose on her home. None of her children offeredto take her in. None of her children offered to make the payments on the modesthouse. None of the adult children provided alternative housing for her.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from LEADERSHIP LESSONS from the CHEROKEE NATION by CHAD "CORNTASSEL" SMITH. Copyright © 2013 by Chad "Corntassel" Smith. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071808833
• ISBN 13: 9780071808835
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304