Written by Rachel Lindvall, former SDSU Extension Family & Community Health Associate.
Different cultures may each have their own slant on the traits and characteristics that add up to effective leadership but despite the differences, some commonalities do emerge. Leadership is typically defined as a process whereby an individual influences a group to achieve a common goal. Leadership is also commonly acknowledged to be a fluid process. In most American Indian tribal nations, leaders were selected simply by the people who chose to follow them. For example, a leader of a traditional Indian encampment would be a leader only as long as the people agreed with his decisions. If he made a major error in judgment or began to make unfavorable decisions, the people would no longer listen to him. Historically, treaty agreements and peace talks between the Indian people and the U.S. government were extremely difficult to coordinate because of this fact. Indian people did not consider it appropriate for one person to make decisions for everyone else. This frustrated government officials, who were hard-pressed to find an “official spokesman” for an entire tribe.
Expanding on this idea of leadership means that leaders have to constantly and consistently hold themselves to high standards of conduct and good decision making. It isn’t enough to rest on one’s reputation or past history. Conversely, it also lays a responsibility for monitoring the actions of the leader squarely at the feet of the followers. Sometimes when we think of “being a follower” we envision this as a passive activity but, that concept needs some fine-tuning. Followers or stakeholders need to engage in an ongoing process of evaluating their leaders and making sure that they are still worthy of their adherence. Engaged stakeholders owe it to themselves and their communities to communicate their opinions and ideas using respectful and appropriate methods.
Of course, good leaders should not only be already aware of this; they should welcome and embrace the active followers and supporters. Garnering feedback, listening, evaluating and adjusting when necessary are all integral parts of an effective leadership toolkit. Active leaders who encourage their active followers generally achieve the most significant and lasting results of their efforts.
