After being tasked with the completion of the Leadership Trait Questionnaire, Leadership Theory and Practice Questionnaire and Style Questionnaire, results from my self assessment in comparison to others assessment of me were fairly consistent. Perhaps not surprizing was how I was harder on myself than how other perceive me. My overall scoring was in the very high range which was not at all surprizing given that most of my life I have always felt like a leader and have also acted in a capacity of a leader. Perhaps the area where I’m most hardest on myself is in my ability to articulate and communicate with others. For this I scored myself as a three however in all responses by others they viewed me to be a good communicator. I guess in some respects I am a good communicator. I regularly meet with my staff and check in on them daily. I can get people excited and motivated about an idea rather quickly. In my self assessment however I believe why I scored myself lower is because in every organization there can be negative chatter. This can be derived from jealousy or a disgruntled employee. I pride myself on ensuring all employees are happy at work however it’s a task that is not always achievable. If I’m unable to succeed then I often ask myself what did I do wrong and how can I fix the situation. The other skill that I personally know I need to work on related to communication is my ability to public speak. Others tell me I’m a natural however they have no idea how much work I do to prepare and so they have no idea I’m actually faking it. I suppose though we all compensate for our areas of weakness and as leaders it’s important for us to continue to try and learn and do better.
Unit 1 Activity 5 – Principles of Servant Leadership
Northouse (2016 pages 227-229) describes Ten characteristics of a Servant Leader. For this post I’m going to focus on Foresight, Commitment to growth of people and Building Community.
A servant leader has the ability to plan for the future. This requires a time commitment and I find the best way to be prepared as a servant leader is to become an avid reader with a focus on what is happening or trending in any particular industry. For example reading publications, attending conferences and networking are all ways a servant leader can stay up to date on industry trends. At the same time a servant leader has a good feel for the organization and plans for potential gaps that are about to come and prepares the organization for when it does. Often the servant leader is motivated to have foresight because they have a desire for the organization and the employees to be successful. The servant leader recognizes that the employees are counting on him/her to adapt and create job security for all employees.
Another trait of a servant leader is having commitment to the growth of people. Employees with goals are often motivated and feel a deep sense of commitment to the organization. In turn it also helps the organization to achieve succession planning for the future. When opportunities are opened up for employees it allows them to grow as an individual and bring value to the organization. Employees engaged in an organization have a sense that the employer cares for them. Employers sometimes will offer assistance with upgrading schooling or provide opportunities within. Either way ,being engaged with your employees and helping them achieve their goals creates loyalty as well as attracts other good employees to your organization.
Building community is another trait of a servant leader. In my community I am tasked with building capacity with community members that have experienced generational trauma. The lasting impacts have effects on employees performance and as a servant leader it is up to me to find ways to help employees make life changes that lead them to a life of survival versus a victim. This is not an easy task and requires a different style of management. In some ways I am working with family and so I have to find creative ways to accommodate issues that may crop up from time to time. At times we have to put folks in the “penalty box” but because they are family we will always find a way to give them another chance. I tell my non-indigenous employees “if we don’t help our people then who will?”. In essence we are building a safe community where indigenous people can be given a chance to make a real change. It’s the opportunity to make a generational change and impact their children’s future by living in more prosperous times. My challenge however is we need outside expertise to assist us in our growth. How do I balance the needs of my non-indigenous employees versus my indigenous employees without making either feel like they are receiving preferential treatment?
Northhouse (2016 pages 227-229) Leadership Theory and Practice, Seventh addition.
Unit 1, Activity 4 Assigned versus Emergency Leadership
Northhouse (2016 page 8) explains that some people are leaders because of their formal position in an organization, whereas others are leaders because of the way other group members respond to them. These two common forms are called assigned leader versus emergent leader.
An example of where I emerged as an emergent leader is on my sporting team. At the beginning of the season the team voted on Captain’s and Assistant Captains. I was omitted from one of these positions as instead I was the Team Manager. As a Team Manager my duties included attendance at games, finding players if we were short, keeping contact records of players, communicating schedules and helping to find a coach for our team. As I started into my role I would be considered an Assigned Leader and really one could argue that the Captain and Assistants were as well. I played on this team for a number of seasons and got to know my teammates and became known as a hard worker both on and off the field. As an adult playing on a team there really were not many duties for the Captain or Assistants at the games. I came prepared each game with a line-up, knowing which position each player enjoyed playing. I stepped into positions that no one wanted to do such as goalie when I had no experience. Off the field I got to know many of the players because when they couldn’t make a game for personal reasons they often confided in me. Within a few years the team really bonded and so I put together a team trip, arranged transportation and accommodations which everyone seemed to enjoy. I became known as the glue that kept the team together and often players would comment about how much they enjoyed being part of the team and how unorganized it was playing for other teams. Within a few years I became established as an emergent leader. Northhouse (2016 page 8) says that emergence happens over a period of time by being verbally involved, being informed, seeking other’s opinions, initiating new ideas and being firm but not rigid.
There is a role for both an assigned leader versus an emergent leader. In the early days of an organization it takes time for roles and responsibilities to be established and for emergent leaders to find their place. In order for employees to function day to day and have accountability an assigned leader becomes important. Eventually though as an organization matures, so does emergency leaders. These leaders display qualities that make employees want to follow them. Emergent leaders display good ethics, a high degree of intelligence, make others feel comfortable/welcome and are people that employees can trust and have their best interest at heart. An organization that does not eventually have an emergency leader may accomplish tasks however it will increasingly become difficult to motive staff. Sometimes organizations have emergent leaders as well that often go unrecognized. This can come from jealousy, age, race or gender discrimination, as well as a number of other reasons. The question is how does an organization make this change when there is an inherent culture in place that promotes things like gender discrimination?
Northhouse (2016 page 8) Leadership Theory and Practice
Unit 1, Learning Activity 3
Northouse’s definition of leadership is “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” (Peter G. Norhhouse 2016)
Northouse continues to explain ideas about the following components of leadership. Process, power, influence, group context and goal attainment.
Defining leadership as a process means it is not a trait or characteristic that resides in a leader, but rather a transactional event that occurs between the leader and the followers. When leadership is defined in this manner, it becomes available to everyone. (Peter G. Northhouse 2016). Perhaps an example that comes to mind is when an emergency occurs. Imagine at a high school catches fire. The leader of the school may be the Principal during the normal school day however in the event of a fire there are more qualified people that need to take charge. It might start with a floor warden that safely leads the children out of the school. Until the Fire department arrives a designated Incident commander will collect information from floor wardens so that when the fire department arrives they get a clearer picture as to what is happening. When the fire department arrives, clearly they are the ones that are most qualified to deal with the fire and so naturally will take on a leadership role. In this type of leadership style it can become available to anyone. The leader is recognized for their level of expertise in dealing with the emergency and so others will naturally follow.
With respect to leadership and power, I found this section to be of particular interest, mainly because of my experiences with both positive and negative power. Power can be abused and lead people in the wrong direction and do terrible things. Looking back on history it is hard to sometimes understand why some leaders are followed however as explained by Northhouse (page 10), there are many reasons why people will follow a dangerous leader. Motivations of followers stem from people feeling like there is no other alternative and or come from the need to be rewarded. On the contrary positive power can benefit followers by learning from another persons gifts or being influenced by being around someone that cares.
Leadership involving influence stems from those that can see the bigger picture and understand what motivates their followers. By motivating their followers the leader is able to influence them toward a common goal. Influences can be organizationally external or internal in nature . An example of how influencing followers in an organization might stem from external motivations is for where an employee is struggling to find affordable housing. A leader of a housing organization with a goal of creating affordable housing and is able to articulate their vision on how to solve a problem will likely influence employees wanting to achieve a common goal and to follow the leader. This same employee because of their personal experience may empathize with others and so internally within the organization may also be influenced to follow the leader that stands behind these same values.
Some followers however can be influenced to follow a person using positive power or negative power, simply by being influenced by a group of people. This stems from people wanting to have a sense of belonging and so even if they don’t believe in the leader of the group they will follow the leader because they want to be part of a group.
When it comes to goal attainment by a leader this stems from the desire to achieve organizational missions. Company Missions are built by the leadership and form part of the strategic plan. A Manager is the one however that is assigned to an organization to carry out the day to day tasks that will help the company to achieve it’s mission.
My question however is how do we stop those that abuse power and are in a leadership role, particularly when the followers of a leader are motivated for monetary reasons?
Peter G. Northouse (2016) Leadership theory and practice. Definition and Components pg. 6.
Peter G. Northouse (2016) Leadership theory and practice. Definition and Components pg. 10.
Follow the Leader
For the person I admire the most at this time would be Canadian Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. Ms. Wilson-Raybould is an indigenous Canadian whom advocates for the environmental and social justice. For this assignment I followed Ms. Wilsom Raybould on both Facebook and Instagram.
Ideas and impacts I noticed on her social media platform include criminal justice reform, the Charter of Rights and Freedom, Human Rights advocacy, support for survivors of sexual violence, harassment and discrimination. My greatest degree of interest in following her is with respect to the work that is still needed with truth and reconciliation.
As an indigenous woman working for my community these are topics that are of great interest and importance to me. Particularly as I am tasked with building community capacity and creating an environment that is better for this and the next 7 generation. In Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s posts she often speaks about the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples (UNDRIP), and the work the government is doing to implement the declaration. Having said that she is upfront that there is lots of work to be accomplished and it will take years to fully implement. I respect her as a politician for acknowledging that changes will not occur overnight. The key section of the declaration and why UNDRIP is important to me is the section that speaks about “free, prior and informed consent”. What this means to Canadians is that in the unseeded territory of First Nations, large projects such as pipelines will require consultation and consent with the local First Nations governments. Its a step toward acknowledging the sovereign lands of the Indigenous peoples. As a leader of my community whom is responsible for rights and title, this is an important piece of legislation that would have significant effects on my community. It has the potential to instill positive change for many years to come. As a community leader I need to consistently advocate for rights and title when large projects occur in my traditional territory. This will further support the work that I do for my community and provide a legal framework with how consultation and consent should take place.
My advice to Ms. Wilson-Raybould on how to motivate followers is to perhaps sometimes provide some background into the complex issues facing First Nations today. Also a legal understanding on how rights and title came to be. I often hear ignorant comments such as the war was won a long time ago, in reference to the First Nations people and that they should just get over what happened in the past. It’s astounding given that there never was a war. This is the part that I don’t think the general public has a clear understanding about why these issues are important. Ms. Wilson-Raybould speaks about truth and reconciliation but doesn’t often share the horrid stories behind it. I do think this is in an attempt to keep a positive image however perhaps by educating the general public about why implementing UNDRIP is important it will create greater support. On a smaller scale I find this effective when in a conversation with an acquaintance about Indigenous Rights and Title. Majority of people I speak with do not understand how land was divided and taken away or how indigenous people could not own land up until the 1970’s. When I share information about the residential school era or the 60’s scoop, people are astounded that this information was not public until recently. I often get “I had no idea”. This is what I believe creates understanding is by not hiding from what happened in the past. This is exactly the premise of truth and reconciliation. Meaning we can’t get to reconciliation until we speak the truth and understand our past.
Ultimately though, I am very proud of Ms. Wilson-Raybould and the work she does, particularly for the indigenous people of Canada. Her values, ethics and morals are similar to my own which is why I suppose I look up to her as a leader. As indigenous people we have to help each other to get stronger and Ms. Wilson-Raybould is making changes on a national scale, which is impressive. In my small world of Kwantlen I work each day to bring the same change. I try to represent my community and businesses in a way that encourages respect and trust. Always keeping a balance of taking care of community while also finding ways to create opportunities for families to put food on the table. It’s important to keep a balance and respect my elders teachings about caring for mother earth and so businesses that disrespect mother earth, while may be lucrative in the short term are not businesses that are worth leaving for future generations. Instead I focus on opportunities that match the community values and or, when it comes to rights and title, I give people the chance to feel vulnerable and ask questions. For example sometimes breaking the ice by saying “what have you always wanted to ask a First Nations person but have been afraid to ask?” opens the door to greater understanding. It encourages people to want to help and or at least come to a compromise. I know that Canada is still learning the real history of indigenous peoples in Canada. As a leader in my community I know it’s part of my role to share the stories of my ancestors and elders so that greater understanding can be had and the healing can begin. It’s also my role to set an example for future generations and be the best I can be. It may not be on a national scale however one indigenous life changed in my world is a step toward a brighter future for my community.
Anchor recording of voice for Blog
I utilized Anchor to add a link to my blog that features a voice recording. It was very simple to use. In future I can see the importance of scripting in advance. As at toastmasters they would say it helps to eliminate the awkward “ahs, ums & ands” in the sentence. I think this is a great way to engage listeners and open up your audience to a wider group.
Brenda Fernie on the web
The majority of the information, if not all information on the web about me is work related. There are numerous photos and information about events such as a business award my company was awarded by the BC Economic Development Association pictured below.
https://anchor.fm/kwantlen-brenda/episodes/ep-e1eijs
Another example is from a land development in Fort Langley which recently received a lot of media attention.
There is also information about a web app that my company developed.
As my last name is Fernie, the town of Fernie is often associated with links under my name as you move further down the list. As well as photos of colleges that I work with.
I would say it is obvious for anyone that reads my profile that I work with indigenous people in economic development. I’ve been fortunate to be mentored by some pretty good teachers which has kept my online profile looking positive.
Practicing Photography
The task was to complete a series of pictures in 15 minutes. The pressure was certainly on to be creative in such a short span. I selected items from my office to complete the task. I chose this place as it happened to be the most convenient place at the moment and lots of interesting objects. The most curious photo to me is the dried tobacco leaf as it symbolizes negative on one hand however in my culture dried tobacco is used as a sign of respect and offered to an elder for sharing their knowledge. The disappointing thing about the exercise was using my phone camera and when emailing to upload I lost a great deal of quality. Of course the angle of the cedar hat actually made the photo turn out and look unique. Its an interesting object and so made for an great photo!
Photography for wordpress
Photo taken by Brenda Fernie – The Stave/Lamont run of river, Hydro Project
I was most struck by the beauty of the background in how rugged and raw the forest looked. It’s an untouched area of BC, still wild and yet so fragile. The contract of the dam with the carefully placed rocks is a stark comparison. All the while the color of the water really steals the show. An amazing turquoise green in the middle of no where.
Student Fact checkers
Reading through Micheal Caulfields blog about the 4 moves to fact checking is something I have become accustomed to as a researcher on traditional knowledge for my community. There are many posts on the web that list citations and references that take you to a previous newspaper article when researching indigenous traditional knowledge. When checking the source of old news articles it will often reference a book however the book lists no reference. I’ve been fortunate to be able to work with scholars that have taught me about credible sources. It takes a lot of time and digging to get to the truth. It’s a good reminder to ensure any statement I make that could effect rights and title are backed by scholarly information.