Bass and Riggio (2006) as stated in Northouse (2016) “suggested that transformational leadership’s popularity might be due its emphasis on intrinsic motivation and follower development, which fits the needs of today’s work groups, who want to be inspired and empowered to succeed in times of uncertainty.” Northhouse (2016) said “transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. It includes assessing follower’ motives, satisfying their needs, and treating them as full human beings.”
Leaders today are tasked with motivating and inspiring staff and as such, I’ve observed a change in the workforce with employees interested in more than just a pay check. The internet has opened up opportunities and with a large global economy, competition for employees in some fields extends worldwide. Employees are well aware of their options and in many cases want the opportunity to achieve great things. One employee that comes to mind is a gentleman with my organization whom is looking for advancement. He enjoys the autonomy he receives in growing the business as well as the support the company provides him in being a participant in the board of directors for a non-profit organization, relevant to his industry. At the same time he is interested in work-life balance which is why he is content with being an internal entrepreneur for my organization as opposed to going it alone.
In history I see many indigenous leaders as transformational leaders and one such leader that comes to mind is my great, great, great grandad, Grand Chief Wattlekanium. Wattlekanium was situated at a Kwantlen village site in New Westminster when he encountered Simon Fraser’s expedition. It is likely that he heard of movement to the west however may not have encountered people like Simon Fraser in his lifetime. The encounter created all different responses from the Kwantlen people including fear, curiosity and anger. Wattlekanium had the foresight to know that establishing a relationship with the explorers and eventually the Hudson’s Bay Company meant that his people would be safe. He knew if the warriors attacked Simon Fraser and his crew that more explorers would come and likely attack the Kwantlen people. Instead he moved the village site to Fort Langley and leveraged protection from raiding island nations that often took the Kwantlen people as slaves. Later he established a strong trading relationship, taught the settlers how to survive the long cold winters and supported interracial marriages to encourage even stronger dependencies. Considering Kouzes and Posner’s model Kouzes and Posner (1987, 2002), as stated in Northhouse (2016) the model consisted of “five fundamental practices that enable leaders to get extraordinary things accomplished: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart”. Wattlekanium changed history for his people and ensured the survival of future generations. Faced with adversity he chose a peaceful and civil model that his people felt comfortable following. He knew the status quo would not do and so made the best of a difficult situation. The reward for his people meant that they no longer had to live in fear of attack from raiding nations and that they would receive tools or other trading materials that would make life easier. Of course we know the history of what local indigenous people were exposed to including smallpox, loss of lands, and cultural expropriation, all the way up to more recent times with residential schools. Alternatively though, across North America Indigenous communities were being wiped out entirely. Today the Kwantlen people still exist because of the actions of Wattlekanium. Transformational leadership in indigenous communities is necessary as society begins to understand truth and reconciliation. In current media, Squamish Chief, Ian Campbell has included his name on the Mayoral candicy for the City of Vancouver. I wonder, will he be a transformational leader for the City of Vancouver and create a new path for indigenous people?
Photo: James Mulleder/CBC (May 14th, 2018)
References
Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2006) Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
James Mulleder/CBC (May 14th, 2018) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/squamish-chief-ian-campbell-puts-name-forward-for-vision-vancouver-mayoral-candidacy-1.4661485
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (1987) The leadership challenge: How to get extraordinary things done in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Peter G. Northouse (2016) Leadership Theory and Practice. Page 161. ISBN 978-1-4833-1753-