Healers and Helpers, Unifying the People

Abstract

Previously, scholars have implied that leadership theory is “universal” enough and can be applied systematically regardless of cultural influences in subcultures. Leadership research has limited its scope of discernment to dominant society, implying that nonmainstream individuals will acquiesce and that cultural differences are inconsequential. Therefore, the intention of this study was to address the disparity between current leadership theories and a subgroup perspective. Specifically, this study explored leadership from a Lakota Sioux perspective. In this qualitative grounded theory study, six major and five minor themes surfaced: Traditional Values and Behaviors, Putting Others First, Lakota Leadership Qualities (Men, Women, and Fallen Leaders), The Red Road, Nation Building (“Real” Natives and Bicultural), and Barriers. These findings reveal that Lakota leadership is not elucidated by current theory. Thus, to effectively illustrate leadership, researchers should broaden contextual aspects to include subcultures.

Leadership and the significance of formalized organizational structures

“…We identified “ humble” as a recurring theme in history literature, describing Crazy Horse’s leadership style (Gambrell and Fritz, 2012; Marshall, 2005). How does this humbleness manifest itself?…”

“…We specifically selected a successful Native American military leader who is associated with “servant leadership” in the literature. We selected the Lakota leader “ Crazy Horse ” for our historical case study as numerous authors point at an association between SL and Crazy Horse, or even describe him as a Servant Leader (Gambrell and Fritz, 2012; Ferch, 2011, p. 59; Witzel, 2017, p. 105). Caldwell’s (2017) study also implies that SL is part of the Lakota culture.…”

Higher Education Leaders as Entre-Employees: A Narrative Study

“…Leadership continuously gets presented from a dominant point of view, often prioritizing Western male concepts. Studying leadership, especially among women, from a cultural, feminist, and/or Indigenous viewpoint contributes to the dialogue of what a leader is (Gambrell & Fritz, 2012). Researching these fields from newer perspectives, communities, and voices ensures that due diligence is given to the conversation by challenging what is seen as the norm (Gambrell, 2017).…”