Joseph M. Marshall - The Power of Four: Leadership Lessons of Crazy Horse

ALSO BY JOSEPH M. MARSHALL III

Keep Going

Soldiers Falling into Camp: The Battles at the Rosebud

and the Little Big Horn (co-author)

Winter of the Holy Iron

On Behalf of the Wolf and the First Peoples

The Dance House: Stories from Redbud

The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living

The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

How Not to Catch Fish: And Other Adventures of Iktomi

Walking with Grandfather: The Wisdom of Lakota Elders

LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF

CRAZY HORSE

Joseph M. Marshall III

New york / London

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Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

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2009 by Joseph M. Marshall III

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A LEADER?

Does having a position of authority automatically make someone a leader? The generally accepted answer to this question seems to be yes . What about passionate or persistent espousal of a causedoes that make someone a leader? Sure , we say, often buying into someones authority based on the volume of their rhetoric. Yet, according to most dictionaries, the true definition of a leader is one who leads by influence.

Perhaps most of us are too busy just trying to survive and make a living to focus much attention on how our society functions. To be sure, people in authority will and do have an impact on our everyday lives. The actions and decisions of mayors, board chairmen, governors, chief executives, city council members, state legislators, and members of Congress affect most if not all of us in one way or another. These people may think of themselves as leaders because of the titles they hold or the authority vested in them, while we ordinary citizens accept them as leaders for no other reason than the jobs they have.

Too often we give people our trust without really knowing what does, or does not, qualify them for the positions they hold. We forget that anyone who runs for public office at any level is, first, a politician . Politicians may learn how to get themselves elected, but can they learn how to lead? Similarly, we forget that most people who occupy high-level corporate positions are there to serve the bottom line, for themselves and for the company. Witness the benefits reportedly given to corporate CEOs and the like, who seem to be more lucratively rewarded for not doing their jobs than they are for doing them. Corporate executives know how to make money, or be rewarded for failing do so, but they are not necessarily leaders.

So that demands the question: Can mayors, CEOs, senators, board chairmen, and the like be leaders? Of course they can, but they must rise above themselves and the positions they hold. The fact of the matter, however, is that many of them do not rise above, because people in authority tend to spend much time and effort working to keep their jobs. And they often fail to realize that there is a difference between the appearance and the reality of being a leader.

The word leader is often applied too freely. When we confer that label offhandedly, we forget that leadership cannot be mandated by a job description. True leadership is only possible when character is more important than authorityespecially the authority to compel or control the actions of others. It is character, and not position, that can turn administrators, directors, supervisors, and even senators, congressmen, governors, and presidents into leaders.

In every society or culture throughout history, people from every walk of life and in every endeavorgood or bad, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, harmful or helpfulhave undoubtedly influenced others to do something they may not have done on their own. Does this mean that we should consider Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse-tung, Attila the Hun, Ho Chi Minh, or Benito Mussolini to be effective leaders? After all, those men did convince people of the righteousness or necessity of their causes and influence them to follow. It is said that Adolf Hitler led the German peoplemeaning that they followed willingly on the path of fascism that caused so much death and destruction. Genghis Khan was intent on conquering the world, and nearly did, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process. Mao Tse-tung, we are told, led millions and millions of his countrymen through a cultural revolution that brought China into the modern world. But we are only now learning of the unspeakable atrocities he caused to be committed against his own people, not so much in the name of change but to maintain his own authority.

Defined broadly, it seems that leaders can be villains as well as heroes, considering the fact that both are able to influence, manipulate, or coerce enough people to follow them that the consequences of their leadership extend far beyond themselves. We must not overlook the fact that any instrument, process, idea, or method that is used to accomplish good can also be used for dark or destructive purposes. Of course, it is also important to remember that a willing follower has just as much of a choice as a leader, and therefore bears the same responsibility. We can only imagine what would have happened, or not happened, had Hitlers words fallen on deaf ears. The lesson here is that in order for societies, cultures, and nations to function and thrive, we must all aid and abet leadership on the side of morality, fairness, equality, and justice. To that end we must demand not so much that our leaders be more than we are as ordinary people, but that they epitomize and apply the best that we are as individuals, nations, societies, and cultures. We have the right to good, ethical, moral, dynamic, and even inspirational leadership. More importantly, we need it.