Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation: Learn from All I Observe

INTRODUCTION

Two years had passed since I was inaugurated, and I was hearing a repeated criticism: “All Chad does is plan.” We engaged consultants, read our history, studied, asked many questions, and tried to determine the best course for the Cherokee Nation. It was Redbird Smith’s speech about people endowed with such attributes having a “designed purpose” that inspired me to title our strategy and philosophical document “Declaration of Designed Purpose.” At the state of the nation, we outlined that declaration and shared five Cs, our desired outcomes: country, community, competency, capacity, and culture. Those concepts later morphed into jobs, language, community, capacity, and sovereignty.

Many adored Wilma Mankiller, the principal chief ...