This article draws on the author’s experiences as an American Indian administrator and faculty member in a public university. The dilemma presented here revolves around her struggle to reconcile her identity as an Indigenous person with the values, beliefs, and priorities of an academic institution solidly rooted in Western structures and traditions.
The Solution
The author draws on this dilemma as she reflects on the concept of authentic leadership as a practicable goal for Indigenous leaders within the academy. In doing so, she cites the need for a nuanced conception of authentic leadership that takes into account the complex identities of Indigenous peoples.
The Stakeholders
The dilemma presented here can be used by human resource development scholars and practitioners as a tool for examining and understanding the ways in which the concept of authentic leadership both conflicts and resonates with the personal and professional values of Indigenous scholars/leaders within academic environments.
Ahnee-BenhamM. K.NapierL. A. (2002). An alternative perspective of educational leadership for change: Reflections on Native/Indigenous ways of knowing. In LeithwoodK.HallingerP.FurmanG. C.RileyK.MacBeathJ.GronnP.MulfordB. (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 133-165). Dordrecth, The Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media.
2.
AvolioB. J.GardnerW. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 315-338.
3.
BegleyP. T. (2001). In pursuit of authentic school leadership practices. In BegleyP. T.JohanssonO. (Eds.), The ethical dimensions of school leadership (pp. 1-12). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.
4.
BegleyP. T. (2006). Self-knowledge, capacity and sensitivity: Prerequisites to authentic leadership by school principals. Journal of Educational Administration, 44, 570-589. doi:10.1108/09578230610704792
5.
BenhamM.MurikamiE. T. (2013). Engaging in educational leadership: The generosity of spirit. In GroganM.FullanM. (Eds.), The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership (pp. 146-165). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley.
6.
ColeA. L. (2000, Spring). Academic freedom and the publish or perish paradox in schools of education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 27, 33-48.
7.
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), Article 8.
8.
DuignanP. A. (2014). Authenticity in educational leadership: History, ideal, reality. Journal of Educational Administration, 52(20), 152-172. doi:10/1108/JEA-01-2014-0012
9.
FitzgeraldT. (2003). Changing the deafening silence of Indigenous women’s voices in educational leadership. Journal of Educational Administration, 41, 9-23.
10.
FitzgeraldT. (2006). Walking between two worlds: Indigenous women and educational leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 34, 201-213.
11.
GardnerW. L.CogliserC. C.DavisK. M.DickensM. P. (2011). Authentic leadership: A review of the literature and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 22, 1120-1145.
12.
JulienM.WrightB.McPheeD. (2013). Authentic Canadian Aboriginal leadership: Living by the circle. In LadkinD.SpillerC. (Eds.), Authentic leadership: Clashes, convergences and coalescences (pp. 259-263). Cheltenham, UK: Edwards Elgar Publishing Limited.
13.
JulienM.WrightB.ZinniD. M. (2010). Stories from the circle: Leadership lessons learned from aboriginal leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 21, 114-126.
14.
KirknessV. J.BarnhardtR. (1991). First Nations and higher education: The four R’s—Respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(3),1-15.
15.
MarkerM. (2004). Theories and disciplines as sites of struggle: The reproduction of colonial dominance through the controlling of knowledge in the academy. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 28, 102-110.
MihesuahD. A.WilsonA. C. (Eds.). (2004) Indigenizing the academy: Transforming scholarship and empowering communities. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
18.
NoddingsN. (2002). Starting at home: Caring and social policy. Berkeley: University of California Press.
19.
PortmanT. A. A.GarrettM. T. (2005). Beloved women: Nurturing the sacred fire of leadership from an American Indian perspective. Journal of Counseling & Development, 83, 284-291.
20.
RainsF. V.ArchibaldJ. A.DeyhleD. (2000). Introduction: Through our eyes and in our own words. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 13, 337-342. doi:10.1080/095183900413287
21.
ShamirB.EilamG. (2005). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 395-417. Available from www.sciencedirect.com
22.
SinclairA. (2011). Being leaders: Identity and identity work in leadership. In BrymanA.CollinsonD.GrintK.JacksonB.Uhl-BienM. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of leadership (pp. 508-517). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
23.
StewartD.VerbosA. K.BirminghamC.BlackS. L.GladstoneJ. S. (2017). Being Native American in business: Culture, identity, and authentic leadership in modern American Indian enterprises. Leadership, 1-22. doi: 10.1177/1742715016634182
