Leadership: Aboriginal Perspectives and Challenges

The Conference Board of Canada, 4 pages, June 20, 2003
Briefing by ,
3.7/5 based on 7 reviews
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This briefing offers the perspectives of 30 Aboriginal leaders on the leadership role, the qualities and challenges of leaders, barriers they face, and strategies and activities they should pursue.

Document Highlights

The opportunity to describe the ideal qualities of a strong Aboriginal leader and to suggest how to build Aboriginal leadership capacity brought 30 Aboriginal leaders to Calgary in mid-February 2003 to an Aboriginal Leadership Roundtable.

Discussed were the roles in their communities of Aboriginal leaders, the challenges these leaders face, the qualities of good leaders—and barriers, including those of accountability and those stemming from the Indian Act. Roundtable participants also suggested strategies and activities that could enable Aboriginal leaders and their communities to take advantage of emerging opportunities while developing their capacities.

For a closer look at the important details, this briefing is a must-read.

Reviews

Natalie Fletcher -  November 4, 2015
I think this gives a good basic overview but there is room to go much deeper with this article. It would be nice to see a follow up to this document. Perhaps a discussion on whether the strategies in the document have been successful and a comparison from then until now.
 
Raj Maharaj -  December 23, 2014
I'm wondering what the end result of this roundtable was. Yes, we acknowledge that in general, accountability within the community is important as is strong and committed leadership, but did it actually provide leaders with anything useful? Yes, the Indian Act was a longstanding barrier to community development, but so is the lack of access to resources, a direct consequence of gov't indifference. Did this roundtable give leaders a chance to voice their opinions on where access could be improved?

A roundtable of this nature should have included a government representative to discuss inequities and avenues of improvement. That would have been a true leader opportunity... for the Canadian gov't.

I do recognize the importance of this, I just think that it could have been far more relevant than a discussion regarding leadership and obstacles. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
 
Cathy Rodwin -  September 27, 2013
Very useful information for my current class on leadership.
 
Colin Anton -  June 21, 2013
This document just scratches the surface for this topic. However, it is a good starting point for understanding challenges to western philosophical leadership for First Nations leaders. I’m not sure that it quite captures the leadership issues unique to Métis or Inuit leaders but it does give us something to think about. I would love to hear more about the impact of the Indian Act in relation to this leadership barriers; but to close the loop on this conversation it would might be of benefit for anyone who reads this document to know that there are solutions to the Aboriginal leadership challenges. I might suggest that this board research some of the prominent leaders from the Aboriginal community to see how they have overcome said barriers in order to lead their communities into the future. There are many success stories people should hear them as well.
 
Betty Jagodnik -  February 4, 2013
This report definitely highlights the importance of leadership.
 
Allysha Wassegijig -  November 26, 2012
Great outline on the aboriginal view of leadership -  could serve as a possible source when promoting the integration of aboriginal perspective in Canadian organizations.
 
R. Panesar -  June 27, 2012
 

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