Emerging Alaska native leaders: filling the leadership void.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: NATIVE BUSINESS: SPECIAL SECTION - Column

In the world of business, Western values continue to dominate the corporate culture, setting the standard for what it takes to rise through the ranks and once at the pinnacle of success, what it takes to hang on.

Despite an emerging trend that encourages the touchy-feely approach to leadership, when you talk to those who have already arrived, whether it was clawing and scampering that got them there, an expensive degree, or their last name, while they may tell you that while "there is no I in the word team," there is definitely an I in the word "win," the continuation of a Western way of thinking where assertiveness is encouraged, self-promotion is rewarded and loyalty, while it may be endearing, is archaic.

THE NATIVE WAY

Although Alaska Natives share many of the tenants of effective leadership with the white man's school of thought--the need for shared values, the importance of visualizing, and the ability to motivate people toward a greater goal--the way in which many learn and exercise leadership is the discerning line drawn between the non-Native and Native way of accomplishment. Westerners aspire to leadership, and then hold onto it for as long as they can. In the world of Alaska Natives, it is traditionally given or awarded for the amount of time it takes until a particular goal is reached.

Recognizing this disconnect, corporations and nonprofit organizations in Alaska Native business are investing in filling this leadership void so emerging Alaska Native leaders are postured for success in corporate America. This is especially important in Alaska where Alaska Native corporations (ANC), as just one example, say their No. 1 goal is to be 100 percent run by shareholders, or other Alaska Natives. As the second highest tax paying entity after the oil companies, creating more jobs than all industries combined, the need for Alaska Native leaders will only continue to grow.

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Instead of trying to force the white man's ways on the next generation of brass, the leadership mentors, teachers and advisers working with Alaska Native youth understand that successful leadership development lies in tapping into their heritage, traditions and values that their people have relied on to survive for thousands of years.

FINDING HER VOICE

Lena Jacobs, a 26-year-old Athabascan who is from Ruby and was raised all over the state, has attended the First Alaskans Institute (FAI) Elders & Youth Conference, preceding the Alaska Federation of...