Have you ever heard the expression “too many chiefs, and not enough Indians”? If you have heard it then you know what this first article is about. If you have not heard it, then according to Cambridge Dictionary you should know it means too many managers and not enough people to do the work.
The saying is of American-English origin, the phrase too many chiefs and not enough Indians, also all chiefs and no Indians, is used of a situation in which there are too many people giving orders and not enough to carry them out.
The earliest instances that I have found indicate that this phrase was first used in 1947 to characterize the situation of the U.S. armed forces at that time, after the demobilization of a large number of soldiers at the end of the WWII. The earliest occurrence is from a United-Press news item published in the Nevada State Journal (Reno, Nevada) of Sunday 16th February 1947.
Getting back to the expression, I had a business lunch recently with a CFO and a mayor pro tem. We discussed many things that will be rolled out within the next year, for my company TCTN, and for the Chamber of Commerce of which I preside as the current president. In our discussion one of the gentlemen commented on the changes made on a particular project “That’s what leaders do, they make changes and they make things work. True leadership is about being able to see the big picture and still carry the load.”
That struck a chord with me. All too many people want to be seen as the leader or the one in charge, without ever realizing that in order to lead – you must know how to serve. Serve without a personal agenda.
I belong to the La Mirada chapter of Rotary International whose motto is ‘Service above self’. At the 1950 Rotary International Convention in Detroit, Michigan, USA, two slogans were formally approved as the official mottoes of Rotary: He Profits Most Who Serves Best and Service above Self. I like these.
The mottoes don’t say self-sacrifice; instead they imply that in order to lead, you must be willing to serve.
According to Crow tradition, a man must fulfill certain requirements to become chief of the tribe: command a war party successfully, enter an enemy camp at night and steal a horse, wrestle a weapon away from his enemy and touch the first enemy fallen, without killing him.
In other words be willing to make the plans, conduct the research, make the agenda, create the itinerary, remove who or what at no longer works; write those letters and make sure that they get sent. Do the work. Face the challenges head on. Be the one that picks up the workload, takes on the responsibility and carry’s it.
You cannot climb a staircase without taking all the steps, you cannot be a general without enlisting, you will never make ‘chief’ unless you prove yourself as a warrior. One that will do what is necessary to win, for the greater good of all.
First published on NewsBreak. Click here to read.
