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In my travels I have noticed some Tribes have some major issues with staff turnover. In some cases the staff can have a complete turnover and it is not uncommon for this to be an ongoing issue. The number one reason people leave an organization is due to poor supervision. Other factors may include unclear…

Monkey see, Monkey do. , No matter how hard your day is you can always find something to laugh at. It is important that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Sometimes it is good to just have a good laugh. This is the best medicine and it has helped me through some rough patches.

One of the most effective ways to get control of your time debting issues is to learn how to delegate your authority. Some of the reasons we are reluctant to delegate is that we may have control issues and are not willing to let go of our authority. Another one is that we have trust…

Pilameya to all of you who wished me a happy birthday. I made it to 62 which is a miracle in itself. As my grandchildren teach me all the time life is full of wonder and awe. We just need to take the time to see the beauty in the world. I am blessed to…

Recently a number of Tribes I have contacted have been experiencing shortfalls in their funding due to lower Casino profits. This has caused them to lay off staff or go through the riff process. Sometimes this can be a good way to improve efficiency for the organization by getting leaner but only if it is…

The third dimension for renewing employees is the physical area. It is essential that we take care of ourselves so we can be at our best at work. A lot of Tribal organizations now have wellness programs for staff which is a good trend. In Ariana Huffington’s new book called Thrive she states that the…

Just read book called “Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys to Transforming the Way We Think And Live” by Tony Schwartz. The author states that what they have discovered is that people feel better and perform better and more sustainable when four basic needs are met: renewal(physical),value(emotional), focus(mental), and purpose(spiritual). These four core needs…

Happy Fourth of July to all my relations! It is important to remember that on the orginal fourth freedom was only a dream for people of color and women. We had to wait for our citizenship in 1924. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed but there had to another one specifically for Native…

Facilitated a meeting with three Tribes today who are in the final stages of a 10 year effort to reduce poverty in their communities. I was very inspired by the passion and dedication of the staff and community leaders who attending the gathering at the Lummi Nation. They had a giveaway at the end today…

Tommorrow I will be facilitating a discussion about sustainability for Three Tribes in the northwest. One of the topics will be on the importance of having a vision. No vision no development is a principle of community development which I agree with. The vision must have community engagement at every level. The solutions to all…