Had this passed along to me and found it quite refreshing.

Chief Clarence Louie Osoyoos BC speaking in Northern Alberta:



Speaking to a large aboriginal conference and some of the attendees, including a few who hold high office, have straggled in.

'I can't stand people who are late, he says into the microphone. Indian Time doesn't cut it. '
Some giggle, but no one is quite sure how far he is going to go. Just sit back and listen:

'My first rule for success is Show up on time.'
'My No. 2 rule for success is follow Rule No. 1.'
'If your life sucks, it's because you suck.'
'Quit your sniffling.'
'Join the real world. Go to school, or get a job.'
'Get off of welfare. Get off your butt.'

He pauses, seeming to gauge whether he dare, then does.
'People often say to me, How you doin'? Geez I'm working with Indians what do you think?'
Now they are openly laughing ... applauding. Clarence Louie is everything that was advertised and more.

'Our ancestors worked for a living, he says. So should you.'

He is, fortunately, aboriginal himself. If someone else stood up and said these things - the white columnist standing there with his mouth open, for example - you'd be seen as a racist. Instead, Chief Clarence Louie is seen, increasingly, as one of the most interesting and innovative native leaders in the country even though he avoids national politics.

He has come here to Fort McMurray because the aboriginal community needs, desperately, to start talking about economic development and what all this multibillion-dollar oil madness might mean,for good and for bad.

Clarence Louie is chief and CEO of the Osoyoos Band in British Columbia's South Okanagan. He is 44 years old, though he looks like he would have been an infant when he began his remarkable 20-year-run as chief. He took a band that had been declared bankrupt and taken over by Indian Affairs and he has turned in into an inspiration.

In 2000, the band set a goal of becoming self-sufficient in five years. They're there.

The Osoyoos, 432 strong, own, among other things, a vineyard, a winery, a golf course and a tourist resort, and they are partners in the Baldy Mountain ski development. They have more businesses per capita than any other first nation in Canada .

There are not only enough jobs for everyone, there are so many jobs being created that there are now members of 13 other tribal communities working for the Osoyoos. The little band contributes $40-million a year to the area economy.

Chief Louie is tough. He is as proud of the fact that his band fires its own people as well as hires them. He has his mottos posted throughout the Rez. He believes there is no such thing as consensus, that there will always be those who disagree. And, he says, he is milquetoast compared to his own mother when it comes to how today's lazy aboriginal youth, almost exclusively male, should be dealt with.

Rent a plane, she told him, and fly them all to Iraq . Dump 'em off and all the ones who make it back are keepers. Right on, Mom.
The message he has brought here to the Chipewyan, Dene and Cree who live around the oil sands is equally direct: 'Get involved, create jobs and meaningful jobs, not just window dressing for the oil companies.'

'The biggest employer,' he says, 'shouldn't be the band office.'

He also says the time has come to get over it. 'No more whining about 100-year-old failed experiments.' 'No foolishly looking to the Queen to protect rights.'

Louie says aboriginals here and along the Mackenzie Valley should not look at any sharing in development as rocking-chair money but as investment opportunity to create sustainable businesses. He wants them to move beyond entry-level jobs to real jobs they earn all the way to the boardrooms. He wants to see business manners develop: showing up on time, working extra hours. The business lunch, he says, should be drive through, and then right back at it.

'You're going to lose your language and culture faster in poverty than you will in economic development', he says to those who say he is ignoring tradition.

Tough talk, at times shocking talk given the audience, but on this day in this community, they took it and, judging by the response, they loved it.

Eighty per cent like what I have to say, Louie says, twenty per cent don't. I always say to the 20 per cent, 'Get over it.' 'Chances are you're never going to see me again and I'm never going to see you again.' 'Get some counseling.'

The first step, he says, is all about leadership. He prides himself on being a stay-home chief who looks after the potholes in his own backyard and wastes no time running around fighting 100-year-old battles.

'The biggest challenge will be how you treat your own people.'

'Blaming government? That time is over.'

Two days go by and no comments to this??? AYFKM?
This Chief is a character.....with character. There seem to be plenty of the first just about anywhere......and few of the second. Know what I mean?

You mean it's not responsible for a leader to give hand-outs?

Keith

Don't remember this one exactly...I think it was a cannery that approached a chief and asked if they would work the cannery. They offered full employment with a couple months off a year. The chief said before the white man they only worked a couple of months a year.

bwp,

I agree with your sentiments to an extent. I think the message this chief is trying to convey is one of personal responsibilty in one's life.

When you mentioned your happiest time as rebuilding a fixer with your wife keep in mind that you were doing something productive for yourself and your family. What you were not doing was standing around and wondering why someone else wasn't fixing your house for you. I believe it is that general attitude that this chief is trying to get his tribe away from.

From the results in the article it looks as if his policies have worked and members of his tribe are generally accepting of his new method of leadership. There is certainly something to be said for the confidence that can come out of being self-sufficient. Money may be the root of all evil but this article has nothing to do with money and everything to do with responsibility and pride in one's self.

To the extent of "don't sweat the small stuff" Aunty.

It's not my opinion though that this chief was addressing matters that were without consequence.

Yes that,..........thanks for the english lesson.

I try to keep the stress level in my life to a minimum. Which means that I try to do what I say I'm going to do. If I tell you I'll be somewhere at such and such a time/day/whatever, I put effort into living up to my word.....why?....because you likely are depending on my word meaning something. Hawaiian time/Indian time is(are) just fine if all involved are on the same page, IMO. But if you tell me that you will be waiting at the dock at 4:30 and don't get there until 5, you'll get away with it only once....after that you'll be looking at my wake from the dock and unless you come up with a really good story, you won't be invited back.

Character is what one does when no one is around and there is nothing to be gained but personal satisfaction of doing what's right without a scorecard.....at least to me it is. All my real friends display this same characteristic....(most of the time, anyway)

I have no doubt that if I chose to work with/for this Chief, I'd know that we are equal partners in whatever was undertaken. And I'd also bet there wouldn't be any shifty eyes and limp wristed handshakes.

My kind of stuff.

Being on time is simply common courtesy in many cases.
So many people today live in the "It's all about me" world and only care about themselves.
I don't give a [censored] if it's "Indian time" or "Hawaiian time" ( I call it lazy f*cker time) I think you are arrogant and rude if you continually make people wait for you .

I used to pick some guys up for work in the morning that were on Island time. Nothing like waking some deadbeat up so you could give him a free ride to work.

+ many

"Character is what one does when no one is around and there is nothing to be gained but personal satisfaction "

A bit graphic.

+1

Showing up on time is a sign of respect to others. Showing up late is basically saying "its just not that important to me".

When I'm not accountable to anyone, I pay little attention to the time. When I'm meeting someone, the time matters. I don't want anyone wasting my time, so it's common courtesy at a minimum to respect other's time as well. Whenever you're going to meet someone, show up on time or have a damn good reason.

I attend a lot of business meetings. Often whoever is chairing or directing the meeting will announce a few minutes after the start time, "let's wait a few more minutes for a few others to show up." I started a few years back suggesting that we should begin immediately because everyone knew what time we were scheduled to begin, and that starting late unintentionally encourages people to arrive late if they know it will be delayed. Get lots of interesting, but positive feedback on that remark.

Arriving on time is not about the clock or that time matters. It's about respect for other people. Like I began this post, if I'm not meeting someone, I seldom look at my watch.

Sg

Time is relative. If late ask "who saw me arrive the latest"?

Timeliness and communication are important. Like everyone said it is about respect. With all of my guys, I always reiterate, that meeting our clients prepared and on-time is one of the most important things we do.

I just literally got off the phone with a contractor who missed a meeting yesterday. He didn't call, or text, just no-showed. He is a young guy like me, very work wise, very good at his job and just fun to be around. But I chewed his ass just the same.

All he needed to do was call me and say "I got tied up lets meet Thursday." Instead I am standing there with my client saying, "Well, he told me he would be here." Made me look really bad (at least IMO), I saved the meeting by pushing into some other discussion points, but damn, I was mad.

Knowledge is power, and when you leave someone in the dark, you are taking control from them, and there are not many people that appreciate that. So if you are going to be late, let the person you are meeting know to keep them from looking bad.

On the weekends, I don't have a problem showing up late for a backyard bbq, a birthday party, or at the bar. Discretionary time should be spent however we want it to be.

Blue water,
while the formula you cite is not a guaranty, I can guaranty you that if you only work as hard as you get paid for, there is no reason to give you a raise. I had freinds growing up that would state, I will never work that hard for $5.00 an hour, and then wonder why they never got a raise. I had a good talk with one younger freidn and convinced him to spend the next couple of months working as hard as he could. He was convince his boss was a jerk and wouldn't notice. He was right, but one of the suppliers coming in noticed offered him a much better job. I have a very sucessful freind that would watch for minimally paid workers that were working overly hard and then hire them away. His favorite tactic was to find waitresses and hire them as sales people.