Smith publishes book on leadership

Former CN chief publishes book on leadership

By Teddye SnellFormer Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith draws from the past and embraces the future to move from “Point A to Point B” as a leader.

Smith’s book, “Leadership Lessons From The Cherokee Nation,” published by McGraw Hill, explains in detail how he developed a model to move the tribe forward throughout his 12-year tenure.

“Four years ago, I wanted to write this as an employee handbook,” said Smith. “What we found is we needed to streamline a philosophy for running our government, which included over 150 different products and services. And I recalled what [full-blood Cherokee traditionalist] Benny Smith said to me at my inauguration in 1999: ‘Be a student of the Cherokee people and nation,’ or learn from all I observe.”

Smith pointed out that given the number and diversity of the tribe’s interests, he would need an overarching concept of management.

“You can’t run a marshal service the way you run a hospital, and you can’t run a school the way you run an aerospace company,” said Smith. “So, I took Benny’s words very seriously; we simply needed to look at our history to gain clarity about where we wanted to go. We concluded our design purpose was to be a happy, healthy people. It’s important to get from A to B in 10 words or less.”Comment:  For more on Chad Smith, see Cherokee Chief in Wrestling Hall of Fame.