ÍY SĆȺ (Good Work): A Study of Introspective Leadership Emerging From W̱SÁNEĆ

This thesis explores the concept of introspective leadership through a deeply personal, firstpersonaction research project. Drawing on 16 years of political experience as an elected official within British Columbia’s Crown governance systems, and a subsequent role in W̱ JOȽEȽP village administration, this inquiry investigated how personal, cultural, and political experiences have shaped the author’s evolving self-reflective leadership practice. Grounded in a W̱ SÁNEĆ worldview and interweaving Indigenous and Western epistemologies, this research utilized reflective journalling, thematic analysis of legislative transcripts, and community engagement. Five themes emerged: the rhythms of W̱ SÁNEĆ, the orator-observer leadership duality, the emotional toll of leadership, the disruption of colonial governance structures, and selfdetermination through structural transformation. This work calls for a reconfiguration of Crown–Indigenous relationships toward Indigenous-led self-determination and positions first-person introspective leadership as a powerful method for decolonizing leadership scholarship and practice.

Author dc:creator

• Olsen, Adam, Phillip

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lickers, Michael

• School of leadership studies

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/IR-20463

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28899