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RSSHow Harriet Tubman Taught Independence As a Leader
20 Feb 2011 Comments Off
in Harriet Tubman Tags: Harriet Tubman, Leadership, leadership lessons, leading a team, self respect
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One of the many leadership lessons that Harriet Tubman exemplified was enabling self-respect within the slaves she helped free. She realized that it was not sufficient to simply free slaves. This would have left them no better off, and perhaps worse off than they were before they were freed.
This leadership lesson was best demonstrated after she helped free slaves while on a mission along the Combahee River as the leader of a Union Army expedition to:
“… take up the torpedoes placed by the rebels in the river, to destroy railroads and bridges, and to cut off supplies from the rebel troops.”
The expedition included Colonel Montgomery, who was an auxilliary leader of the mission, though officially appointed to lead the mission and several hundred black soldiers.
The Commonwealth, a Boston newspaper, noted this in 1863 about Harriet Tubman’s leadership during the raid:
“It is significant as the only military engagement in American history wherein a woman black or white, “led the raid and under whose inspiration it was originated and conducted”.
Their mission was entirely successful, the Commonwealth reported:
“Col. Montgomery and his gallant band of 300 black soldiers, under the guidance of a black woman, dashed into the enemy’s country, struck a bold and effective blow, destroying millions of dollars worth of commissary stores, cotton and lordly dwellings, and striking terror into the heart of rebeldom, brought off near 800 slaves and thousands of dollars worth of property, without losing a man or receiving a scratch. It was a glorious consummation.”
Almost all the able bodied slaves joined the ‘colored regiments’ upon being liberated from their plantations. But as any leader can tell you, sometimes the most difficult challenges of leadership arise after the momentary exhilaration of a victory. In this case, Harriet Tubman next challenged herself to find work for those who didn’t join the regiments and to tend to the field hospital where other rescued slaves were nursed back to health.
In Harriet Tubman’s own words she pointed out her dedication to engendering self-reliance among the rescued slaves:
“I am trying to find places for those able to work, and provide for them as best I can … while at the same time they learn to respect themselves by earning their own living.1
This is a challenge for today’s leaders as well – to reduce dependency of team members on their leaders while helping team members to gain the confidence to operate on their own initiative. The reward for the team member and the leader, as Harriet Tubman recognized, is team members’ self-respect, which will lead to increased independence. In Harriet Tubman’s case, in addition to finding work for the recently liberated slaves, she also became an entrepreneur to generate income and work opportunities for the slaves.
What are some signs that your team members can benefit from more self-reliance? Here are a few tell-tale signs:
- Are your team members are asking you for permission for actions you feel you have already empowered them to take?
- Could your team members do more if they were provided with more training?
- Are your team members reluctant to take risks, even if they have the skill or knowledge to complete the task?
If you answered yes to any of the above, or recognize other signs that your team is telling you they need more confidence, now is the time to enable them to take steps to become more self- reliant.
What do you think? Please do leave a comment if you have had successes – or failures in attempting to increase the self-reliance of your team.
References:
1. Harriet Tubman, The Life and the Life Stories by Jean Humez, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, 2003, p. 284.
