Examination of Shamans as Cultural Leaders in the Hmong American Communities
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Description
Leadership in the world today is under crisis because many individuals serving as positional leaders lack effective leadership capacities. Many organizations choose leaders based on individuals’ academic performance and personality traits; however, those same organizations often experience failures due to the ineffective leadership skills of key personnel charged with managing the organizations (Helsel et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to investigate Hmong Shamans’ leadership using a qualitative phenomenological research methodology. A semi-structured interview format was used to collect data from eight Hmong Shamans in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Participants were asked to discuss the qualities and behaviors that define them as good leaders and their perspectives about the positional, permission, production, people development, and pinnacle roles they play in their communities. Participants further shared insights into the factors they want to share with their community members to help them better understand Shamans’ leadership roles in the community and the support or resources they need from their followers and/or community members in order to be successful in their leadership roles. Two interviews were conducted in Hmong, and six interviews were conducted in both English and Hmong. The results suggest that Shamans possessed 18 characteristics of qualities and behaviors: trust, honesty, integrity, respect, empowerment, compassion, communication, self-awareness, empathy, team relationship building, vision, values, resourcefulness, dedication, open-mindedness, positive attitude, influence, and inspiration
Publication Date
2021
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Vang, Phoua, "Examination of Shamans as Cultural Leaders in the Hmong American Communities" (2021). Graduate Research Education Showcase 2021. 4.
https://spark.bethel.edu/edd-showcase-2021/4