Leading with two eyes: leadership failures and possibilities in the management of a pulp mill’s wicked problem
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 15 April 2022
Issue publication date: 30 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The motivation for this paper comes from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation’s (TRC) Calls to Action, and in particular, the call for more meaningful consultation and respectful, consent-based relationships between businesses and Indigenous communities in Canada. To this end, this study empirically examines leadership in the context of a wicked problem faced by a pulp and paper mill and suggest an Indigenous epistemology as helpful to inform the leadership behaviours employed in this company.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, this study established that the problem faced by the company aligns with the characteristics of wicked problems, hence necessitating a collective leadership approach. This study then compiled a database from publicly available documents and inductively coded this data to identify themes that told us something about the leadership behaviours employed by the company as it attempted to resolve the problem at hand.
Findings
This study provides evidence that the company did not employ collective leadership when attempting to tame its wicked problem. It then shows that the context in which the firm operates lends itself well to the Mi’kmaw concept of Two-Eyed Seeing as a guiding principle that could have informed the company’s leadership and contributed to a long-overdue process of reconciliation. This study proposes several specific actions that plausibly could have helped produce such an outcome.
Originality/value
This paper helps fill a void in applications of the wicked problem construct to businesses. Further, this study suggests that the problem faced by this firm remained difficult to tame precisely because it failed to employ a collective leadership approach. The contribution to the leadership literature comes from introducing Two-Eyed Seeing and showing how it may help produce leadership that is inherently more collective in nature. Beyond its instrumental value, this approach may nurture more consent-based relationships between businesses and Indigenous communities in Canada, as called for by the TRC, hence contributing to reconciliation with a long-suffering neighbouring Indigenous community.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
In the spirit of the argument being made in this paper, the authors acknowledge how important it is to engage with Mi’kmaw Knowledge Holders and seek their wisdom and perspectives in respectful and culturally appropriate ways. According to Evans and Sinclair (2016, p. 3), “It is vitally important that research approaches do not reproduce the colonising patterns whereby Indigenous people become the ‘object of study’”. Incorporating advice from Indigenous Knowledge Holders was our attempt to ensure that this paper does not contribute to colonising patterns. Moreover, recognizing the devastating effects that Northern Pulp has had on the people of Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), the authors wanted to ensure that the community of PLFN approved of our sharing of this story. To that end, both Michelle Francis-Denny and Trevor Gould generously agreed to act as external reviewers for the larger project from which this paper was produced. Michelle Francis-Denny is the Boat Harbour Remediation Project Liaison Manager of PLFN, and Trevor Gould from the Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation is Key Stories Curatorial Assistant for Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre. Both these individuals hold vast cultural knowledge about the concepts of Two-Eyed Seeing and Netukulimk, and Michelle Francis-Denny is, importantly, born and raised in the community of PLFN. Both provided suggestions that were woven into this research, and the authors are extremely grateful for their thoughtful insights. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for ASAC 2021 where this research was presented, and to the three reviewers for QROM whose thoughtful insights helped us to improve this paper.
Citation
McKinnon, M.N. and Long, B.S. (2022), "Leading with two eyes: leadership failures and possibilities in the management of a pulp mill’s wicked problem", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 318-339. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-01-2022-2278
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited