Can one explain this leadership quote?

I would start by defining “poor”.

A real leader has no time to work for himself. Rather, everything he does is for the benefit of his people. He might live in a fancy place, but his time is not his own.

Your question reminds me of several Bible verses. Here’s one:
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42–45

In the OP, I think the words “leader” and “poorest” are unclear. If it’s a first nations quote, then it sounds like perhaps not the best translation.

Let’s rephrase it: The leader is the servant of the people.

As a leader, his duty is to the health and well-being of the people he leads. Servants were originally more of the poorer people, bordering on slaves. The leader is the servant not to just one person or one family, he is the servant to them all.

Poor people help poor people. Rich people help themselves. Sound familiar?

I have found it to be true in my 51 years, that the poor are usually more generous. And as Wulfie and FF said, a caring leader puts the welfare of others ahead of themselves.

Well. The quote insinuates more, than a leader just being a servant. It says they are “the poorest member.”
It seems to insinuate that community leaders are completely devoted to their community. But. To an extreme.

To me. The quote could be said better. As it stands, I don’t agree with the concept.
Or. More accurately, perhaps the definition of “poor,” in this context could be different.

I did a search for “The leader in a community is the poorest member as he/she is always helping others.” and the search engine said there are no results. Perhaps the wording is off. I also searched by leaving off the ”/she” and there were still no results.

^@Zaku was saying it could be a translation issue.

It’s really hard to translate some things, to mean the exact same in a totally different language.

I see it as: The leader is so busy making sure everyone is getting ahead that he/she is lagging behind in wealth. Maybe that’s OK because the leader is actually getting the community ahead, as a whole.

^Not “lagging,” but “the poorest member.”
There’s a big difference.

^ Yeah, I doubt that Native Americans were “big into” such concepts as implied by US terms such as “getting ahead”, “lagging behind”, or that they thought of “wealth”, or “poor” in very similar ways.

I might expect it to be more about ideas such as gifting, giving, offering, self-sacrifice, service, leadership, moral authority, and responsibility.

^Yeah. I think I get the idea, being put forth. It’s just phrased weird, as you say, to us.