A Leadership Lesson From A Native American Principle

I find that studies of Philosophy can often provide powerful Leadership Lessons, especially in today's world.

One area of Philosophy that I think does not get enough Recognition for its power and brilliance is that of Native American Philosophies.

It is even more fascinating when a lesson has scientific backing!

Now the Principle which I am about to talk about comes from Two Feathers, an Elder from the Kainaiwa Clan of the Blackfoot Peoples.

He says that within different cultures that exist, there are often Distractions that attempt to blind us from Reality.

Two Feathers calls them the Coyotes of Distraction.

Within many traditions, animals are teachers of sorts, and Coyote has a number of different lessons in the stories that include him.

One of the ways that Coyote is portrayed is as a Trickster, who teaches us about the weaknesses of different ways of acting.

So, within this Principle, Coyote either acts as a "Leader" or as someone amongst the "Leader" who is trying to "Distract" us from the "Reality" of a situation.

So what is the Distraction that Coyote attempts to use?

Deception.

Two Feathers puts it like this:

"The power of deception will lead the masses to acceptance. Then you can control through the use of more deception."

This is the "Perception" that Coyote attempts to create.

In the world, we can see this often occur.

When it comes to Leaders, it generally plays out one of two ways:

• The Leader believes Deception will allow them to get ahead, and will use it to try to get others to do their will (aka they "are" the Coyote).
• The Leader fears that others will attempt to Deceive them to get ahead, either to push the Leader to make bad choices or to push an Organization against the Leader (aka they are "afraid" of the Coyote).

In both ways, the Coyote believes that their use of Deception will allow them to Succeed.

Is this true though?

According to Two Feathers, there is a different Reality:

"Nothing can deceive the spiritual heart or mind as the heart will always know of the deception. The trick is not allowing the deception to deceive the logical mind."

Here, Two Feathers is helping us understand a few different things.

• There is a difference between a "Spiritual Heart or Mind" and a "Logical Mind".
• The Spiritual Heart or Mind "cannot" be Deceived.
• The Logical Mind "can" be Deceived.
• It is implied that Coyote will "target" the Logical Mind.
• To overcome Coyote's Deception, we must "listen" to the Spiritual Heart or Mind.

Now, You may read through this and think that it sounds like some form of "Theology" that is being taught, especially when the word "Spiritual" is being used.

However, this is far from the truth.

There indeed is Scientific Research that verifies what Two Feathers is teaching.

To understand this, we must go to Neurocardiology.

Now, when most people think of "Neuron", their immediate thoughts go to our physical Brain.

You aren't wrong for thinking that because, indeed, our Brain DOES have Neurons.

But that is just a small part of the Truth.

We actually have Neurons all over our Body, all of which create what I call the Four Brain Systems.

What are these Four Brain Systems?

They are Four "Brains" that are made up of Neurons that work Interdependently with each other.

This means that although they can work on their own, they tend to work better when they trade information.

What are these Four Brain Systems?

• The Brain
• The Nervous System
• The Gut Brain (Nuerogastroenterology)
• The Heart Brain (Neurocardiology)

Each of these Systems receives different types of signals and can make its own decisions based on those signals.

Each of these Systems also trades information back and forth, and can even override decisions from other Systems.

So, that means that our Heart "literally" acts as a "Mind", just as Two Feathers states.

Now, what kind of signals does the Heart Brain receive and think about?

Electromagnetic waves.

Specifically, the Electromagnetic waves that are created by other Hearts.

So our Hearts both create and emit Electromagnetic waves which have been measured to reach anywhere from 3 to 15 feet away from us.

Our Hearts can understand what these different Electromagnetic Waves are saying, and we can even learn to teach our Brains how to understand the Heart's interpretations of these signals.

Now, what makes this more fascinating is what these Electromagnetic Waves are saying.

It has been found that when we have different Emotional States, it produces different Electromagnetic Waves, and THAT is what our Heart Brains are transmitting to each other.

So if you are Happy it will produce a different type of wave than if you are Sad or Angry.

We can literally learn to "understand" different Emotions via Neurocardiology.

This can be done without words, without facial recognition, and even through barriers.

This also means that if someone was being Deceptive, such as Coyote, we would be able to understand that Deception via our Heart Brain.

"Nothing can deceive the spiritual heart or mind as the heart will always know of the deception."

This is, quite literally, True.

However, there is a way to Override this.

Logic!

As I mentioned before, the different Brain Systems can think separately and can Override other Brain Systems.

So, it is both possible and extremely common that people in our Culture today will use the Logic of our Brain to "Override" what the Heart Brain understands.

A Coyote inherently understands this, and will purposefully use Logic in a way to Override their Deceptions.

It's "Logical" right?

That is the trap!

However, if we learn to understand the Heart Brain, we can never fall prey to Coyote's Deception!

"The trick is not allowing the deception to deceive the logical mind."

So what is the final takeaway here for Leaders?

If you are a Leader who tries to Deceive others, if you "are" the Coyote, realize that it will eventually backfire on you.

It is not mentioned in this Story, but in many Stories about Coyote, they die from their plans backfiring.

If you continue to Deceive, eventually others will catch on, and it will only take a short while after that for your Deceptions to be revealed to some ruinous end.

On the other hand, if you are a Leader who is worried about being Deceived, you are worrying there are "Coyotes" in your midst, then learn to understand the Heart Brain.

Via Neurocardiology, you can learn to figure out who may be attempting to Deceive you.

Improving and Learning to understand your Neurocardiology is something that you can do!

It is a powerful Psychophysiological tool we have at our disposal that few Leaders utilize.

It also has significantly more benefits when developed - greater Wellness, higher Stress Thresholds, better Health, and higher EQ and IQ to name a few.

If you use this tool, a Coyote's Deceptions will have no power over you.