How Buck Taught Me The Power of Coming From The Heart In Everything I Do
If you're ready to transform your leadership approach utilizing authentic power, this AMP is for you
Peace Overtures Today is a weekly newsletter dedicated to guiding individuals on their personal quest for inner peace. Each week, I share a movie that helped me discover balance. It’s a process of awareness and healing that leads to sparks of joy. I’m sincerely grateful to have you here with me.
I'm an intense guy, and I've been this way for as long as I can remember. While my intensity helped drive me in my leadership roles, I soon realized it wasn't a winning formula. Yes, I was able to harness my intensity and true grit to achieve successful outcomes, but they often came with unexpected drawbacks. I learned the hard way that using force has its downsides, leading to imbalances and typically resulting in win/lose outcomes. However, I had a profound shift in awareness thanks to Buck Brannaman and his documentary, Buck (2011). This film transformed my understanding of leadership and guided me towards becoming a kinder person. I'm incredibly grateful for this movie, and I highly recommend that you take the time to watch it.
I can wholeheartedly say that the Alignment Movie Process (AMP) session Buck has truly transformed my life, providing me with invaluable insights into the person I aspire to be.
The following excerpt is from our book: It’s Just Commerce: Returning Balance to Business and our Peace Overtures Radio podcast included in this post. If you prefer the podcast, you can listen to it below.
In Dr. David R. Hawkins ground breaking book, Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, he describes the benefits of power and it’s lasting effects. He says, “Power appeals to what uplifts, dignifies and ennobles. Force must always be justified, whereas power requires no justification”. Dr Hawkins says,
“Force always succumbs to power….Because force has an insatiable appetite, it constantly consumes. Power in contrast, energizes, gives forth, supplies and supports.”
Power takes less energy because it attracts. Whereas force detracts and takes much more energy. Power creates peace of mind, force prevents it.
Power comes from the heart and creates win-win outcomes for others. Force is usually the mind running the show that typically results in stress, more work, more energy, and it drains ours and others peace of mind.
Why would we continue using force as a way of living if it steals our peace?
Perhaps it could be that we unconsciously believe that true force is the only way to get things done. We’re constantly told we have to “make it happen”. Which is usually short-term strategies resulting in win/lose outcomes.
Force is short-term leadership. Power is long-term and allows for win-win outcomes to be discovered. Perhaps we continue to use force because we don’t know any better.
It could also be because we don’t have enough modern-day examples or mentors that show us that power always works out Fortunately, we have a perfect example in Buck Brannaman.
In the documentary, Buck (2011), we get an everyday example of what power looks like.
Buck Brannaman is a highly skilled cowboy, horse trainer, and people mentor. He was the inspiration for the movie, The Horse Whisperer (1998). Buck collaborates with the horses in ways that make it look like a The following excerpt is from the enlightening podcast featured in this post. If you prefer an auditory experience, you can listen to it below. dance. There’s a harmony exchanged that’s delightful to watch.
In this movie, we get to know Buck, his family, friends, and how his horse training skills affects the lives of others. His work is more than training horses, as he says,
“A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems”
Buck’s life as a boy was filled with fear and pain. As a young ranch hand, he started to see how “breaking” horses was similar to his experience as a boy. He recognized the fear in the horses and felt compassion for them. He didn’t like the whole element of abuse inherent with the process. Although, “breaking” horses was considered the only way to train a horse. It was brutal, but effective. That’s what Buck thought until he met his two mentors, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt. These gentleman teach Buck a “soft feel” when working with horses. They taught him how to be gentle and firm. He learned to respect the power they display and chose to make it his life passion. As he says,
“If you get a taste of what I’m talking about, it will make you better in areas you didn’t think related to horses.”
In one impactful scene, Buck demonstrates the response of a horse to force by using one of the participants as an example. With a firm pull on the rope held by the participant, Buck illustrates how it elicits an equal and defensive reaction from the horse. However, he reveals that when there's a balanced give and take, a natural harmony emerges, allowing for a deeper connection and understanding between horse and human.
Do You Come from Power or Force?
Buck shows us that your environment will reflect whether you’re coming from power or force. As he says,
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul. Sometimes you might not like what you see…Sometimes you will.”
Throughout the movie, Buck is surrounded by friends, clients, and family that love being around him. When he works with each horse, it calms down and is softened by his powerful, yet gentle presence.
Just like the horses, people are also a clear mirror and they’ll reflect for you whether your approach comes from power or force. It’s clear how people and horses feel about Buck. They love, respect, and enjoy him. This reflection is palpable and a pleasure to experience.
Think about the team you lead or are currently a part of. Would they say you came from power or force?
Watch Buck for Examples of Power
Throughout the movie, Buck’s command of power is evident in everything he does. We recommend you watch this movie and look for how Buck uses the following attributes of power and how you can mirror his examples:
Buck is truly an example of heart aligned leadership and he’s powerful.
Power Comes From The Heart
What most of us don’t realize is that your source of power comes from the heart. When you create from this space there’s no duality and win-win outcomes are discovered.
When you create from the mind, it always results in polarity outcomes. Good and bad, right and wrong, making the “tough” choices. This leadership style is mind based and not from the heart.
Lets talk some more about the heart.
Science has discovered that the heart generates a powerful electromagnetic field that radiates some twelve to fifteen feet beyond the body.
This field as measured by an electrocardiogram (ECG) is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain waves re-corded in an (EEG). The heart’s magnetic field is about 5000 times greater than that of the brain.
The scientists at HeartMath have shown us how we can visibly see how these electromagnetic fields arc from the heart to form a torus.
The heart maintains a constant dialogue with our brain, body, and the world at large. When these frequencies from the heart entrain or resonate with the brain, we experience a coherent wave pattern.
Our hearts are truly the CEO, if you will, and the brain is the body’s President, not the other way around, as much of us have tended to believe.
Begin seeing your heart as the place for strategy, creativity, and problem solving. And your mind as the implementor. It takes the action inspired from your instincts, your feelings, the terrific guidance you’re receiving from you heart, but maybe didn’t know it. Heart energy attracts in ways we just don’t always see.
According to Dr. McCraty of the HeartMath Institute,
“Sustained positive emotions, such as appreciation, love, or compassion, are associated with highly ordered or coherent patterns in the heart rhythms.”
Coherence is defined as the quality of being logically integrated, consistent, and intelligible. We refer to this state as Alignment and it is the intention of our technology called the Alignment Movie Process (AMP).
The heart is not only communicating with the brain and body, but it’s also communicating with other human heart fields.
McCraty and his colleagues at HeartMath call it, cardioelectromagnetic communication and believe it to be an innate ability that heightens awareness and mediates important aspects of true empathy and sensitivity to others.
Notice how the horses in Buck can feel his heart energy and respond accordingly. This is just like the people in your home, places of work, and everyone you come into contact with.
The growing awareness of the power of the heart and its tangible connections to each other leads us to believe that a transformative new set-point is emerging and will expand in the next twenty years. As leaders of all institutions begin leading from the heart, change will be a natural consequence.
Choose Power
Buck says that his childhood experiences could have led him down a different path. Although, he chose a different way. As he says, “you gotta choice”.
“To have contempt for the horse would never occur to me”
Contempt is force and if that’s your first reaction as a leader you need to take another look at your approach. Because it won’t get you the outcome you’re looking for. It just creates a backlash and doesn’t inspire movement.
We can all benefit from the lessons Buck teaches in this film. Especially leaders in business, politics, and education. We need more mentors like Buck to inspire each of us to choose power over force; leaders to show us a different path. As Buck teaches “Be gentle in what you do and firm at how you do it”.
The Reality Is - Storms Happen
The unpredictable nature of life means you’ll sometimes have times when things get dicey. Of course, this applies to our personal and professional lives. Our expectations, demands, and inevitable changes can throw us back into our old patterns of force and making it happen. As a leader you can choose to stay centered, flexible and calm in the center of any storm.
As Buck’s Mother Betsy Shirley’s wise motto,
“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape”.
Staying flexible will help keep balance and calm which is so important when you’re in a storm. It’s in these moments that you can teach others what the power of patience looks like.
The Key resonance benefits from watching this terrific Alignment Movie Process (AMP) film called: Buck.
Shift from force, fear, and manipulation: Experience a profound shift in the belief that success can only be achieved through force, fear, and manipulation.
Release patterns of coercion: Let go of unconscious patterns of coercion in your management styles, allowing for more authentic and empowering leadership.
Embrace instinct and emotions: Develop the ability to operate more from your instincts and heartfelt emotions, integrating them with your thinking for more win-win decision-making.
Recognize the strength in coming from the heart: Release the belief that coming from the heart in business is a sign of weakness, recognizing the power and effectiveness of leading with empathy and compassion.
Let go of the need for approval: Free yourself from the need to seek constant approval from your direct reports, fostering a healthier and more productive work environment.
Cultivate others' brilliance: Cultivate a leadership style that encourages others to discover and embrace their own unique brilliance, allowing them to explore and expand their potential.
Maintain center and calmness: Develop the ability to stay centered and calm in the face of reactivity, fear, and coercion from other leaders, ensuring a resourceful and composed approach to challenges.
Step into being a resourceful and balanced leader: Experience an overall transformation into a leader, equipped with the tools and mindset to navigate diverse situations with grace and effectiveness.
Some final words to my fellow intense individuals reading this post: Intensity isn't inherently a negative quality; it's all about how you channel and apply it. When I discovered the profound transformative effects of engaging in this work, I directed my intensity towards creating over 700 AMP sessions. It was during this journey that I truly realized the indispensable role this trait played in my accomplishments. So, rather than looking down upon your intensity, embrace it and find ways to harness its power in making the world a better place. Our world undoubtedly needs the positive impact that your unique intensity can bring.
To get the resonance benefits from watch Buck, please do the Intention Session below and then watch the film in its entirety.
The Intention Session
Getting started on aligning with this movie session is easy. All you have to do is review these statements and do the modality at the end. Once you’ve completed these, you’re ready to benefit from any Alignment Movie Process (AMP) movie sessions you choose. This includes any movie referred to in our books and blogs.
Say These Statements Out Loud and Then Do Modalities At The End
I allow the changes in my timing and only integrate what I’m ready to.
I have faith that I’ll receive the benefits I desire.
I’m patient with myself as I make my changes.
I let go of feeling I’m too busy to take the time to read these books and watch these movies
I let go of having to understand how these Alignment Process movie sessions work, allowing me to get the full benefits on my terms and in my timing.
Modalities:
Please do all three of the following actions to integrate this intension session. All three activities are a good habit to embrace prior to beginning an AP movie session.
Nod your head up in down as you would when saying yes.
Drink some water
Slow rhythmic breathing through your nose