If you’re one of the many who took the 3 Brains Preference Test, you already have a glimpse into the profound power of your 3 Brains—your Head, Heart, and Gut. But understanding is just the first step. What comes next is learning how to use this insight to create positive change in every area of your life, living personal leadership.
The Secret to Personal and Professional Transformation
The 3 Brains Theory is not just a concept; it’s a powerful tool that can help us understand why we sometimes feel conflicted, struggle to make decisions or find ourselves stuck in unproductive patterns. Most people try to solve these problems using logic and rational thinking from the Head Brain alone. But here’s the secret: your Head Brain is only part of the equation.
Unlocking the unique wisdom of our Heart and Gut Brains is the key to a new level of clarity and inner alignment. Just imagine the possibilities:
Make Confident Decisions: With your Head Brain’s logic, Heart Brain’s values, and Gut Brain’s instinct all in agreement, you can approach even the most challenging choices with a reassuring sense of clarity and confidence.
Navigate Relationships with Ease: Understanding how each brain influences your emotional responses allows you to communicate better and build stronger, more authentic relationships.
Break Through Personal Barriers: Whether it’s overcoming self-doubt or finding the courage to take the next step, your Gut Brain can provide the drive and resilience you need, offering a beacon of hope in your personal growth journey.
What Does Alignment Look Like?
Most of us have experienced times when we feel “off,” unsure of ourselves, or torn between conflicting thoughts and feelings. These moments of disconnect are often due to one brain dominating over the others. By aligning all three brains, you bring your thoughts (Head), emotions (Heart), and actions (Gut) into harmony. This alignment enables you to stay true to your values, communicate authentically, and act purposefully.
With that in mind, I took the challenge of making a three-brain comparative analysis of Kamala Harris's and Donald Trump's leadership styles.
PS It was published in The Washington Mail 🎉👉 Check out the comparative analysis here if you want to share it.
"The Three-Brain Leadership of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris: A Comparative Analysis.”
Leadership is complex and multi-faceted, and few frameworks provide a clearer understanding of it than the three-brains Intelligence model: head (logic and strategy), heart (empathy and emotional intelligence), and gut (instinct and action to succeed).
These three aspects form the core of a leader’s approach to decision-making. The 3-Brains intelligence framework, rooted in evolutionary biology, can support personal and professional transformation and forms the core of the 3-Brains Coaching Certification program.
By examining how two prominent political figures—Donald Trump and Kamala Harris—use their Head, Heart, and Gut Brain, we can better understand their distinct leadership styles and their ability to manage crises and inspire their constituencies.
Head Brain: Logic and Strategy
Donald Trump
Trump’s Head Brain operates like a businessman, always focusing on strategy and deal-making. His leadership is defined by a cold, transactional approach where calculated risks and benefits drive decisions. This was evident in his trade policies, particularly the tariffs imposed on China, which were aimed at creating economic leverage for the U.S. His decisions were based on immediate, bottom-line results, focusing on perceived gains in the short term.
However, Trump’s over-reliance on head-brain logic often sidelined leadership's more relational and ethical aspects, leading to decisions favouring short-term gains with the risk of causing long-term political and diplomatic damage. His single-minded pursuit of victory and his transactional logic highlights an imbalance in his leadership, where the Head Brain dominates with the full support of the Gut Brain but almost no adequate engagement from the Heart Brain. While his strategies delivered tangible benefits, this narrow focus limited his ability to foster unity and trust across a broader political spectrum.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris, in contrast, exhibits a more balanced use of her Head Brain. Her leadership is rooted in her legal background, where she applies analytical thinking and systematic evaluation to every policy decision. As Attorney General of California, Harris was known for her precision in handling complex legal matters and pushing for reforms that balanced justice with systemic change.
However, Harris’s use of logic is forward-thinking, aimed not just at short-term wins but at long-term societal progress. Her Head Brain works in tandem with her Heart Brain, creating a long-term, human-centred strategy. This ability to align logic with inclusive goals shows a more holistic use of the Head Brain, demonstrating how effective leadership requires not just logic but also empathy and instinct for success.
Where Trump’s logic often pursued tangible benefits, Harris’s logic aligns with broader, more inclusive goals.
Heart Brain: Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
Donald Trump
While Trump might not be traditionally seen as empathetic, his emotional intelligence is honed to connect deeply with his base.
Showing that his Heart Brain, while selective, is active. His emotional intelligence is closely tied to his Gut Brain, instinctively tapping into the frustrations of voters who feel marginalised by the political establishment. This selective empathy fosters fierce loyalty from his supporters, as he bypasses logic and focuses on emotional triggers like identity and anger.
However, Trump’s selective use of empathy highlights a key pitfall of the Heart Brain when it is not balanced with broader empathy. He often shows strong emotional engagement with his base but an inability to extend that empathy beyond his supporters.
This one-directional emotional intelligence made it difficult for Trump to unite a divided country, as his leadership style catered to a specific group while alienating others.
Kamala Harris
Harris shines in her use of the Heart Brain. She embodies empathy in every aspect of her leadership, focusing on issues affecting marginalised and underserved communities. Whether she’s addressing healthcare, education, or racial justice, Harris speaks with deep personal conviction, often drawing on her own experiences to connect with voters on a human level.
Her emotional intelligence allows her to bridge divides and build coalitions across different demographic groups showing that her Heart Brain is fully engaged. Harris’s leadership style is centred on inclusivity, using empathy not just as a tool for communication but as a strategy for creating policies that lift everyone. Her Heart Brain is expansive, seeking to bring as many people as possible into the conversation. This approach aligns with Christoffel Sneijders’ philosophy of using the Heart Brain as a fundamental tool for fostering empathy and connection in leadership.
Gut Brain: Instinct and Action
Donald Trump
Trump’s leadership is perhaps most defined by his reliance on gut instinct. Known for trusting his gut over expert advice, Trump has often made bold, risky decisions that defy convention and showed the guts others would not have dared to take. Whether it was moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement or initiating direct talks with North Korea, Trump acted on his instincts, which he valued above traditional political or diplomatic approaches,
This gut-brain leadership made Trump unpredictable. On one hand, it allowed him to be successful, disrupt the status quo, and make unconventional moves that resonated with his supporters. On the other hand, his gut-led decisions often lacked careful planning or long-term strategic thought, leading to diplomatic fallout and alienation of key allies. This gut-brain leadership approach has primarily guided decisions driven by instinct, with less emphasis on caution and analysis. As Christoffel Sneijders highlights, untempered gut-brain leadership can lead to both breakthrough success moments and unexpected collateral consequences.
Kamala Harris
While Harris demonstrates courage in her decision-making, her gut instincts are tempered by a more measured approach. Harris has shown instinctual leadership when addressing divisive issues like racial justice or reproductive rights, standing firm in her values even when facing intense political opposition. Her gut instincts, however, are always aligned with her heart and Head Brains, ensuring that her courageous decisions are backed by empathy and logical analysis, although this balanced approach doesn't always create breakthrough moments.
Harris’s gut instincts often come into play when she is defending vulnerable communities or advocating for bold reforms. However, unlike Trump’s impulsive, instinct-first approach, Harris’s gut is balanced by thoughtful consideration and long-term planning. Her leadership blends instinct with thoughtful planning, allowing her instinctive decisions to be more intentional and sustainable—perfectly aligning with the 3 Brains Intelligence model (Head, Heart, and Gut).
Conclusion: Balancing the Head, Heart, and Gut
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris present two very different approaches to leadership through the lens of the three-brains intelligence model. Trump’s leadership is heavily driven by his gut instincts, with logic focused on winning and more short-term gains and empathy narrowly applied to his base. This made him a bold but also decisive leader, daring to take a risk to succeed, but one who struggled to unite the nation or build lasting alliances.
On the other hand, Kamala Harris blends all three brains—head, heart, and gut—into a more holistic leadership style. Her decisions are grounded in logic, driven by empathy, and guided by her instincts, particularly when standing up for marginalised communities. Harris’s leadership seeks to unite rather than divide, offering a more balanced, inclusive approach to navigating complex political challenges.
Key Takeaways for Leaders:
Head Brain: Use logic for strategic planning, but don’t let it dominate at the expense of human connection.
Heart Brain: Empathy fosters unity. The most effective leaders create emotional connections that resonate across divides.
Gut Brain: Trust your instincts, but balance bold, instinctual decisions with strategic thinking and empathy.
Both Trump and Harris demonstrate that leadership is multidimensional, and success lies in understanding when to lead with the head, heart, or gut — a key lesson from Christoffel Sneijders’ work with 3 Brains Intelligence.
What Does This Mean for You?
If you’re wondering how to apply these insights to your own life, it starts with recognising the strengths and preferences of your 3 Brains. When your Head, Heart, and Gut are aligned, you’ll find it easier to:
Communicate authentically: Speak and act in a way that feels true to yourself and resonates with others.
Make confident decisions: Trust your instincts without being overruled by fears or doubts.
Create stronger connections: Understand yourself and others deeper, enhancing personal and professional relationships.
Next Steps: Dive Deeper Into the 3 Brains
I would love to hear how the 3 Brains Intelligence Theory has impacted your life so far. Are there specific challenges you’re facing where you feel one Brain is taking over? Or are there areas where you want to develop more balance?
You can always reach out to me directly or stay tuned for more content that will continue to explore these themes. If you’re keen to join the conversation, my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@01christoffel and podcast appearances are a great way to stay updated.
Let’s continue to unlock your 3 Brains' full potential together!
And feel free to share this article with anyone who might benefit from understanding how to leverage the power of their Head, Heart, and Gut Brains!
Warm regards,
Christoffel Sneijders
Founder of 3 Brains Intelligence
let's stay connected
Comments