All Life Is Sacred And All Creation Related. What We Do Effects The Whole Universe. So Let Us Walk In Balance With Mother Earth And All Her Peoples. — Smiling Bear
Ojibway educator and spiritual leader Edward Benton-Banai published The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway in 1988, containing traditional teachings of the Anishinabe people. Among them are the Seven Sacred Laws — the teachings of the seven grandfathers — which represent the principles governing all aspects of daily living.
I first encountered these teachings years ago and have returned to them many times since. They are not religious doctrine. They are a practical framework for living and leading with integrity. Here is what each law teaches, and what it means for how we lead.
1. Nibwaakaawin / Wisdom
To cherish knowledge is to know Wisdom. Wisdom is given by the Creator to be used for the good of the people.
Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to discern when and how to use it — and for whose benefit. In engineering leadership, we are surrounded by intelligent people. Wisdom is rarer. It shows up in the leader who knows when to act and when to wait, when to speak and when to listen, when to push and when to protect the team.
The Ojibway teaching makes explicit what wisdom is for: the good of the people. Not the good of the quarterly report. Not the good of the resume. The good of the people you lead. A wise leader measures decisions against that standard first.
2. Zaagi’idiwin / Love
To know peace is to know Love. Love must be unconditional. When people are weak they need love the most.
This is the most misunderstood law in a professional context. Love in leadership is not sentimentality. It is the unconditional commitment to the growth and well-being of the people you are responsible for. It means caring about outcomes beyond the transaction — caring about whether your team members are learning, growing, and becoming the best versions of themselves.
The teaching adds a sharp edge: when people are weak they need love the most. This is counterintuitive. The natural instinct when someone is struggling is to distance, to critique, to protect the organization’s standards. The teaching says the opposite — lean in when it’s hardest. That is what unconditional means.
3. Minaadendamowin / Respect
To honor all creation is to have Respect. All of creation should be treated with respect. You must give respect if you wish to be respected.
Respect in engineering organizations is often conditional. It is granted based on seniority, title, or technical reputation. The Ojibway teaching makes respect unconditional — all of creation deserves it. Not because it has earned it, but because that is the principle.
In practice, this means respecting the junior engineer’s question as much as the staff engineer’s answer. Respecting the operations team’s constraints as much as the product team’s roadmap. Respecting the user’s experience as much as the architect’s vision. Conditional respect creates hierarchy. Unconditional respect creates safety. And safety is what enables people to do their best work.
4. Aakode’ewin / Bravery
Bravery is to face the foe with integrity. To do what is right even when the consequences are unpleasant. To be in a state of having a fearless heart or a strong heart.
Bravery in leadership is rarely about physical courage. It is about moral courage — the willingness to tell the truth when a lie would be easier, to make the right decision when the wrong one would be more popular, to protect the team when the organization is applying pressure.
The teaching defines bravery as doing what is right even when the consequences are unpleasant. This is the core of leadership accountability. The unpleasant consequence might be a difficult conversation, an unpopular decision, or a personal cost. Bravery is not the absence of fear. It is acting despite it, with integrity as the guide.
5. Gwayakwaadiziwin / Honesty
Always be honest in word and action. Be honest first with yourself, and you will more easily be able to be honest with others.
The teaching begins with self-honesty. This is the hardest part. It is easier to be honest with others about what they need to improve than to be honest with yourself about your own limitations, mistakes, and blind spots.
Honesty in engineering leadership means giving direct feedback instead of softened versions of it. It means admitting when you don’t know instead of bluffing. It means acknowledging when a decision was wrong instead of defending it. The discipline of self-honesty is what makes external honesty natural. If you cannot be honest with yourself about where the project stands, you cannot be honest with the executive about it either.
6. Dabaadendiziwin / Humility
Humility is to know yourself as a sacred part of Creation. You are equal to others, but you are not better.
Humility is the most misunderstood leadership quality. It is often confused with weakness, self-deprecation, or a lack of ambition. The Ojibway teaching defines it differently: knowing your own worth while recognizing that everyone else has equal worth. You matter. So does everyone else. Neither more nor less.
In practice, this means the leader who cleans up the coffee station, thanks the team publicly, and takes responsibility for failures privately. It means the leader who hires people smarter than themselves and creates space for those people to shine. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less — and recognizing the contribution of everyone around you.
7. Debwewin / Truth
Truth is to know all of these things. Speak the truth. Do not deceive yourself or others.
The seventh law is the synthesis of the other six. Truth is not a separate principle — it is the integration of wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, and humility into a coherent way of living. You cannot speak truth without wisdom. You cannot speak truth without love. You cannot speak truth without the bravery to face the consequences.
For leaders, this is the ultimate standard. Truth is not just about factual accuracy. It is about alignment between what you say, what you do, and who you are. A leader who has integrated the six preceding laws does not need to work at being truthful. Truthfulness becomes the natural expression of a life lived in integrity.
For Engineering Leaders
These seven laws predate modern management theory by centuries. They also contain more wisdom about leadership than most contemporary frameworks.
The laws describe a leader who is wise enough to know when to act, loving enough to support the team when they struggle, respectful enough to value every contribution, brave enough to make the hard call, honest enough to admit mistakes, humble enough to share credit, and truthful enough to be trusted.
That is a high standard. It is also the standard that the people you lead deserve. The Seven Sacred Laws are not a methodology you implement in a quarter. They are a practice you return to over a lifetime.
Recommended readings: The Mishomis Book by Edward Benton-Banai, the Seven Grandfather Teachings, and Indigenous leadership principles from the Anishinabe tradition.