Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
NLP is a study of excellence.
It’s like having a manual for the brain. It has numerous models and tools available as part of the overall programme, but if I was to pin it down to just one of two things I’d say, its about helping you develop your self-awareness and ability to communication more effectively with yourself and other people.
I started studying NLP back in 1997 whilst working as a General Manager of The Sanctuary. I was recommended to attend this five month, 20 module programme so that I could develop my self-awareness and understanding of other people’s needs.
I was looking to improve my influence and manage the individuals within my team. The course certainly helped me with this, but it also opened my eyes to numerous other possibilities that I hadn’t seen before. It quite literally changed my way of thinking, and therefore of being.
This was what lead me to start my own business back in 2001 having gone onto study the Master Practitioner and the NLP Trainer programme. I also studied as an NLP Certified Coach. So I guess like the guy with the ‘razor company’ I kinda bought into the idea that NLP was a good thing and could help people change their lives for the better.
Having worked with hundreds of people over these last 10 years, I know that NLP has also made a difference to those folk’s lives too.
Where did NLP come from?
NLP started in the early 1970′s when Richard Bandler and John Grinder studied the methods of three brilliant psychotherapists who were renowned for their abilities to bring about behavioural change. They were;
- Milton Erickson a legendary hypnotherapist who achieved results with clients by using really vague ambiguous language.
- Virginia Satir a family therapist who achieved outstanding results by getting more and more specific.
- Fritz Perls founder of gestalt therapy which is why much of NLP training delivery is based on gestalt.
Gregory Bateson and his thinking on ecology also influenced Bandler and Grinder’s work. Ecology being the ‘study of consequences’ of potential change.
Having studied these four at work, Bandler and Grinder were able to notice the study of the structure of the subjective experiences. In other words they started to notice patterns, structure and elegant process in how these ‘models of excellence’ did what they did.
They unpacked how each of them achieved the excellent results so that other could model them and achieve the same results. This discovery started the development of NLP as a powerful vehicle for achieving elegant change and outstanding results.
Where is NLP Used?
While NLP initially evolved from excellence in the world of therapy, early innovators in the field soon recognised its applications in many other fields. This has led to NLP being incorporated into Business, Coaching, Education, Personal Development, and Sports Performance!
What are the Benefits of NLP?
Applications include; Leadership, Management Development, generation of High Performance Teams, Customer Service and Elegant Sales, Impactful Training and Development, Executive, Business and Life Coaching, Sports coaching, and Health.
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