Management tips in turbulent times:

Self-motivation through neuro linguistic programming

Dr. K. Kuhathasan, CEO: Cenlead

Managers and leaders who have a grasp of basic Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) concepts and techniques who learn to use this information effectively, can register a significant improvement in all aspects of management.

In the mid-1970s, Richard Bandler (Mathematician) and John Grinder (a Professor of linguistics) took up the challenge of studying some of the worlds' finest communicators to find out how they achieved their outstanding results.

Bandler and Grinder found that the very best communicators had in common certain beliefs and patterns of thinking. They used similar unconscious verbal and non-verbal behaviour strategies and this set them apart from the average. Often, the great communicators were unaware of the skills and techniques they were employing to achieve their results.

Bandler and Grinder observed, analysed and duplicated the thinking and behaviour of the finest performers so that they too could achieve similar results. They called this process 'modelling' These studies, and many subsequent ones by a steadily growing number of NLP practitioners, created a comprehensive set of tools for communication and human performance.

What is NLP

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is the modelling process and the derivative set of tools. The name coined by NLP's originators describes its component parts:

* Neuro

Based on research into how neurological processes work.

* Linguistic

How these processes are represented through verbal and non verbal language

* Programming

The patterns of though and behaviour that we use consistently to produce specific results (like the programmed behaviour competent drivers use when driving a car)

Dr. Alder identifies four steps to success in any situation.

* Know what you want (know your outcome)

* Take action

* Learn to notice the results of what you do

* Be prepared to change your behaviour until you get the result you seek.

What's in it for you?

Managers who have a grasp of the basic NLP concepts and techniques, who learn how to utilize this information effectively, can enjoy a significant improvement in all aspects of their business and social activities. In practical terms, NLP shows you how to become more successful in business by:

Setting effective goals, leading to more focused activity. Building good - quality relationship with colleagues and business associates, replacing conflict with cooperation.

Developing greater flexibility in the way that you respond to your environment leading to more appropriate responses to the ever-changing demands

Managing your mental activities, leading to greater self-control and more effective self-management. Blender and Grinder developed NLP so that it could be transferred to help anyone to achieve outstanding results in any area of human performance. It has helped athletes to reach new levels of performance and helped people with phobias to overcome their fears.

* Companies have adopted and applied NLP in communicating and implementing massive change in their organizations

* Individual managers have transformed their performance when communicating with others and more influential in galvanizing others to action.

* Salespeople who sell complex services to major accounts, who work in the largest retail stores and car showrooms and who sell by telephone have increased revenue significantly by building better relationship with their customers.

NLP is a dynamic field of study and practice that is being adopted and applied worldwide in the field of business, sport, teaching and therapy.

One of the most basic concepts in NLP is: "What one person can learn to do, anyone else can learn to do." From its earliest days, NLP has been based on a process of 'modelling' successful people (as judged by their peers) in all walks of life. Having modelled a person's behaviour it is then possible to compare it with that of their less successful colleagues to spot the 'difference that make the difference'.

These variations are often very subtle, but once they have been identified they can be adopted by other people who wish to enhance their own performance. To put it quite simply, the basic NLP concept is: "Find out what works, then do it". This means that the techniques described in NLP are all based on what "some people are already doing."

You may be already using some of these skills yourself without even recognizing them for what they are. It is this lack of awareness that locks us into the predicament where what leads to success in one situation can lead to failure in another.

Why NLP is a useful tool in the workplace?

To achieve success, individuals and organisations need to find ways of dealing with the increasing pace of change. The distinctive features of NLP make it a powerful tool for communicating, managing change and to develop a positive work attitude.

* NLP supports performance improvement because it is based on studies of the most effective performers in many fields.

* It facilitates better relationships between people at work because it opens the skills of communication of which we are often unaware.

* NLP promotes resourcefulness because it encourages greater choice of thought and action. It is based on the premise that each of us has a different perception of the world and that flexibility is needed to appreciate this.

* NLP assumes that good communicators achieve their goals by being responsive to the needs of others and appreciating the wider effects of their actions inside and outside the organisation.

* NLP assumes that the seeds of success is within the individual or the organization.

* The techniques of NLP allow people to learn from their actual experience. NLP utilizes what works and does not seek to impose theory.

How NLP works

NLP embraces the individual's behaviour and the thinking that leads to that behaviour. It is concerned with the relationship between people and the effect of their actions on others. The components of thinking, behaving and relationship are broken down into fine detail and made explicit so that they can achieve the results they want. "If we feel good, we behave effectively and achieve the outcomes we want. If we feel helpless, we fail to get, what we want".

Belief

Our beliefs can limit us or they can enable us to achieve seemingly impossible goals. A belief that he could achieve and be anything he wanted pushed and developed a gentleman, who had lost both legs and the use of one arm in a childhood accident, to be, among other things, a director of one the world's largest companies, a highly successful sports car racer and a happy and fulfilled family man.

On the other hand, a trainer, who took from his parents a belief that "showing off was bad", was inhibited in front of groups. A fear of criticism stopped him adding a dash of flamboyance that would have transformed his work. Our beliefs drives our thinking and affects our physiology.

The mind and the body

We may have conventionally believed that the mind was associated with the brain. Certainly there are elements of and processing centres for aspects of mind in the brain. The mind is distributed throughout our physical whole. However, for example, every cell has its own intelligence and sufficiently nourished, could survive independently.

If your body was dipped in a magic fluid, which could dissolve everything except your nerve cells, you would still be totally recognisable from the nerve cells alone. There are more nerve cells in the human body than there are stars in the sky.

This gives an insight into the phenomenal power of the mind. It has two major components the conscious and unconscious mind. In addition, there is the higher self. In your lifetime, you may not use more than 5 percent of your brain.

Einstein was found to have a much bigger brain than normal when he died. For a long time, it was thought that this was the reason for his 'super-intelligence'. Then it was realised that as he used it more, it grew more cells.

Conscious and unconscious mind

NLP is built around the link between the mind and body. What we believe and the way in which we think affects our physiology. Our physiology affects the way we think.

A presenter who feels under pressure stands off - balance, with drooping shoulders that restrict breathing and begins to think negatively. Simply by recovering balance and standing and moving in a relaxed and upright way, his breathing becomes deeper and easier. This leads to positive thinking that enables the presenter to handle challenges well.

You are responsible for your conscious and unconscious mind and therefore, the results that you get. Your mind power can either push you up or pull you down depending on your positive or negative thoughts.