NLP and Leadership
NLP for leaders in short: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a practical way of understanding how the mind works and how people think, communicate and make decisions. For leaders, it means clearer goals, better planning, communication that lands the way it was meant, and stronger motivation, feedback and influence. This article walks through each of these areas, with a real example and answers to the questions leaders ask us most.
“So, where does NLP fit in business, or in Leadership?”
What a great question and one that I get asked constantly. I also hear the comment, occasionally,
“There’s no place for all that fluffy NLP stuff in business”.
Well, I’d like to dispel that myth right here by exploring just a few of the areas in which NLP can help make a good business into a great one. I base my thinking on over 35 years in business roles, from Junior Sales Executive through to Managing Director, so I’ve had first-hand experience of the many areas where NLP can, and does, make a huge difference.
This article is part of our series on how NLP helps in business. It begins at the top with Leadership. Related reading includes NLP and negotiations and NLP and coaching. You will notice some common themes across these areas, as well as some differences.
Should you, the reader, wish to use this article in building a case for taking NLP into your workplace, then please feel free to download it, print it and pass it around – and please feel free to tell folks where you got it from.
NLP and the Business Leader
Leadership is about people! Managers manage processes, often dealing in the here and now, whilst a Leader deals with people, vision and the future. How can NLP help with this? let’s take a look at some of the areas of NLP that can make a difference.
Goal Setting
Effective goal setting is a vital part of any leadership role. Unless you have a clear and well-defined goal you are likely to find yourself experiencing that old favourite, the “headless chicken syndrome” with staff not only not working effectively but, in extreme cases, working counter-productively. NLP helps with this by providing a very clear and structured approach to defining the goal in positive terms, determining the means by which progress is measured and even the impact of achievement and non-achievement at all levels from the individual right through to the organisation – and beyond. Thus, using NLP, a true Leader will have a very clear and well-formed Goal.
Planning
Planning and Strategy are the second area in which NLP will play a tremendous role. Utilising techniques from both traditional NLP and Timeline, I regularly work with corporate clients of all sizes (from one-man business to multi-national) in setting out a clear and objective plan to get from Goal to Success. Included in the process are the tools for exploring any potential obstacles that may arise and planning the strategies for overcoming them. Flexibility is one of the key principles in NLP and nowhere is that put to better use than in the modern business.
Communication
Having a great goal and an excellent plan is all well and good. However, so many businesses then fall down because of failure to communicate both clearly and effectively across all levels. A good leader will ensure that this gets done in order to get buy-in and NLP is an outstanding tool for doing just that by providing:
- key language skills for influencing the mindset of the individual
- an understanding of the underpinning personalities of the individuals within the organisation
- excellent non-verbal communication skills that increase connection and influence
- emotional awareness that enable the Leader to handle resistance and obstructive behaviour in an effective manner
Motivation
Any true Leader understands the need to inspire and motivate people. Realising the array of skills that NLP can bring to bear in this is a great step towards success. Areas of motivation helped by NLP include:
- understanding personality differences and their impact on how to motivate the individual
- awareness of the impact that personality mixes can have on group dynamics and performance
- increasing performance through coaching
Feedback
So many of my corporate coaching clients talk of a lack of effective feedback to help them improve and develop. A key area of leadership is the ability to give effective, motivating and growth-oriented feedback. NLP, by its very nature, is about personal learning and growth and offers a number of outstanding feedback models that can be used in just about every circumstance.
Replicating Success
The basis of NLP is “Behavioural Modelling”, which means the study of how people achieve outstanding results by understanding their behaviours and the underpinning mental strategies, attitudes and processes that make their excellence possible. The effective Leader, wishing to increase the effectiveness of the team and, of course, empower the individual to achieve their true potential, can utilise the skills and techniques of Behavioural Modelling from NLP in finding the “experts”, eliciting their strategies for success and then teaching those across the team and the organisation. Why have ONE successful Sales Executive when you can have TEN? Why have ONE great negotiator when you can have FIVE? Why have ONE outstanding manager when they can ALL be outstanding. NLP can make that possible.
Influencing and negotiating
In the modern business world, Leaders are often called upon to get results without having the direct authority needed to get things done. The advanced language skills, relationship building techniques and interpersonal awareness that comes with the study of NLP can supercharge effectiveness in this vital area of leadership. For more on this, see NLP and negotiations, or explore our Art of Persuasive Selling workshop.
Self Awareness
I believe that there can be no lasting professional development without personal development and Leadership is no exception to this rule. Gaining a deep level of self awareness, emotional literacy and personal understanding will provide a firm and lasting foundation for understanding and Leading others. NLP will bring that.
So, as you can see, there is great potential for success as a Leader using NLP. The question that often springs from this is, “OK, so how do I learn NLP?” in answer to that, I would refer you, the reader, to my previous article on how to find the right NLP Trainer for you. My advice, if you are looking to use your NLP in a business setting is to find an NLP Trainer who specialises in teaching NLP for use in business and who has a business background.
If you would like advice, information or just answers to some questions, please feel free to subscribe to my newsletter and to contact us.
A leadership program in practice
In 2016 we ran a couple of customised programs for a leading Indian business group, including a senior-leadership program called Breaking Barriers. The participants were C-suite leaders and vice presidents, and the question at the centre was simple: what is the ceiling that is stopping us from going further?
For many of them, the ceiling was the sense that they had reached a point where everything was saturated. Using the language patterns of NLP, we created possibilities outside their current domain, and what could be achieved began to look endless. The clarity of communication they gained after the program turned closed conversations in the room into open ones. Participants described it as opening up possibilities they had not known existed.
NLP for leaders: frequently asked questions
Is NLP really useful for senior leaders, or is it fluffy?
It is definitely useful. NLP helps you structure your thoughts and understand how your own mind works. Once you know that, you can see the thinking and processes at work around you, and help people make the transition to becoming more effective. In a corporate setting, where effectiveness and efficiency drive growth, that is a real advantage.
What is the first change leaders notice after an NLP program?
Communication. More often than not, leaders are focused on what they want to convey rather than on what the other person receives. NLP bridges that gap. It gives you a clear sense of what is happening in the room and how to improve it over time.
How is NLP leadership training different from a standard leadership program?
A traditional leadership program talks about leadership, offers motivational speeches, quotes great leaders and delivers a framework. NLP leadership training adds the practical side: how the mind really works, and how a leader can use specific techniques to build something that lasts.
Who should attend an NLP leadership program?
CEOs, VPs and middle managers are all welcome. We shape each program around the people in the room. If the group is C-suite, the program is built for the C-suite; if it is middle managers, we work with real-life examples from their own workplaces.
Can NLP be used to manipulate people?
Yes, it can, and sometimes it is. But influence is not all bad: when you move someone towards something good, we call it motivation. How you use these skills is entirely up to you.
Do you run NLP leadership programs in-house for companies?
We run both in-house and open programs. Our main focus is in-house, built around the company’s own data, requirements and the outcomes it wants. We create a custom program on a defined structure and include the challenges the organisation actually faces, along with solutions. Open programs are listed on our upcoming programs page.
Bring NLP into your leadership team
Our Creating Visionary Leadership program is a three-day intensive for supervisors, managers and CEOs. To learn NLP itself, start with the NLP Practitioner Certification. For current dates and registration, see our upcoming programs.
About the author
Sushil Mehrotra is a Certified Master Trainer of NLP. He began in sales and rose to managing director, and was one of the first employees of Canon India, helping set up its base in the country and later serving as its head of training. He has delivered NLP-based training for Vodafone, Adani Power, GAIL, Indian Oil, Amity University and many other organisations.