Learning and Development Consultancy
Lizzi Larbalestier Certified NLP Trainer and Master Practitioner
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What is NLP - NLP defined by Lizzi

NLP has been described as "The Study of the Structure of Subjective Experience" (which sounds very grand indeed!).  My NLP journey began in 2002 when I stumbled upon a number of books, mentioning NLP, igniting my curiosity (and acting as my very own change-catalyst) compelling me to research further into NLP.  It took a couple of years for me to begin more formally training in the field. 
 
To me NLP has become an exciting exploration into the diverse approaches we adopt as human beings to orientate ourselves within the world around us, make sense of the rich variety of information we experience and choose to respond with elegance (or not depending on our skill level and the situation). 
 
It fascinates me how we can be highly effective in some situations yet in others we seem to make the most unlikely of choices resulting in less than desirable outcomes.  NLP is to me firstly very much about personal mastery (understanding and flexibility of self), identifying how we can learn from all experiences to enable us to make effective decisions that drive positive outcomes more often, thus creating choice for ourselves and others.  NLP stands fo Neuro Linguistic Programming...

Neuro - The brain and neurology, the way we process information from our senses through our brain and nervous system.  
 
Linguistic - The verbal and non verbal language that we use and the response we have to that of others.  Coding our experiences through linguistics in order to communicate with ourselves and others.
 
Programming - Internal thoughts and patterns which help evaluate situations, solve problems and make decisions.  How we interpret the world around us creating an internal representation of our experiences and how our thoughts then translate into emotions which affect our physiology and behaviour.
 
History of NLP
 
NLP evolved from a collaboration in the 1970s between Richard Bandler (a maths student) and John Grinder an associate professor of linguistics.  The roots of NLP lie within a number of fields and centre upon modelling human language and behaviour.  
 
Bandler had been transcribing audio and video of Fritz Perls' (father of Gestalt Therapy) and Virginia Satir's (Family Therapy founder) work.  He noticed that by replicating key aspects of their language and behaviour he could achieve similar results and even began running his own Gestalt sessions at the university campus!
 
Grinder became intrigued and worked with Bandler to refine and identify which were the core elements that made a difference, distilling the work of Perls and Satir into, amongst other things, a language model (Meta model) which was published in 1975 within "The Structure of Magic" and is still a core aspect of NLP.  And so the concept of modelling and the study of excellence began.  With a key discovery being made... that whilst we do indeed experience the world subjectively, how we code, interpret and think about something affects how we experience it!
 
Bandler and Grinder went on to model Milton Erickson a medical hypnotist and developed another language model (Milton model) and NLP began to grow and evolve.  Further innovators within the field include Greg Bateson, Judith DeLozier, Leslie Cameron Bandler, Steve and Connirae Andreas. 
 
Perhaps one of the most generative of innovators has been Robert Dilts who was a student at the university at the same time as Bandler and one of the first to get involved in their work.  He has created numerous change patterns and models, which are from experience highly effective in facilitating transformation. 
 
With NLP continually evolving who is to say where it will go next...
 
 
So how is this relevant?
 
NLP is an attitude and a methodology, providing a variety of models, theories and processes to increase behavioural flexibility and personal effectiveness.  The study and application of NLP can greatly enhance communication skills and hence improve personal and business relationships. 
 
With Self - NLP can help improve your self awareness. Imagine being able to take control of your life and the direction it takes you.  How often do you respond to situations without even thinking, only to be disappointed with the results?   Increasing your understanding of the strategies that work for you and learning from those that don't is an essential ingredient for personal effectiveness and self esteem.  Identifying your core values and motivational drivers will help you to define outcomes and begin your change journey.  Exploring self management techniques will enable you to access a wealth of personal resources to manage yourself during tough times, increasing your resilience and enabling you to achieve success.
 
In Business - NLP is a holistic methodology.  Creating a well formed vision and strategy is a good starting point.  Identifying aspects within your organisational system which require focus and attention and providing appropriate interventions will ensure a balance between efficiency and effectiveness.  Understanding language patterns will support you in negotiating ethically for win win results, thus operating with integrity, maintaining stakeholder relationships and securing future business.  Awareness of verbal and non verbal structures will also contribute to protecting you from less than ecological business transactions.  Recognising motivational drivers and communication preferences within your teams will support employee engagement and retention.  Using NLP within your coaching conversations will enable you to pinpoint how, where and when to support your employees to maximise their potential and thus drive business results.
 
With Others - NLP provides a number of keys to unlock the structure underpinning communication.  Through recognising patterns in language and behaviour (both within ourselves and others) we can ensure we communicate with transparency, thus creating rapportful relationships, with shared outcomes.  Adopting the key presuppositions of NLP will nurture curiosity and openness to explore possibilities, challenging ideas not individuals, seeking solutions not obstacles, developing behavioural flexibility and creating not limiting choice.
 

If we truly respond to our internal representations of the world we are experiencing then our perception is our reality.  Opening our minds to the fact that there could be any number of realities co-existing at any one time dependent on "the experiencer" creates a wealth of options relating to how we might choose to think of and respond to others.