NLP At Work : The Difference That Makes the Difference in Business

We have learned strategies that

can work for us or against us

These patterns and habits are known as strategies in NLP

terms. A strategy is a sequence of thoughts and behaviors

based on a set of beliefs and a sense of self. We all have

characteristic elements in our strategies for both our

resourceful and unresourceful states. We have learned

strategies that can work for us or against us. Once we are aware

of what we are doing when our lives are going well and what we

are doing when our lives are not going well, we have choice. By

making the unconscious conscious in this way we eliminate the

need for judgment and through awareness we create freedom.

“Those able to realise that the thinking of today is about strategy

and communication rather than technology alone will be able

to run rings around the pure technologists.”

Peter Small, The Entrepreneurial Web

Harry was concerned with his response to some of the people in

his organization. He was aware that he treated some people

with respect and courtesy at all times and yet with others it was

all he could do to contain his frustration and aggression. He

knew that the former was the way he wanted to be with

everyone, not only because of his values as a human being but

also because it made good business sense.

When he talked about the people he treated with respect (who

were also the people with whom he learned the most), he looked

directly at me and he talked about himself using “I.” All his

gestures were close to his chest (his heart). When he talked about

the people with whom he had difficulty, he stopped saying “I” and

said “you” or “one” instead. He indicated these people in his

thinking by pointing to them in the air as if they were up and to

his left, away from him. When he talked about the people he

respected his whole face softened, he spoke in a relaxed manner,

and his whole demeanor was one of ease. When he spoke of the

people with whom he had difficulty, his voice as well as his facial

muscles hardened and his body state was one of tension.

Peter wanted to find a way to get some personal space in his

life. He ran a successful business and he worked almost without

174 NLP AT WORK

Strategies for success