He cycles to make people aware of cancer. He cycles for his wife
and his son and his expected twins.
Armstrong’s cycling style is influencing other cyclists
worldwide. His key adversary Jan Ullrich yesterday crashed off the
side of the road, and it is the custom not to take advantage of the
misfortune of an adversary. Lance Armstrong followed this custom
to the letter and took one foot out of its pedal to wait for Jan
Ullrich to catch him up. As he overtook the leading cyclist Laurent
Jalabert, a French favorite who had shown great courage to lead
through the mountains all day, Armstrong indicated for Jalabert to
accompany him to the finish line. (Laurent Jalabert indicated that
if he could he would have.) This morning the headline in the
French press is “Armstrong—Ace of Spades—Ace of Hearts.” They
describe his performance as that of a virtuoso.
Lance Armstrong is cycling with purpose, with a total sense of
his identity as a world-class cyclist, with principles and beliefs
not only about his sport but also about what is possible when
everything seems to be lost. He is showing principles of integrity
in everything he is doing and demonstrating a skill in cycling
that is artistically outstanding—he dances in the pedals. His
influence is assured for posterity, not only in the world of cycling
but in the world at large.Just as a company can work more effectively if each of the
teams within it cooperates and works toward the same goal, so
an individual can function more effectively if each of the
“parts” is cooperating with the others. This kind of aligned
state can be achieved by dealing with change at a number of
levels. I will explain in this chapter how to achieve this state of
alignment so that you can obtain this coherent, aligned state
for yourself. And I will explain what strategies to use at those
times it slips away from you. Other chapters also address this
integration of parts, notably Chapter 18 on resolving conflict.
Robert Dilts, one of the leading international NLP trainers,
has developed a model for change that was originated by
Gregory Bateson, anthropologist and author of Towards an
Ecology of Mind. This model, the logical levels of change,
provides a powerful framework for discovering how to achieve
alignment.210 NLP AT WORK