20 Leading with NLP
Make them further and further away. How do your
feelings change about them as a leader? Is there a
threshold point where they do not seem to be a
leader any more?
Put them back as they were and now bring them
closer to you. How does that change your feelings
about them? Is there a threshold where they are too
close and it feels uncomfortable?
Put them back at a comfortable distance. Now notice
how high the leader stands relative to you. Make
them higher than you. Do your feelings change?
What is it like as you make them higher and higher
above you?
Now move them below you. How does your feeling
about them change? Do you still think of them as a
leader? Is there a threshold where they do not seem
to be a leader any more?Try these exercises with a number of different leaders.
Does the height and distance vary depending on who
you think of?Leadership Exercise
A leader’s influence comes from the relationship they
create with their followers. How we represent that re-
lationship in our minds determines what we think of
leaders, how we respond to them and what sort of rela-
tionship we in turn create with others when we become
leaders.
Use this exercise to explore how you think about
leaders and how you see yourself as a leader.Think of one or more people you respect as leaders.
Make a picture of them in your mind’s eye. Imagine
people around them whom they influence and who
follow them.