22 Leading with NLP
What does it feel like to see yourself standing there as
a leader?
Adjust the picture until it feels comfortable.Now step into the picture, be in your body, in the
group of leaders, looking out through your own
eyes at the people around who are following.How do you feel there?Metaphors of Leadership
How we see leaders in our mind shapes what we feel about
leaders, our relationship to them and, of course, how we
speak about them. Here are some examples:
‘ahead of the field’
‘on a pedestal’
‘a cut above the others’
‘close to the people’
‘distant’
‘out of touch’
‘the common touch’
‘in touch with the people’
‘hands-on style’
‘a towering leader’
‘larger than life’
‘head and shoulders above the rest’
‘in a class of their own’
‘stuck up’
If you catch yourself, or others, using these metaphors, you
can gain an insight into how you perceive leadership.