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

92 NLP AT WORK

❏ Surface structure—everything we say, either to ourselves or to

other people.

❏ Deep structure—the underlying meaning of what we say,

containing information neither expressed nor known

consciously.

A number of things can happen between the deep structure

and the surface structure of the language. The intention of the

communication may be lost or changed in the process of

converting one to the other. The more aligned we are between

what we say and what we truly mean, the more coherent our

message and the more likely we are to fulfill the role of leader,

no matter what the context.

The only person ultimately who can look after you is you.

The responsible organizations are the ones who encourage

their people to take this kind of ownership for themselves.

In the Cork, Ireland, branch of Pfizer every employee has total

responsibility for their personal development, their personal

learning, and their personal career. There are no managers—

everyone is part of one team and everyone shares in the

responsibility for business strategy.

Our language is rich in clues about our willingness and skill to

take on this kind of responsibility. We need to learn habits to

support this way of working. And more significantly, we need

to learn to recognize the habits we have that hinder this way

of working. Language is a good place to start to begin to make

that kind of a difference.

Look at the expressions below. Read them quickly. What do

they say?

Two levels of language

The only person who can look

after you is you

Lazy language

Once

in a

a lifetime

Paris

in the

the spring

A

bird in the

the hand