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

Attention to lower levels

employed and considered himself lucky each time a new large

contract “turned up.” He was never entirely sure what the

source of the next contract would be. He was influenced a great

deal by the climate. When the weather was sunny and warm he

generally felt more optimistic, whereas when it was cold and

cloudy he often felt depressed.

Steve is affected by day-to-day behavior and the

environment. He is reactive.

Linda is quietly self-assured. She is very skilled at listening to

other people and reflects before she answers or acts on what

they say. Her posture is very upright, balanced, and

symmetrical. She knows what is important to her and has strong

beliefs but does not impose these on anyone. In fact, she has a

very nondirective style of being with other people. She is flexible

in her behavior so if what she is doing is not working she tries

something else until she finds a way that is effective. If things go

wrong she takes stock of the situation and decides what she

really wants to do. She gives the impression of being at peace

with herself most of the time and she is an attractive person to

be with. People enjoy listening to her speak.

Linda’s strength comes from within herself. She is proactive.

If your attention is directed mainly to the lower levels of

change in Dilts' framework you will be thinking about how you

and others behave, in the environment. You will be affected by

changes in other people's behavior and changes in the

environment. If the weather is sunny it may cheer you up, if it

is dull and wet you feel down. This tends to lead to a more

reactiveway of dealing with life. A company that concentrates on

the lower behavioral and environmental levels will be more

likely to respond to “the competition,” rather than moving

toward its own vision of the future.

Carla had a very clear sense of identity and mission. She knew

what she wanted to achieve and what was important to her. She

believed that people could be trusted and that if anyone

behaved aggressively towards her it was not meant toward her

personally, but was more a statement of what they were feeling

224 NLP AT WORK