302 Part V: Integrating Your Learning
Meeting her match on the river
As a keen recreational rower, Gillian Burn’s
modelling project focused on understanding
how to achieve a positive inner state in order to
row effectively for optimum performance. She
chose three exemplars: the club rowing coach;
the most improved female rower; and Olympic
rower Greg Searle. Her project culminated in
presenting her research to fellow master NLP
practitioners, at the end of their course.Her presentation began by lining up groups of
people as if they were in a rowing boat. She
then taught them a combination of strategies
involving the senses of what they would see,
feel, and hear, and their breathing, posture, and
movement when in the best state to compete.
She incorporated the TOTE model – test,
operate, test, exit, described fully in Chapter 12 –
into the learning process. The test was
whether the rowers were still with every
muscle poised for action and a strong inner
smile. If so, they were ready; if not, they had
to refocus and repeat a visual, auditory, and
kinaesthetic strategy.From modelling the rowers, Gillian was able
to identify some common themes for everyday
life to create an appropriate inner state, a positive
feeling, and a belief that you can achieve what
you want with the right preparation, inner
thoughts, and self-confidence.In addition, however, Gillian discovered an
extra and very special unexpected benefit
from interviewing the club coach in depth and
discovering much more about his personality.
‘Through the modelling process and subsequent
conversations, we became exceptionally good
friends and now share our life together and the
joys of bringing up our young daughter,’ says
Gillian. ‘Who knows what opportunities people
can find if they give themselves the time to
listen and find out about another person without
any prejudice or barriers or even thinking
they’re trying to find a partner. It was in not
looking for a partner, when John and I got
together: it was the result of a deep conversation
about a common interest.’The Rainmaker’s Dance.....................................................................
As someone with a 24-year career in sales management, Rob Biggin was
fascinated by meeting senior managers who excel at creating sales
opportunities and yet have had no formal sales training: people who are
known as ‘rainmakers’. He invited his several exemplars to teach him how
they sell and learnt much that now informs his training programmes in
service organisations.He was intrigued by the words he heard from his first exemplar:The chap told me that when he goes into a sales meeting with a prospect,
he has in mind that he may well be going on holiday with this person in the
future. [In fact, the exemplar was about to go on holiday with a client.] This