NLP WITH COLLEAGUES

During our teaching sessions with trainee GPs we talk about applying NLP in practical situations with colleagues. The one situation they always come up with is practice meetings. These are situations that they often find difficult or in which conflict arises and they want tips as to how to handle the situation. Well I am facing just that situation myself today. Our regular weekly practice meetings are on a Friday lunchtime but today we have a special one (no nothing to do with Jose Mourinho..... will he or won't he go back to Chelsea? Or even to Spurs if Harry takes the England job?) I digress - today's special meeting is about re-vamping our appointment system and it will be a wonderful opportunity to put my NLP skills into practice.

What upcoming situations do you face in which it would be useful to have some extra skills? Maybe to further hone your ability to get into rapport or to be able to understand the situation from a number of different perspectives as we discussed in last week's blog about conflict resolution. Listening skills are possibly the most important of all - not only what is being said but how it being said. What tonality is being used? Another technique called the Meta Model delves behind the words that are actually being spoken (called the surface structure) to what is really being meant (the deep structure).

NLP fascinates me. A few people we teach initially ask if the techniques aren't just common sense.
No - they are much more than that. Certainly some of the skills we teach on our introductory trainings are things that we sometimes do already, but it's about being aware that you do them. By bringing them into conscious awareness you can fine tune those skills and use them deliberately when the situation calls for it. Later we teach techniques that you certainly won't have used before, but once you know them they'll form an essential part of your everyday interactions with everyone you meet.

But it's not all work for me today as tonight we have our annual practice quiz night. I've set a round of questions on two topics I have an in-depth knowledge of .............. EastEnders and Casualty!
Sad but true, I'm a big fan of both programmes - should be a good night. See you next week.
Michelle

MODELLING - HOW DO THEY DO THAT?

No, not the catwalk type of modelling. I think I've a bit too much meat on my bones for that........

When you were born did you know how to walk? How to ride a bike? How to speak English? Of course you didn't ........ but almost certainly you know how to do all those things now. So how has that happened? Somewhere along the line you have learned the skills involved in performing those tasks.

Can you ride a unicycle, speak Japanese or play the bagpipes? Maybe you can but for most of us it will be a no to all of these questions. For some people it'll be a yes because they have chosen to learn the skills involved. My point is this, if someone can do it, they must have learned to do it. If they can learn to do it, then you can too. Now I'm not saying you can decide to learn to sprint this week and be beating Usain Bolt the next but you could certainly get a whole lot faster if you learned to do what he does by modelling him - by studying how he does it.

In NLP terms, understanding that a skill is made up of a series of steps is one of the first steps to modelling that skill and being able to do it yourself. It's about more than just the physical movements though, it's about the attitude. What is going on in someone's head when they reach peak performance? How can you learn to get yourself into the same state?

The NLP presupposition that encompasses this best is, Possible in the world and possible for me is only a matter of how. I love this because it opens up a whole lifetime of possibilities. It lets me look at my laptop keyboard and see every book that's ever been written; or at a piano keyboard and understand that every piece of music that exists in the world could come from the notes on there.
To me that's mind-blowing. It's also hugely empowering ......... and I don't think I'm alone in that.
Michelle

OUR BIGGEST WEEK SO FAR

This week is perhaps our biggest so far and is one that we are eagerly anticipating.

Tomorrow we are off to Reading GP Vocational Training Scheme to deliver a whole day's training to their ST3 group. In addition to giving them an understanding of what NLP is and teaching them lots of techniques, there will be plenty of time in the afternoon to work on the clinical cases that they will be bringing. This is a great chance for them to see their new NLP skills in action. They'll learn plenty of tips and tricks and discover new ways to solve what might once have seemed like insoluble problems.

On Wednesday we are facing our biggest challenge so far; delivering a Masterclass in NLP to 140 members of the Leadership Development Programme at NHS London. Some of the previous speakers on this programme have been world leaders in their field - like Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It's a hugely exciting opportunity for us to get up in front of so many influential people and share our passion and enthusiasm for NLP. We've spent a long time preparing for this, making sure that we give each and every one of them an experience to remember. We both know from personal experience what a huge difference NLP can make. We also know from our years in the NHS what an important chance this is to get out there and show them just what NLP has to offer in the healthcare sector.

It's going to be great ........ we're excited and we're ready...... Bring it on!
Michelle