Her boss at the time was using NLP techniques of communication to ask her to do things which she felt weren't possible. "If we were having a discussion and it wasn't going well, he would encourage me to step out into an observer's position and notice what I was doing. But if you use that technique it's supposed to be about what YOU can do differently, because the only person you can change is yourself... I had quite a painful time with him, but I thought, some of the stuff this guy's using, if used with integrity, is actually very powerful", she remembers. When she remembers this time, her eyes are focused down and left - this is something psychologists have noticed about people. When I point this out, she says, "Yes, that's because it was kinaesthetically quite painful. They say the eyes are the window to the soul - I think they're the window to the mind as well." | "If someone had told me ten years ago that I would run my own business as an NLP trainer, I'd have thought they were mad..." | |
She is now a NLP Master Practitioner and trains people in techniques to make them not only better at what they do but happier doing it. It's a system of self-realisation that has grown in popularity since its creation in the 1970s in California. A lot of the language and ideas have crossed over into contemporary mainstream management culture. NLP is a system of self-analysis that helps you identify your goals in life and focuses you on achieving them. You are re-programming your brain to adjust the unhealthy behaviour everyone has, and encourage the characteristics which are best in you. Quite differently from a religion or New Age way of thinking, however, the approach is very scientific in its terminology. As an aside, Anne-Marie mentions, "I was brought up an Irish Catholic. I think it does untold damage, personally." As an example of this terminology, "modelling a desired behaviour" is where you know what you want to do, like being an expert piano player. You find someone who does it well (such as Jools Holland) then analyse what he does and how he excels at it - what habits he has, his ways of thinking and so on. You then see what processes can be replicated in your life. There are many other psychological techniques designed to help turn you into the person you really want to be - effective, happy, productive, healthy. They are non-mystical and aim to clarify what is important to you and how to focus yourself on achieving it in a viable and enjoyable way. The business aspect of NLP centres on managing relationships with colleagues and customers: another area where job performance and personal satisfaction are intertwined. Of course, if you look at what you want from life, you may find that you should leave the job you're in. "That has happened! A city lawyer client of mine re-evaluated his goals and decided what he really wanted to do was work with wine. But he had to work up from the bottom and worked his way up the ladder at Oddbins!" Anne-Marie was surprised by her own change in career path, too. "If someone had told me ten years ago that I would run my own business as an NLP trainer, I'd have thought they were mad..." This career change has led to some unusual situations, such as working with a HIV-positive man who was put on some drugs that managed to extend his life expectancy - but he had already quit his job and changed his life. He wasn't ready to keep on living for longer than he had expected, so he said he didn't want to live. After making sure he was seeking professional medical assistance, she helped him imagine that if he was going to live longer, how would he want to live? He is still alive, taking his medication and is working for a charity in Scotland. Anne runs an open, free group for anyone interested in NLP, whatever their level of expertise. If you're interested, contact her through www.cmcgconsultancy.com | 
