In order to enable others to be effective, Leaders need to have a range of skills. One of the most important skills is knowing how to coach and develop people. This is where NLP comes in. As an advanced coaching methodology, NLP can help Leaders understand mindset and develop skills to enable others to be successful.
One of the key ways that Leaders can use NLP to empower others is by using it to build self-confidence. When people feel confident, they are more likely to be successful. Even if you are not using the NLP toolkit inside of a coaching session, you will always have with you the skills of deep listening and an understanding of how people make meaning. You will learn the power of embedding empowering assumptions in your own language and the influence this has on others.
Leaders can use NLP to help people set goals and achieve them. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, people will be more motivated to achieve them. Unlike the SMART goal format, the NLP standard process for setting a clear goal deliberately taps into the unconscious motivation that is driving someone to achieve it. This makes goal setting enjoyable and motivating.
Even in goal setting, NLP understands how complex people are, especially when it comes to change. The NLP process of goal setting will also seek to understand 'if any part of you has a concern about this change'. This will surface exactly why people self-sabotage or procrastinate, and where coaching from you as their Leader would be most useful.
Finally, Leaders can also use NLP to improve communication skills. Through questioning skills you will learn to gain clarity about what someone is trying to communicate.
In this process, by surfacing how they have made meaning you can help others to create their own changes in ways of thinking that may be holding them back, just in a conversation!
All of this sounds great, and I need to be clear that there are several 'frames' that are essential to understand:
- All of these skills need to be used with a coaching intention - to empower the other person.
- You need to use these skills with permission if they are going to lead to someone feeling vulnerable. It is essential to remember that true coaching is an empowered process, not something that is 'done to you', or with an audience! Always ask 'would it be OK to explore your thinking on this a bit further?' and genuinely be OK with receiving a 'maybe later', or a 'not really'!
- Rapport is the 'container', or holding environment that makes it possible for someone to be vulnerable. If you do not have rapport with the person you are with, in that moment, your skills will be completely ineffective. Don't just think 'matching and mirroring', also think 'unconditional positive regard' and 'no judgment', because that is the level of rapport that exists when the 'NLP Coaching magic' is happening.
Overall, Leaders who know how to use NLP have a powerful toolkit at their disposal for empowering others. With the right intention these tools and techniques can help others build self-confidence, set and achieve goals, and improve communication skills.
If you're interested in learning more about NLP, click through here. We have a FREE online course that introduces NLP in the context of coaching and includes the goal-setting method mentioned above: you can access that for free here!