Published:

07/17/2014 03:08am

Are You A Purpose-Driven Leader?

If you can't say "Yes" to this question with whole-hearted congruence there is still a way to go. Alignment with the mind, body, spirit is often under-rated when leaders assess themselves but this simple as it is, still remains the most important trait that every leader needs to have.

Over the years of developing people in companies I have had many senior leaders attend my programs. I ask them why they have come. They say "we have done everything in our lives and wonder what's next?" These are people who have achieved a lot in their lives and are at a dead end with a large question looming over their heads "what is life really about?"

At the Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner Program, they learnt about themselves and tapped into their identity. Conversations revolved around helping people find more meaning in their life. They were able to access deep, hidden resources in the wellspring of their internal self.

One participant described the program well. He said he had been to many programs but never found anything so valuable as it provided him with the complete jigsaw puzzle of life. He said he had always thought of a change in human behavior as difficult but now understood the building blocks of how to.

He further went on to say that understanding each block and how they fit in to each other to create a variety of different models for specific results. He called these building blocks the search engine to a meaningful life.

Another participant who came from a manufacturing background called this program the 6 Sigma of People Development as the entire focus is on context, process and structure rather than content.

Participants are able to keep their private events to themselves while working with the process of an experience. Elegant and effective, all participants enjoy the experience of working with each other and practicing the art of staying out of content.
The program was enjoyable to many who loved the fact that there were processes for every specific goal. Participants were focused on short processes that work with the five senses - what we see, hear, feel, smell and taste.

How does a person capture their experience with the five senses? Do they create black and white pictures or color? Are their pictures large or small, near or far? Participants noticed that a mere change in the way they set up their pictures, sounds and feelings made a huge impact on the end result.

People cleared their phobias in 20 minutes. One participant had not eaten all the food on her plate for years. She would have two spoons of food and leave the rest. She was extremely thin and wanted so badly to become normal again.

This lady was a high-powered executive in the banking and finance industry. She had all the money in the world and was not wanting of anything in her life. She volunteered to do a process that re-aligned her internal self and reframed her behavior of eating a sparrow's portion of food. She ate fully at the break immediately after the process. All other participants clapped and she cried with joy. She said she had not felt so free in a long time.

It is no wonder that NLP is hailed as a highly efficient and easily applied model for understanding and influencing human behavior. It works fast and has profound results.

Used more and more in the workplace today, NLP creates lasting behavioral change in individuals. Employees find that once these negative programs that have held them for years are gone, they are able to do much more. This is how people then tap into their full potential as the sky is the limit and all emotional blockages have been eliminated.

It is even more powerful when embraced by all levels of an organization as it equips employees with a common language. Suddenly everyone is talking the same talk that is clearly understood by all levels. This is where the power is.

Where trust has eroded in the culture of organizations today, pulling employees together in programs like this have the potential to install trust again. Leaders are able to move their organization with a vision, knowing their people are raring to go.

NLP doesn't only transcend the leadership sphere. Previous program participants said they gained amazing clarity in their personal and business objectives; sales delegates surpassed their targets; and managers reported great changes in previously confrontational situations.

Ask yourself now "Are you that purpose driven leader today?" If not, do something about it.

Co-founded by a Professor of Linguistics, Dr. John Grinder and a computer scientist, Richard Bandler, NLP is a language of influence and a model of how to reprogram yourself for better results.

Sylvia Fernandes is the Founder & CEO of VIA Frontiers. She is also the author of Bye Bye Black Cat. She has been operating in the Asia Pacific Region for the last 12 years and is currently based in Singapore. Go to www.viafrontiers.com for more information.