WOW! A LOT OF HIGH QUALITY PEOPLE!

While we received a lot of very positive feedback and testimonies from those who attended the First International Neuro-Semantic Conference, here is some of the very best feedback that I received both in writing and in person. These are the comments regarding the high quality people at the conference: “You have such intelligent and world-class people here!” one gentleman said at the end of the Conference. “I’m really impressed, I remember the days when you were just starting and coming each summer to Florida ...” “How have you succeeded in attracting such incredibly competent people to be a part of this?” another person asked. “I’m really surprised!”

Well, I wasn’t surprised about the high quality people; I am only surprised by the comment itself. Of course, I suppose that part of my lack of surprise is that I am now used to working around, and hanging out with, such highly competent people. It is one of the things that I find so rewarding in Neuro-Semantics —I get to hang out with focused, intense, intelligent, creative, playful, and loving people!

This wasn’t true for a number of years. There was a time when we had to be much more vigilant about who we let in. There were the New Age nuts who wanted us to model channeling dead people; model remote viewing, and so on. There were the manipulators, especially we had to be careful about people coming from some “schools” of NLP, schools which mostly used NLP to sell and persuade. Why? Because those are the “schools” of NLP that do not distinguish between respectfully influencing and manipulating to one’s own selfish advantage. They offer no ethical guidelines for how and when to “do” NLP on someone. In those early years, there were several times when I had to call someone aside and talk to them about using various language patterns (seduction patterns) that were not respectful.

Then there were the talkers who never do. Many would come in, get absolutely enthusiastic about Neuro-Semantic NLP and in their excitement talk about doing wild and incredible things when they got home. But then nothing happened. When they got home they ran out of steam, the excitement vanished, and within months they would be off after the next new thing.

Yet as the years have passed, one thing that most people know about Neuro-Semantic NLP is that we have a strong emphasis on professional ethics. And a strong emphasis on quality, on results, on accountability. This has been at the heart of the Vision we put out in 1996, “to take NLP to a higher level ethically and professionally.” And it has been the reason we created structures of accountability for people who are licensed to use Neuro-Semantic NLP as Meta-Coaches or as Trainers under the ISNS.

How else do I explain the high quality of people who are now at the core of Neuro-Semantics? I attribute it in part to the Meta-States Model. Using the Meta-States Model does that because it has “applied to self” built into the model. That’s because it is a model about self-reflexive consciousness— how you think-and-feel about your previous state or what you just said or did. And given that, our focus has always been —first apply to self, then to others. In fact, we go so far as to say, If you are not applying a pattern, a model, a process to yourself, you haven’t earned the right to apply it to others. And if you don’t provide choice for people— enabling them to understand what they are signing up for and the possible consequences of using a particular pattern, you are not treating the person as an adult. You are assuming that you know better for them and that is ultimately disrespectful.

If a tool is powerful, it is powerful both in providing value and richness— in making the world better and a person more resourceful. If it is powerful, it is also powerful for being misused so that someone could misuse it to take advantage of others and to make their world poorer and them less resourceful. That’s why training isn’t enough; there has to be accountability, supervision, and some personal guidance and mentoring so that a person using the tools is the kind of person who brings honor to the process. That’s why we always ask those being licensed to “make us proud” and why the licensing process itself creates an ongoing relationship.

When I step back from both the presenters at the International Conference and the participants who traveled from so many countries to be a part of it— I am amazed and delighted when I consider the incredible group of high quality people who came. At the Conference we had a handful of doctoral level researchers, we had three medical doctors, we had top-level executive Coaches and business consultants. We had some top level psychotherapists from numerous countries. We also had many people highly skilled and experienced in marketing and entrepreneurship. And beyond that we had a whole community of people who know how to collaborate and practice operating from abundance.

What else explains this? I think our leadership team explains it. One of the ways you can “measure” and evaluate leadership is by looking at the quality of the people it produces. So look who’s following their lead! Also, knowing the hearts and lives of those on the leadership team, I know them in terms of their passion for making a difference in the world and for creating credibility for Neuro-Semantics by what they do and who they are.