THE EVER-EXPANDING NEURO-SEMANTIC VISION In the beginning the vision was singular— raise the quality of NLP. For us that mean practice what we teach—communicate among ourselves, apply the patterns and the premises to ourselves, hold ourselves accountable, step up to be professional in our ethics, attitude, and actions. It meant to cooperate with each other, collaborate, support each other, give credit to each other. Then in the late 1990s Neuro-Semantics began to expand. With the creativity that was emerging from the Meta-States Model we were enriching all of the models of NLP. I had the privilege along with Bob Bodenhamer and others to expand the Meta-Model, Sub-Modalities, Time-Lines, Strategies, Modeling, Meta-Programs, Trance, etc. As a result, with Neuro-Semantic NLP we expanded both Practitioner and Master Practitioner to include a much richer version of NLP. And that is still the case, hence our programs of Prac. and Master Prac.—Meta-NLP and Meta-Masters Then, with those expansions of the foundational models of NLP, we began creating new models— all based on NLP and most of them using the Meta-States Model. In 1998, The Frame Game Model (now called Winning the Inner Game). Then in 2002, the Matrix Model, next came The Axes of Change based on four meta-programs (2004). The Meaning— Performance Axes and the Self-Actualization Quadrants (based on 12 meta-programs) came in 2005, and the Matrix Embedded Pyramid of needs in 2006. Then the Facilitation Model for Meta-Coaching (2007), then the Axes of Leadership (2008). That’s a lot of creativity! So where did all of these Models and the multiple new patterns within them come from? Two sources. First from Modeling. That’s one of the things we have focused on in Neuro-Semantics and why we put a big emphasis on it in Master Prac. (Meta-Masters). Over the years, I have actually written five books on the subject of modeling. And then, from the expanded way the Meta-States Model enables us to model the higher hidden structures of an experience, lots of new things have emerged. This started when I did my first modeling project on Resilience (1990–1994). From within that study came the Meta-States Model itself (1994). This was then, in turn, recognized in the field of NLP (1995) by the International Association of NLP Trainers. And since then I have conducted 17 modeling projects. And so are many others in Neuro-Semantics. Second, from the Community. That is, from lots and lots of Neuro-Semanticists who challenge and question me and who add insights and discoveries from their own studies and experiences. Sometimes they add so much to a project that I asked them to write a chapter or two and included them in a given book on that subject. At other times I end up adding their names to the books as co-authors because of how much they contributed. Sometimes I have included their contributions within the chapters, or in the Training Manuals. Sometimes, we simply publish their articles and their patterns on one of the websites and acknowledge them as a Neuro-Semantic Developer. Or if they have written a book using Neuro-Semantics, we recognize that and honor them also as a Developer. In addition to that, for the past three years we have running an Innovation Contest each year from which we select the three most significant contributions and publish them. We do this to recognize what others are adding and contributing. This really speaks to the value of a community— a place where people have a voice and can make a contribution. If the community is dominated by competition and a fierce competitive attitude, the community is not safe to share with— someone may “steal” your stuff. So people keep it as if it is a secret formula. I know many very intelligent and highly capable NLP Trainers who have some great stuff, but they keep it close to their chest out of fear. How sad. We have worked hard to have a very different spirit in the field of Neuro-Semantics. We have sought to create an open-source community for the Trainers and for the Meta-Coaches. We have sought to honor contributions, to recognize new insights and suggestions, to adjust things when people come up with better and more efficient ways of doing things. For us that is the meaning of community. This applies to things regarding leadership as well. We want a shared leadership of those who are actually leading— bringing people into the community and so we have set up 19 Institutes of Neuro-Semantics in 19 countries. This is based on a minimum of two trainers collaborating to create the non-profit association and together promoting and supporting Neuro-Semantics in that country. This puts them in a leadership role and when the Institute has a minimum of five members, they can recommend one of their members to the international leadership team. All of this is designed to groom leaders. And regarding leaders in Neuro-Semantics—we need all kinds of leaders. We need thought leaders, administrative leaders, visionary leaders, inspirational leaders, managerial leaders, research leaders, moral leaders, exemplar leaders, and so on. To meet this need, we are seeking to generate leaders in the different Professional Tracks that we have established. This will eventually give us those who are leaders in NLP, Meta-Coaching, Business, Leadership, Health, Education, etc. L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:16:07 +0000