NLP – Neuro-linguistic programming and communication

How can managers use NLP?

Neuro-Linguistic Programming ( NLP) was created in the USA in the 1970s by John Grinder and Richard Bandler, and was later widely adopted and developed by Robert DILTS in particular.

NLP was used extensively as a persuasive tool in commercial training centres. It was then widely developed for managers: understanding others, speaking their language, active listening, understanding certain behavioural patterns, etc.

Assess Manager uses it to measure managerial skills, and cites concrete examples in its management training solutions.

NLP Definition – What is NLP?

P for programming implies that we code and mentally represent our lived experience. We use internal strategies and processes to make decisions, learn, evaluate and obtain results.

N for Neuro refers to our neurological system, postulating that thoughts activate the neurological system. The neurological system then influences our physiology, emotions and behaviour.

L for Linguistics, which is the analysis of how words influence our experience.

NLP is therefore concerned with the way in which people function, placing the brain at the heart of our functioning as a tool that can be programmed, deprogrammed and reprogrammed. In particular, NLP studies the inter-relationships or programmes that link thoughts to feelings and behaviour.

Neuro-linguistic programming in particular studies communication, the free will of each individual over his or her future (programmes and management of objectives in particular), the inter-relationships between thoughts, behaviour and emotions, and values and motivations. These are the approaches that you can find in the Assess Manager personality and management test, which is presented below to help you assess your manager and the way he or she operates.

Neuro Linguistic Programming diagrams

NLP for managers is therefore a tool for both :

• Self-awareness
• Determining personal objectives
• Understanding and adapting to other people, so that we can better “get along” and possibly encourage buy-in, without any manipulative influence.

NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Assess Manager

We have described the different theoretical sources used in the Assess Manager management test. NLP is one of the theoretical approaches used in the questionnaire and its interpretation.

NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Consciousness Index

The Assess Manager personality questionnaire is based on the principle of the Consciousness Index. In other words, it analyses behaviour in order to decipher thoughts and feelings, and vice versa. The interconnections enable us to better identify the individual’s adaptability in managing their emotions, expressed thoughts and behaviours through situational agility.

1. Situational agility indirectly translates the behaviours of the awareness index
2. Emotional agility reflects the management of feelings
3. Intellectual agility reflects the management of thoughts.

If the score is particularly high on one of the 3 indicators, the motor pole can be identified from among the 3 indicators, its dominant resource being the one over which the individual has greater control. The lowest score will be the zone of progression, the one over which the person has the lowest level of awareness.

These 3 indicators are measured and their results presented in the first part of the management test results. A large part of the test is free(test yourself), and you can discover elements that may help you…

NLP Neuro-linguistic programming and language metamodels

We filter every piece of information we receive: through our upbringing, our beliefs, our dictionaries, and so on. While the way we filter information can be partly understood using neuroscience graphs, we can also identify its form.

In other words: if an individual transforms the words of the other person, how does he transform them?

• option¹: they manage the flow of information by generalising : in other words, they tend to generalise. This distortion can lead to an exaggeration of the facts, or even dramatisation. This last tendency is also assessed in the section associated with stress management (communication and conflict management graph, personality report)
  
• ^2nd option: they forget, i.e. their brain selects the information they want to remember. Naturally, the brain acts in this way on all individuals; we don’t memorise all the information we see pass by. What is being evaluated here is the propensity of the individual’s brain to omit information that disturbs it. Omission can be negative in the sense that it can lead the individual to procrastinate. It can also be positive if it helps the individual to manage stress.
  
• ^3rd option: interpretation. In this case, the person receives the information and reprocesses it to derive additional information. If the individual has a highly emotional tendency, the interpretation will be guided by the filter of emotions and will most certainly be transformed. If the individual has a fairly factual approach and positive emotional adaptability, their interpretation is more likely to be accurate, and therefore a source of additional information.

If the graph shows no marked trend, this means that the person is fairly neutral in the way they process information and has no flagrant deviations or tendencies.

NLP Neuro-linguistic programming and SMART objectives

one of the mottos of NLP is “Think SMART to achieve the desired results”.

If we can programme and reprogramme our brains, we need to give them goals. The relationship with goals is an important point in business, but it is above all guided by the person’s ability to programme themselves. We therefore analyse the skill of “MANAGING BY OBJECTIVES” in the management report, but we also look at the way in which managers themselves experience objectives (personality report). In the reference management bible, a whole section is dedicated to management and the formulation of SMART objectives and how to use them in day-to-day management.

Similarly, their ability to adapt and therefore their “chameleon” side to achieve their goal in a relationship makes it easier for them to achieve it (we’re talking about an ethical goal, of course).

Behavioural flexibility and the inclusion of objectives in programmes model a form of determination and the ability to convince or unite. It’s easy to see how important it is for a manager to assess these tendencies when dealing with a team.

NLP Neuro-linguistic programming and metaprogrammes

Out of the flood of information we receive every day, our consciousness can only manage 5 to 9 simultaneously. We therefore filter a large amount of information, our filters being what NLP calls metaprogrammes. These are unconscious mechanisms that enable us to process information, both when we receive it and when we reprocess it.

So, among the best-known NLP metaprogrammes, which are sometimes used in other currents, you will find the following metaprogrammes in Assess Manager reports:

• Closer / further away
• Proactive / Reactive
• Global / Specific

Some of these metaprograms are reminiscent of Jung’s work, which we have already mentioned.

NLP Neuro-linguistic programming and values

Values are key elements that condition behaviour. They are directly linked to motivation and de-motivation factors, and have a direct and sometimes unconscious influence on the filters mentioned above.

The Assess Manager test reports highlight the individual’s values as well as their behaviour. By analysing the convergence between these 2 elements, we can identify in particular:

• Whether or not the person is suited to their position and environment,
• Alignment or potential conflicts of values,
• Internal congruence or, on the contrary, a person’s inner conflicts.

These tools, which are well mastered, are useful for :

• for recruiters, when they want to identify unrevealed potential or an environment that is more conducive to a candidate
• for coaches, who can help their clients understand their choices and their impact, and possibly make new choices.

Key points about NLP

• The index of a person’s awareness and adaptability are closely linked, and can therefore be observed by
• By identifying certain language metamodels, you can quickly target areas for improvement to improve understanding or regulate your own filters
• Find several NLP metaprograms in the personality test indicators
• While NLP emphasises the ability to reprogram the brain, it is interesting to understand the relationship between an individual and the notion of objectives, especially in a managerial context
• By comparing behaviour with values, we can identify the degree of alignment both intrinsically and with the environment