Magic Valley NLP

NLP Presupposition:  People already have all the resources they need.

Events are real, however names have been changed. 

One day I was sitting in faculty meeting and my ears pricked up.  My principal was reading some information from The Corporate Leadership Council.   This is a council that researches and works to improve talent in business management. 

The council completed a study of 19,000 employees in thirty four companies in seven industries in twenty countries.   Their key findings were these:

Formal reviews with the emphasis on strengths increases performance by 37%

Formal reviews with the emphasis on weaknesses decreases performance by 27%

Regular informal feedback with the emphasis on weaknesses decreases performance by 11%

This was fascinating to me both from a teaching standpoint and an NLP standpoint.  If business has proven that emphasis on strengths increase performance by 37%, then that is something to make certain is continually incorporated in my classroom.  

Praise is already an area that I am heavy on.  Years ago I learned my first big lesson on the power of praise.  I had a small, private kindergarten.  It was in my basement and I was only allowed to have five students because of fire safety codes.

One little girl was a doll.  Tiny and sweet… and left handed.  Being left handed makes writing much harder because your hand is continually sweeping over what you have just completed.    We worked on handwriting every day and hers was beautiful.

Toward the end of the year others started noticing her handwriting and would comment on how unusual it was for a left hander to write so well, particularly at such a young age.  I reflected and then knew the answer. Each day I would point out only the good letters and tell exactly why they were good.  I totally ignored the poorly shaped ones. With the constant load of praise her behavior was shaped towards excellence.  I became a believer.   Later I studied to become a developmental specialist.  Again I was taught the power of reinforcing the behavior you want. This is called shaping. 

NLP has a presupposition that people already have all the resources they need. This presupposes that the resources are there, we just don’t know how to access them.   This presupposition may not be  true in all cases, but I have found in my experience that the majority of the time it is indeed true.   If I, as a teacher, constantly praise the good, my students soon learn to shape their behavior in positive ways whether it is writing, diligently studying, or making renewed efforts at learning new material.  My reinforcement of positive behaviors that I want to reoccur will strengthen the students and help the behavior to reoccur.  Children have the resources; I am the facilitator in helping them discover the resources within their beings and bringing them to the surface so that they can use them in their learning and growth. 

© Debrah Roundy 2008

For more information in The Corporate Leadership Council go to:   https://www.clc.executiveboard.com/Public/Default.aspx