How Outstanding Leaders Learn how to Lead

During the course of one or two decades working in large and small firms I have come across some exceptional leaders. The question that now absorbs lots of my time is: “how did they learn how to become such good leaders?”

I no longer accept that leaders are born and not made. If this was true there would probably be more good leaders.

What I do believe, and this is an essential part of the NLP training that I teach is that most leaders learn by modeling the features of the exceptional leaders that they come across in their journey up the management ladder.

The risk of this plan of action is that many folk model the incorrect attributes of the leaders that they admire. I have seen that occur on many occasions. Maybe a really good leader is somewhat loud in his speech which results in several of his aspirational juniors talking more loudly than the situation warrants.

To model someone successfully you’ve got to get the whole structure of what makes them exceptional. This may include the beliefs that are the base for their views, their willingness to accept feedback, their learning style and the way in which they access resources. It also may include many other abilities which only become plain in different circumstances.

So as to be well placed to model the behaviour of an outstanding leader, or anyone else who displays excellence, you need to see and hear their behaviour at the time when they are actually behaving in the way that you want to be able to do yourself.

I watch eye movements to get an idea of the way they are thinking. I listen to their language patterns to clarify the way that they think and I tune in to get a feel of the feelings they are experiencing. When doing this I am really not really interested in what they are saying, but rather in the way they are saying it. What’s important to them about the subject about which they are speaking?

Imagine a precision instrument that records the actions, words and feelings of the best performers. Then download that data to a powerful decoder that analyses and codes the behaviour. Transfer the code to your personal control panel so that you can reproduce excellence at will. This is how NLP Techniques work. NLP Practitioner David Ferrers will show you how to build your own control panel during Business Coaching. or at one of his NLP Training workshops or during NLP Practitioner Training in India.