Building up a business from scratch or helping your company to rise to greater heights can be achieved easily and effortlessly by a process known as Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). This technique has been used by organizations across the globe to help improve their status. Whether you are a leader looking to increase your communication and performance skills or connected to sales and wishing to improve targets, NLP will teach you the art of human excellence which will help you to become the very best business person you can.

NLP can change your professional career in a positive way once and for all. Neuro refers to the nervous system which puts us in touch with our five senses. The linguistic part of NLP is associated with the way we use language, body gestures and habits which reveal how we think and believe. The programming aspect of NLP is where we tweak our thoughts and behaviour to fall in line with that successful manager or leader which we aspire to become without negative thoughts clouding the way and holding us back.

BMW used NLP to make positive changes to their workforce by modelling the behaviour of the top 1% of sales people in the country and teaching these skills to every member of their sales team. Within a few months, the results spoke for themselves when sales figures were higher than anticipated. Diners Club in the USA used NLP to improve the performance of their customer service sector. By copying the behaviour of successful leaders they were able to provide a much improved approach to customer communication skills and the results showed a 254% increase in customer spending.

Let's take a further look: A team member is desperate to win a majority vote for his proposal. By building a rapport with each and every participant he is able to use that knowledge to make every single board member feel that his/her individual contribution will be of significant value to the success of the project. This makes the idea more inviting and highly likely to be accepted.

A salesman uses some clever form of question and answering to discover how well a customer has been using his product. By using this effective form of communication, he is able to define areas where similar complementary products can be used to help the customer further.

This happens by modelling the behaviour of successful people in a similar field and using it to achieve a similar level of success. By learning the art of being able to read and understand the communication and body language of others, it is easy to build a rapport and gain the results required.

In today's business world, leaders need to focus on three core areas:

1. Taking control of their emotions: Whenever a leader sets a goal, there are various stretches, developments and milestones they will have to overcome along the way. This means that unexpected problems, delays and unforeseen circumstances will crop up and force many out of their comfort zone. This is the time when leaders need to rely on a calm, focussed mind so as they can continually direct and support their team.

NLP has a box full of tools to ensure that those emotions remain stable and focussed under stressful situations. By visualising their perfect leader, these people can work towards integrating these attributes into themselves. This means looking through the eyes of that person hypothetically so as situations can be viewed from their perspective.

A simple NLP exercise:

Turn off your mobile phone, draw the curtains and shut your eyes...let every part of your body relax and for the next few moments focus on the ebb and flow of your breathing. The only thoughts you should have right now should be on the in and out of your breathing, nothing else. If any other thoughts come into your mind, shut them out by remaining focussed on your breathing...nothing else. Now let's take a look at the problems you are encountering as a leader. Why do they bother you? Have they served any benefit? How did you feel before these problems arose? How has your situation changed?

Now, step out of your body and into the body of your ideal leader. How is he coping with this situation? How does he present himself? What does he say? What does it feel like to be him? Stay looking through his eyes for a few moments and then step back into your own body. What did you learn from your virtual mentor? Have you noticed that he probably did all the opposite of what you do, did he compose himself differently? Were his words similar to yours?

This is just a taste of the many NLP exercises which can make positive and permanent changes according to your needs. Deep Trance Identification can also help to make rapid and permanent improvements to your leadership skills.

2. Rapid Learning Skills: When leaders work towards a goal, they will have to learn many new skills along the way to help them grow and develop as individuals. They will need to accelerate their learning capabilities so as reading and information recall can be done at twice the speed.

NLP can help leaders to develop a mental image of their ideal learning environment accompanied with the emotions and beliefs that they will need to adopt in order to absorb information without effort. They will use anchors which will trigger this instant learning technique whenever they need to learn a skill quickly.

3. The Art of Influencing and Persuading: Leaders have to be able to sale their vision with passion and self-belief. This means working with a goal that matches their team values and has significant relevance. NLP can help to build that vision in stages by adding colour, passion and vibrancy which resonates to such an extent that it motivates and drives a team forward.

Making improvements in these three areas will guide you towards becoming a better leader by giving you the power to be able to understand people's way of thinking so as you can motivate a team to work with you towards achieving your vision.

Every morning, build yourself up mentally and hold the following affirmation in mind throughout the day. "I will not allow envy, jealousy, hatred, anger, doubt, fear or anxiety to enter my mind. Instead, I will focus on love for each and every one of my colleagues and clients because the negative way of thinking will bring me negative results and the positive will bring me success".

Babies use their five senses along with their environment and heredity to receive and react to information. As we develop we attach labels to experiences and situations which are either good or bad...These feelings will always surface when they are triggered by our sense of touch, sight or hearing. It is easy to see which sense has been aroused by the language that we use.

For example, if we see things kinaesthetically: We would use language such as "I am out of my depth."
If we see things visually: We would phrase sentences such as "I don't see this the same way as you."
If we rely on our audio senses: We would say things similar to "It doesn't sound like a good idea."

If you are trying to communicate with a team member or client but are using the incorrect terminology associated with their dominant sense, you will have difficulty in being understood. For example: You may not get a proactive response from an employee if you tell him to "Go for it" (kinaesthetic) when he sees things visually. You would be more likely to stir a sense of urgency and motivation if you use words such as "Can you take a look at it for me" (Visual).

Make it an aim to examine the way your subordinates and clients use words and build rapport with them by using a similar style of conversation. Try not to pigeon hole people into three categories. Means of communication can vary from week to week but by focussing on the key words used, you can adapt accordingly

You can have anything you want in life but you have to be certain with all of your heart and soul that you want it wholeheartedly as the universe can only respond to positivity. Keep your thoughts focussed on the 'here and now' as you progress toward your goal. Along the way you will meet a variety of people, a combination of good and bad events, thoughts, actions and feelings which will contribute to your success or failure.

If you can view the bigger picture, you will be able to ascertain if things are working according to plan. NLP is there to reverse those feelings which have held you back in the past so keep modelling your behaviour on those who inspire you the most. Do not dwell on what you should be doing or should have done as this only puts negative barriers in the way and hampers progress. The good thing about using these skills in a business environment is that they will spill over into your personal life and make positive changes all round!