Robert Steinhouse Head of Training at NLP School, London, UK

Transcription

1 Hidden barriers to learning and how to overcome them Robert Steinhouse Head of Training at NLP School, London, UK Training and coaching The purpose of this article is to define the different kinds of psychological issues hat prevent people from learning the skills necessary to make real, lasting change in their work and life, and to show ways in which these can be countered. Before I begin, let me tell you a little about my background as both a coach and trainer. I am head of training at NLP School and have been teaching neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) courses for many years, both public and in-house. I am also an International Coach Federation (ICF)-certified coach, working mainly with senior executives via one-toone coaching. These roles may seem very different as a trainer I am in front of an audience and cannot devote too much time to any individual; as a coach I am working with one person. As a trainer I am responsible for informing and, up to a point, entertaining the audience; as a coach I am at the service of the client, who controls the agenda and mood of the session. However I have come to realize that the two activities have more in common than might appear. Really effective training does not just impart information but removes psychological barriers to learning: a set of skills I learned from NLP coaching The logical levels I will start by explaining an NLP model that separates out different psychological levels. It is called the Logical Levels and was created by Robert Dilts. Each level corresponds to a key question about individual action (Table I). Training & Management Development Methods, Vol. 25, 2011, pp # Emerald Group Publishing Limited, , DOI /

2 Training & Management Development Methods Level Vision or mission Identity Beliefs and values Capability Behaviour Environment Table I. Question For what/whom? Who? Why? How? What? Where? When? Let me demonstrate this model with a simple action: catching a ball. It starts with a stimulus from the environment (a ball coming towards you) which is then met by a behaviour (the catch). The reason someone can catch is they have developed a capability or skill at catching. However, if someone was repeatedly told as a child they were clumsy and/or then had a highly embarrassing moment at a critical point in a school match, they may believe that it is impossible for them to be good at catching. They may have gone on to conclude that sport is of little value and to disidentify with sports, saying something like, I am not sporty. They will certainly have no sense that sport can make the world a better place in any way, that it could be part of a worthwhile personal mission The key point is that if someone identifies with an activity I am an intellectual, I am musical, I am sporty and so on they will tend to cluster a group of beliefs and values around that sense of themselves, which will in turn motivate them to gain or hone the skills necessary to manifest that behaviour out there in the environment. Equally when someone says they are not intellectual, musical, sporty (and so on) they will have no motivation to learn or change. The higher levels influence the lower levels, but not (or much less often) the other way round. Training is essentially an intervention at the level of capability. For some students, such interventions influence upwards : once they have discovered a new capability, this encourages them to master that skill and after a period of time they will identify with it ( I am a manager, I am a sales person and so on). However, for many people their existing beliefs, values and identity (sense of self) act as a block to gaining new skills (mission is less of a problem: people with a clear mission will either be eager to learn, as what you have to impart will help them to further their mission, or not be on the training at all.) Identity Let us first look at identity. A classic example of a block at this level is the professional accountant, solicitor, engineer, nurse (and so on) who

3 Hidden barriers to learning and how to overcome them has great technical prowess, yet lacks the soft skills to progress into a managerial or client-facing role and seems unwilling or unable to acquire these. They may say something like: Sales people are slimy and I don t want to become one. I am a professional. This cannot be countered by more sales training, which is usually aimed at eager aspirant sales people, or by badgering the individual that they have to change their attitude they will just switch off in the former and get ever more defensive at the latter. Instead, the trainer needs to do what we call in NLP reframing, getting the individual to see things from a different angle. I m not suggesting that you would ever become a sales person. All I am suggesting is that improving your negotiation skills is a necessary part of the skill-set for professionals like you to take a more senior role. Here, the trainer has reframed to suggest that the individual change his or her perspective from identity ( I am not a salesperson ) to capability ( I lack the skills necessary to do this part of my appropriate new job effectively. ) Once this change in perspective is achieved, the person will have much less resistance to actually learning the material. The above example showed someone who thought themselves above the new task, but the opposite can also be the case: I m not worthy to become an x... This is harder to fix by all means try a reframe, but the individual suffering from this kind of issue probably needs coaching or therapy. In both cases, individuals who are placed in positions that they feel are not suited to their identity may appear to be fitting in but then slowly sabotage the role, by misbehaving or getting things wrong. Further training intervening at the level of capability, remember will not rectify this Our feelings of identity are deep, powerful and well protected. Wars are fought over them. When training hits an identity level barrier, some way of preserving existing identity and merging the new capability with it needs to be found. Belief The other main level at which students encounter barriers to learning is belief. In NLP we call such barriers limiting beliefs, and they tend to take two forms: (1) Impossible: I cannot do this. (2) Inappropriate: I should not do this.

4 Training & Management Development Methods For students who do not believe it is possible or appropriate for them to achieve something, a simple question like What stops you? can get the unconscious mind working on the block it is a key principle of coaching that clients have the resources they need to solve their problems; they just need a little help in accessing those resources. Anyone who says I can t study anything can be asked anything? to challenge the excessive generalization. They may well retreat into some qualification Well, anything serious but this can be pursued further: almost everyone intelligent enough to be on a training course will have made a reasonably serious study of something. Even if at the time the defensive individual will not accept this, you have sown the seeds of critical doubt, and the student s unconscious will continue chipping away at the limitation, spurred on by your having challenged it Group training In all the cases above, I have considered one-to-one encounters with students. However, I do believe that group training can also put these messages across, anticipating these kinds of barriers in the audience. As a trainer, you can reframe your training intervention I m not here to turn you professionals into sales people... You can flag up the fact that people often have limiting beliefs about their ability to master a topic, and ask students to examine themselves to see if they have any such beliefs. Some kind of inspirational story of an unconfident student who later blossomed and became an expert in the subject can be told, which will loosen the power of limiting beliefs in some students. And, of course, you can also ask students to talk to you personally after the session if these issues trouble them. These one-to-one post-session chats effectively move the trainer into the area of coaching. As a trainer you are not there to shift the deep, personal blocks of your students, but in a short conversation a few coaching interventions can be made that can have a profound effect on a student. It is also appropriate to suggest to someone who does suffer from limiting beliefs that they should have formal coaching, where they can address these issues in the depth they deserve. NLP coaches use a number of techniques to shift limiting beliefs. Trainers should also become NLP coaches The logical conclusion of this is, of course, that trainers should also become NLP coaches. And actually it is a conclusion I would like to suggest. Informal conversations after a training session can create problems. Most trainers are familiar with the quick question after a

5 Hidden barriers to learning and how to overcome them session that turns into a monologue the individual involved is more in need of coaching than further training. While a few on the hoof coaching questions may help this person, the way you can really change them is by providing them with actual coaching, as a separate formal offer. That way you can really make a difference, and at the same time manage their perception of the value of your time: the alternative can be that you become a slave to the notion that you are only working when in front of a room full of people and expected to do everything else, like informal coaching, on the house. NLP coaching skills also enable trainers to raise the quality of their presentations. Robert Dilts talks about different roles a coach can play, relating these roles to the Logical Levels. These roles can also be played by a trainer with coaching skills and awareness (Table II). The lower three are the domain of the traditional trainer. The trainer/ coach comes into his or her own as a mentor, sponsor or awakener. These rather Californian terms need a little explanation. Mentoring often implies previous experience of a relevant field by the coach, but this does not have to be the case. A good mentor works with the beliefs and values of the mentee, helping them get the overall mindset right to succeed in what they are trying to learn. Sponsoring is more about valuing individuals for who they are, encouraging them in turn to value and express their specific talents. Awakening takes this process further, enabling students to see new ways in which they can connect with others and contribute to higher social and even spiritual goals. These may seem a bit of a tall order for much basic training, but we can all remember teachers at school who managed to fulfil these roles, often in the context of simple classroom teaching. We came away believing we could master their subject, that such mastery was worthwhile and would elevate ourselves, and that we could be of value to others by practising it. Such teachers were the true masters of their profession but with the addition of NLP coaching skills many trainers can aspire to and achieve this mastery Level Vision Identity Beliefs and values Capability Behaviour Environment Table II. Role Awakener Sponsor Mentor Teacher (explains skills) Performance coach Guide (points out facts)

6 4.06 Training & Management Development Methods Points for thought. Identity and belief can be important barriers to learning.. When training hits an identity level barrier, some way of preserving existing identity and merging the new capability with it needs to be found.. For students who do not believe it is possible or appropriate for them to achieve something, a simple question like What stops you? can get the unconscious mind working on the block.. Trainers who also become NLP coaches are more likely to be successful in shifting the barriers to learning from identity and belief. Robert Steinhouse s book, How to Coach with NLP, was published by Prentice-Hall in October If you have any questions, please him at:robbie@nlpschool.com