Achieve success or avoid failure?
Do you work towards or strive to move away from something? This very powerful filter – away from or towards – influences our preparation for, and commitment to, goals and our subsequent likelihood of achieving what we want. Like all filters it needs to be taken in context. Neither of these patterns is intrinsically right or wrong but they do have consequences. Someone who is very strongly ‘away from’ may need some expectation of ill effects or pain to motivate them to act. The ‘towards’ pattern person is more likely to focus on achieving results. You can recognise this pattern in the language people use and motivate them by using their language. In the context of work goals for example decide if the person you want to motivate is towards or away from then choose the appropriate formulation:
“We must fix the deadline to avoid missing the submission date for our proposal.”
OR
“Let’s agree the target date to enable us to get our proposal done and submitted in time.
In the 1980’s Rodger Bailey created the Language and Behaviour Profile (LAB Profile). It was based on a set of patterns from NLP which themselves are based on filters identified in the work of Noam Chomsky (Transformational Grammar, 1957). We use these filters to let in certain parts of the real world, creating our own individual model of the world. The Lab Profile is set of questions that can be used in casual conversation or as formal survey for individuals or for groups . By paying attention to how people talk when they answer rather than what they talk about (or don’t talk about) you can become familiar with the patterns people use. Shelle Rose Charvet has tested out this tool for herself in her work and with her clients, supervising two Master of Education theses as well to establish the reliability of the Lab Profile. As she says, in the introduction to her book “Words that Change Minds”, “People communicate with their particular patterns naturally as they speak, both in words and in their body language, and they respond immediately when you use their language.”
We are sure you won’t regret finding out more about how the LAB Profile works – in fact, it could be just the tool you need help you to achieve your communication goals.
The Training Box recommends…
Words That Change Minds, Mastering the Language of Influence
Shelle Rose Charvet
Kendall Hunt Publishing, 1995. 1997
Also visit Shelle’s website www.successtrategies.com