10 Principles for Personal and Professional Growth

Besides having studied business management and business administration at university about two decades ago, having visited dozens of various business and management trainings afterward, some years ago I have started to take intensive and comprehensive training in coaching, mentoring, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) as well as in hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Not to gain additional master diplomas, but instead to further develop my leadership skills and to broaden my personal horizon.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a communication and personal development approach created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the US in the 1970s. It claims a connection between the neurological processes (neuro), language (linguistic) and behavioral patterns learned through experience (programming) and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.

The purpose of this article is not to discuss NLP itself (possibly in one of my next articles). I understand and respect that NLP might not be an easy concept to grasp; one reason being that its original idea and techniques have been often abused in the past by so called "experts" without any proper education and know-how... and even by one of its founders.

For myself, however, it has had a very significant and extremely positive impact, both on my personal development as well as on my professional career.

Coming back to the purpose and the topic of this article: I'd like to share with you the 10 most important principles of NLP. These can be also considered as generally valid recommendations for successful management, leadership and personal growth, regardless of whether you identify yourself with the original philosophy and concept of NLP or not.

Over the years I have found them to be extremely useful:

1) The map is not the territory. We do not respond to the world as it is, we act in accordance with our own mental map of it. We have a much better chance of getting what we want if our map is continually revised to take account of the territory. Doing this is much better than trying to bend the world to fit your map.
2) Mistakes do not exist. We do not criticize any behavior. We should only give feedback. As objectively as possible.
3) There is no right or wrong model of the world. It all depends on experience, context, point of view, intentions, beliefs, values, culture, etc.
4) People already have all the resources they need. From our storehouse of memories, thoughts, and sensations we can construct new mental patterning designed to provide the outcomes we want.
5) People are always making the best choices available to them. We make choices based on experience. More and better experiences allow for more choices.
6) Underlying every behavior is a positive intention. Look behind what people do to find their positive intentions.
7) For every form of behavior there is a context in which it is meaningful.
8) Resistance coming from your partner/client/associate means a lack of flexibility in yourself.
9) The meaning of your communication is the response you get. People receive information filtered through their mental map of the world.
10) If what you’re doing isn’t working, do something else. Do anything else. You’ll only get the same results if you do what you’ve always done.
So, these are my 10 key life leadership principles coming mostly from the NLP arena.
What do you think? Which ones do you think make sense? And with which ones do you disagree with? Any additional principles from your side?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Andreas
Consumer Goods Club (CGC)

Posted by:

Like and 187 others like this post
Add a comment 64 comments
Flag and Hide
Emeka U.
Country Manager Cameroon + Other Central Africa at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Plc
2,4,7,10 - Really speaks to me. Great piece of insight, will share with others
9h
Flag and Hide
Richard N.
Quality Assurance Supervisor at Vegpro (K) Ltd
Wonderful resume.
20h
Flag and Hide
Ana M.
Environmental Technician at n
good resume and tips
22h
Flag and Hide
Fiona E.
Sales Executive at Angus One Professional Recruitment & Templine - Western Canada Division /Former Telecom Professional
Thanks Andreas this has certainly given me lots more to ponder and share with our work teams.
1d
Flag and Hide
Daniel B.
President, Energy21, USA, LLC
As the world shrinks even more thanks to communication technolgies, there is a very significant group that is left hanging. That is the severely hearing impaired and deaf people that are unable to use such communications tools as YouTube and other online video training systems. Many deaf people are literate yet depend entirely on lip reading to communicate with the hearing world, as there are a very small percentage of hearing people who are able to sign. YouTube is horrible because the audio does not run at normal speeds and lips are impossible to read and the closed captions rarely coincide with anything remotely with the topic of the video.
1d
Flag and Hide
Hassan H.
Professional Security Analyst and Consultant
Nice share!
1d
Flag and Hide
Pam P.
Life-Cycle Celebrant
Very useful, Andreas. The first three remind me the importance of suspending judgement; some of the others remind me to not mistake ignorance for malintent. Both helpful reminders on the path of life.
1d
Flag and Hide
Shelby D.
Marketing: Social Media, Public Relations,Advertising, Digital Campaigns
Great advice and sharing with others!
2d
Flag and Hide
Anna F.
Business Systems Manager at B&B Manufacturing
I connect with 2, 3, 9, and 10. Being aware and conscious of self is key to effective leadership.
2d
Flag and Hide
Anthony H.
Branch Manager, AVP
This was the most effective set of management and communication tools to impact me and way of thinking in last 5 years of reading Coaching books. Classrooms stretch these points to a non-actionable level. You made it simple, therefore effective. I am trying your second bullet point as soon as my next interaction. That was Great! "Mistakes Do Not Exist" give objective feed back ! Loved it.
2d
Flag and Hide
Aditya G.
National Head Marketing Operations Tata Teleservices
" the map is not the territory" and " there is no right or wrong model of the world " absolute gems .
2d
Flag and Hide
Justin "Iron" O.
Credit Analyst at Batesville Casket Company
Outstanding article Mr. Von Der Heydt, thank you for sharing your valuable insight!
2d
Flag and Hide
j.d. B.
chairman at IEELEARN EDUCATION SOLUTION
Nice article and #8 it should be lack of Art of convincing rather thn flexibility....
2d
Flag and Hide
Ben B.
Internal Recruitment Specialist
Should it not be added that this all stands as true only if one acts on ones beliefs or feelings? If we do the above under duress or for any sense of greater will we will not acheive growth by our own measures.
2d
Flag and Hide
Damien G.
VP, Marketing and Sales at PopMount Inc.
Great read. Great insight.
2d
Flag and Hide
Satyadev J.
Business Intelligence Consultant at InfoHub Solutions Pte Ltd
Nice article! especially #6 and #10..
2d
Flag and Hide
Chelsey A.
Casino Shift Manager at Aquarius Casino Resort
I personally like number 10. If there's a problem cycle, it just means that what you're doing is not working. Find another solution to solve it.
2d
Flag and Hide
Dharana J.
Summer Trainee at Electrotherm India Limited
#6: Superb Point: Life would be less complex if we find good intentions behind every action we are not comfortable with. I will surely try to follow this....
2d
Flag and Hide
Mohammad I.
Specialist - Events. Sales, Marketing . Branding . Sports. Finance.
This is an awesome read! Made my day . And in turn makes me a better professional and person!
2d
Flag and Hide
Nadine A. J.
Operations Manager at Amro International Trading
:) interesting
2d
Show More