According to Elizabeth Terry, NLP Trainer and master coach, the key to business success is to find someone doing what you want to do and copy them.

“In the practice of neuro-linguistic programming we have a technique called modelling. And it is about copying someone who is doing what you want, but it is really more than that. You don’t just do what they do; you understand their why. You understand their motivation and their specific strategies in accomplishing their stated goals.”

First, Terry says, you have to understand what are the key characteristics of successful leaders.

1. Self-managing

2. Act strategically

3. Being an effective communicator

4. Being accountable and responsible

5. Setting clear goals and persisting in achieving them

6. Having a vision for the future

7. Managing complexity

8. Fostering creativity and innovation

9. Team building and promoting teamwork

10. Creating lasting relationships

11. Learning agility

Now, Terry says to properly model your success target, you have to break down each of those 11 activities.

“What are their key values in terms of achieving excellence? What are their beliefs about each of those activities? If your model of excellence was Micheal Lee-Chin or Oprah Winfrey, what do they believe about self-managing or managing complexity or creating lasting relationships? And what are their mental strategies? Most leaders will have talks that you can listen to about how they think and what strategies they use to overcome obstacles. Another thing you have to look at is their behaviour. What does Michael Lee-Chin do at board meetings to motivate his team to break profit records? In terms of having a vision for the future, how far out does Oprah think, for example?”

So the NLP methodology of modelling excellence is incredibly detailed. For those unfamailar with the term, Terry explains, “The neuro relates to the nervous system (mind) through which we experience the five senses. The linguistic relates to the language and non-verbals through which our experience is coded, and the programming relates to our ability to discover and utilise the programmes that we run to achieve outcomes that we want.”

So the result of the time you spend modelling your person of excellence should actually create learning, behaviour adapatation and change at the unconscious level. You actually would become like the person who you want to be.

What Terry explains is that through the process of NLP modelling, “the skills you want to develop then flow automaticity, become unconscious habits and strategies which lead to unlimited potential. What is the subconscious mind? And why is working with the subconscious mind so important and so effective?

“An iceberg is a great analogy that describes the connection between the conscious and the subconscious mind — with a small, visible part above the surface and a huge part below. The conscious mind is responsible for our awareness in the waking state. Thinking analytically, creating logical order, wondering about cause and effect, and asking “why” are all characteristics of the conscious mind. The conscious mind is the place of cognitive learning and understanding, and uses the intellect to come up with logical solutions for problems. It makes choices based on facts and moves the body deliberately.