NLP Benefits - Peter Freeth Interview
The Benefits of NLP - Discussion between Michael Beale and Peter Freeth of Excellerate Business Performance Ltd , September 2007.
http://www.ppimk.com/nlp-podcast/peter.mp3
Michael: - To kick off, would you first give us a brief introduction of yourself and what you do.
Peter: - Sure. My name is Peter Freeth, I've written a number of business related NLP books, and I run a consultancy business called Excellerate. Exellerate measurably improves the performance of businesses or organisations by working with people, to improve or develop their performance and align those individuals into high performing teams and then give those teams strong directional leadership so everybody is moving in the same direction, and that has a measurable impact in business performance
Michael: - You mentioned some books. What books have you've written?
Peter: - There are four at the moment. There's 'six questions' which is an everyday problem solving guide. 'NLP skills for learning' Which is an introduction to NLP for trainers and teachers - 'Change magic' which is a book about organisational change, basically you change an organisation by changing people. And then there's 'NLP in business,' which is a practical guide for anyone that wants to apply NLP tools and principles within a professional environment.
Michael: - With Excellerate, what sort of levels of people, and what sort of companies, do you work with?
Peter: - Typically we'd work from chief executive or board level, normally anyone to middle management or a technical consulting sort of level - sales people, that would be the kind of level. And really anything from there up to the top of the board.
We normally work with mid-size up to large corporate customers and professional services companies. That would be people like Misoho, which is a Japanese bank, Mercury HP, which is the software part of the HP business, Ranco, Parker Engineering, Lovells - the law firm and many others.
Michael: - What sort of experience have you yourself had of NLP?
Peter: - I first came across NLP about 15 years ago now, when I used to work for Mercury Communications, and the individual that ran the sales training school there was a NLP master practitioner, and he used to run a 3 day NLP course.
The concepts really came at the right time for me. I was always interested in people, and how people worked, and how I worked, so it answered a lot of questions for me. It also gave me the tools that I could use from day to day, so I used those tools in my day job, in network design, in sales and then in solution sales.
I'd read a lot about NLP but I didn't start doing any NLP Training until the first foundation course you ran in Milton Keynes. I've done a couple of classes with Jonathan Altfeld and PPI's practitioner and master practitioner and then trained and co-trained on a number practitioner and master practitioner courses. And done some other stuff as well like I did a Michael Breen business practitioner.
Michael: - How has it helped you?
Peter: - For me, whilst it's really exciting to talk about big transformational overnight changes that NLP can make in people's lives I think the most significant difference it can make is little changes, so making your day a little easier every day and that has a massive effect as that change accumulates.
I was never a stressed person, people would always have described me as laid back but there are still times that I'm worried or concerned about things, but I think that NLP makes a massive difference in my life and the life of people around me, just through being more effective every day, more focused every day, getting things that I want, that of course are good for other people as well. So just things like that, and that adds up to a big difference over time. Just simple little things like if you want to get something, just ask for it -- and it's amazing how many people don't do that.
Michael:- I understand, even me at times.
Peter: - Exactly, and people try out all of these contrived ways for getting something, because they believe that they're not going to get it. And often I just ask for it.
So I think not being afraid to ask for something, not being afraid of what I want, if that makes sense, makes a massive difference in your life over time, as I think it has done for me.
Michael: - If I was to split it into three areas, your existing career, building on your career, and doing something completely different - which of those three aspects do you think that NLP has affected the most?
Peter: - I think on the face of it, because of my background, I worked in the telecoms industry for seventeen years and I've been doing this for seven years. It looks likes my career has changed just because my job title has changed, when the way I look at it, the job I'm doing now is fundamentally the job I've done for a very long time, which is understanding people, understanding problems and understanding complexity and relationships and those sorts of things.
I would say for me that it's 'building upon' - and for me it's about getting better at focusing on what I do want to do and not getting dragged into the stuff that its easy to get dragged into, especially in the corporate world, the stuff that you don't really want to be doing but you do anyway, the sideways move, the 'Oh I'll just do it for another year and then I'll change!'
I think building on the career by overtime just getting more and more focused on those parts of my career that I really want to concentrate on and the way I want to work.
Michael: - Putting NLP to one side, what other things do you think have helped you to become as successful as you are?
Peter: - Definitely, my experience in the corporate world. In those seventeen years I have worked in the kind of organisations that I work with now. And I think understanding the corporate culture, understanding the sales process is absolutely vital.
Michael: - What advice would you give to anybody thinking about doing NLP?
Peter: - I think that the first thing is for them to think about - and to really be honest with themselves about what they really want to get out of it.
What I've found over the years with NLP training is that people will come along and when you ask them what they want out of the course and the first thing they'll say is something that sounds kind of corporate - especially if they're coming from a company they'll say "it's about improving the performance of my team." or something like that - but later on some more personal things will creep out.
"What I really want to get out the course is" - I remember there was one guy saying "My kids are becoming teenagers and it's really straining my relationship with them, and I'd like some ways to better handle that and to improve my relationship with them" and I think when people are really honest about what they really want out of the training, or what they want out of learning NLP, they're in a much better place to get to - so that's the first thing.
The second thing is, having acknowledged what it is that they really want, and having chosen a training provider, the most important thing is the relationship between the person who's going on the course and the trainer, and the other delegates.
In the best NLP training you're not learning "about" NLP, you're learning to "do" NLP. So avoid any trainers who talk about it, and don't do it, if you see what I mean. Then just choose a trainer who you feel that you have something in common with, you can trust and that you have some connection with.
I can imagine a corporate IT or technical salesperson perhaps feeling a little out of place working with some alternative therapists, and visa versa. So choose a training provider that attracts people like you. So when you're going through the learning experience you feel that you have something in common, you can share stuff that's important to you, and thereby really benefit personally from the experience.
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Peter Freeth on the benefits of NLP
Peter Freeth Interview
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