Tom MacKay’s NLP Blog

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Dwight Eisenhower

So how come it seems so difficult to find great leaders?

One major question is how do you become a great leader? Are great leaders born or made?

If they are made, how are they made? After all noone I know was ever taught leadership skills in school – for that matter I don’t know anyone who was taught fundamental communication skills at school. We seem to be left to develop these skills by accident – if at all!

As for leadership in business, there are many trainings around to teach the skills, however people often learn the behaviours and communication techniques of leaders without really feeling that they are leaders. NLP offers some of the most effective principles for leadership that exist.

Join me on twitter on mackaynlp

Have you thought about all the things we can be grateful about recently? The spirit of gratitude is a very powerful thing.

It can be very easy to get so caught up in our own lives and pursuit of our outcomes that we forget to be grateful for the things that we have.

The spirit of gratitude also helps to reinforce our ability to draw our desired outcomes too us. Many people I know spend ages towards achieving outcomes and when they get there move onto the next outcome without really taking time to appreciate the moment.

Try taking time every day to appreciate the things that you have and notice how great you feel.

NLP teaches incredible techniques for achieving outcomes and I always encourage students to focus on the journey as well.

I recently had someone ask me to help them change their life. They gave me a 4 page list of things he wanted me to do. The list was so detailed I had to ask him if he knew what he needed to do, how come he hadn’t done it already? He said that he needed someone to programme him to do it.

I then asked how did he know that doing these things would change his life. He couldn’t answer that.

Many people think they know what they need to do consciously, however they either can’t do it, or it isn’t really what they want, only what they think they want.

The beauty of NLP is that we go deeper into the unconscious to help manifest change at the deepest level.

In NLP we often say that if you are not happy with your life, change it. Many people get stuck doing the same old things time and time again expecting different results. One thing is most important – your past does not equal your future.

Many years ago I felt trapped by my past – I felt that my life was stuck because when I left school I felt forced into a career that I really didn’t want to do, but my parents told me if I didn’t then they would disinherit me and never speak to me again!

I really felt stuck!

When I went on my first NLP training in 1990, I realised for the first time that what happened in the past really doesn’t matter – it is what you do right now.

So take some time regularly to think about what you want to do and how you can manifest these things in your life now!