Neurological Levels And Coaching

An early NLP model that offers so much in terms of executing change and identifying areas for focus when seeking to get unstuck. That was my initial conclusion as I bombarded myself with YouTube videos and articles on Neurological Levels to catchup on Web-torial 21 that I was not able to attend.

Usually presented as a pyramid, it could be used for personal development and to describe the change processes we experience with a focus on goal achievement and personal development. I just love the potential assistance this model offers. The concept of levels – stages where we are at or could be – helps pinpoint where to focus when seeking change and what areas to work on as we endeavor to develop and move on in the pursuit of our goals.

In short, every goal you want to achieve or a problem in your life bothering you is within one of these levels. Once we understand this model, we can use it to understand where our problem is at and use the different levels in order to solve it.

Related to a core practice in coaching, each level has a set of questions, each specific to that level. Once a present level is identified, as a coach I can then proceed to ask related questions suitable to that level or a level up (especially when seeking to get unstuck or see progress). It’s exciting to see how this NLP model ties in with a key coaching practice (asking powerful questions).

Levels Explained Briefly

Here are the six levels commonly presented and briefly explained. As a side note it is interesting to note that in general higher levels are believed to have a greater effect on lower levels than vice versa and changes made at the higher levels have greater and obvious impact.

1. Environment – our temporal surroundings and space that is experienced externally; can be answered with the questions "Where?", "When?", "Who?", "With whom?", "Who else?".
2. Behavior – our actions and reactions; “What” is the key question here
3. Skills – the capabilities we have to execute our behaviors in certain environments. It’s the knowing, thinking and feeling, including awareness behind the abilities manifested; the question here is "How?".
4. Beliefs/Values – this level refers to the beliefs, the convictions, the values, the inner criteria that underlie one’s actions (consciously and unconsciously), the actual motives of a person, guiding ideas that is believed to be true and guides the use of his abilities; “Why” is the key question.
5. Identity – this is the level where he constructs his self-image, the ideas he constructs about himself and his behavior. “Who” is the obvious question here.
6. Vision – sometimes seen as the spiritual level, it’s about place and contribution at the professional, family, social or religious affiliation level; It is about the "big questions" in life: "Why do we live?", "Why are we here?", "What is the meaning of life?

Using Comments to Identify Levels

A powerful yet simple way to connect these levels in our coaching is to identify a key comment made by our client and identify its relation to the six levels. For example, the following comment – “I can’t do that here” - highlights five of the key levels in one sentence. Where the person emphasizes a word will often bring out, which logical level needs to be addressed and to take action.

• “I can’t do that here” – Emphasis on the identity level: Who could do the job? What could I do?
•  “I can’t do that here” – Emphasis on the beliefs and values level: What keeps me away from doing the task? Who told me that I am not made for to do that?
•  “I can’t do that here” – Emphasis on the capability level: Do I need additional skills, techniques or methods to proceed?
•  “I can’t do that here” – Emphasis on the behavior level: What kind of actions can I do? Does the task have a positive intention? Is it in accordance with my personal development?
•  “I can’t do that here” – Emphasis on the environment level: Where, when, with whom could I take action? What is my ideal working environment? What time of the day will be best?

Levels in Coaching

From what has been presented, when a client presents a problem, I can see how I could use this model to help my client see where they are at, identify what is causing them problems and see where they can change to create progress. My client could say: “I can’t get clients into my coaching program.” In order to assist my client to clarify her situation and identify what could be done, I could use these levels to decide how I would guide her with my questions.

Environment – How is your present location affecting the number of clients you are attracting? What is present where you are that could help you get more clients? Sometimes a change in the environment or a change of environment can bring a desired change.

Behavior – What are you doing to get clients? What could you do to get more clients? Sometimes what we are doing (or not doing) contribute to the problem. Changing this can result in desired change.

Skills/Capabilities – How could you improve on what you have done? What one ability if improved on would help you get more clients? Every goal we have demands certain capabilities to achieve it. Improving or learning a new skill could be what the client needs.

Beliefs - What is important to you here? Why do you do what you are doing? What do you believe about ‘getting clients’? We form beliefs about what is possible or impossible, necessary or unnecessary and so on. A certain belief may be hindering my client from attracting new clients. Once tweaked, her solution may be just around the corner.

Identity – Who are you in this situation? What do you think about yourself when you take steps to get clients? A change in the “I am” of my client will automatically create new beliefs which will create more capabilities which will create more behaviors. .  . which will help her get more clients.

Vision/Purpose – How does getting clients encourage you towards your vision in life? A clear purpose/mission for having clients sometimes can give the necessary encouragement and guidance to how this situation could be resolved.

Indeed this is a great tool to generate awareness and to clue me in as to where my attention could be directed towards as I guide my client in unravelling her present condition and identifying what steps could be taken to promote progress and change.