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IntroducingThe Meta-Coach Training SystemCoach Training for Life, Executive and Business Coaches

Developed by Dr. L Michael Hall and Michelle Duval, the Meta Coach Training System is grounded inthe cognitive behavioural sciences of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Neuro Semantics(NS). The incorporation of NLP as a coaching tool allows Meta Coaching to be a powerful coachingmethodology that transcends traditional Performance Coaching; taking Coach and client to higherlevels of Developmental and Transformational Coaching. That is why it is called 'meta' meaning ahigher level. At these levels profound change occurs naturally and easily. The result is success andtransformation.

The following articles have been written by Dr. L. Michael Hall, co-founder of the Meta-Coach TrainingSystem.Table of Contents:THE META-COACH SYSTEM 1EVIDENCE-BASED COACHING 9COACHING IS THE CONVERSION 11MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT WHAT NLP IS 13LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT VIA META-COACHING 15"YOU'RE ALMOST A META-COACH BUT NOT QUITE" 17META-COACHING AS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 19COACHING COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS 21WHEN CEOs ATTEND META-COACHING 23SELF-ACTUALIZATION IN BUSINESSES 25THE FIVE STAGES OF META-COACHING 27AN ENTIRELY NEW APPROACH TO BUILDING YOUR COACHING PRACTICE 29THE MOST PROFOUND FORM OF COACHING 31

The Meta-Coach Training System - www.metacoach.com.au
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The Meta-Coach Training System@ 2010 Worldwide Institutes of NLPAll Rights Reserved.No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form orby any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, etc.) without the prior writtenpermission of the publisher.

Published By:Worldwide Institutes of NLPLevel 9, 143 York StreetSydney NSW 2000AustraliaLaureli Blyth & Heidi HeronLevel 9, 143 York StreetSydney NSW 2000Australia+61 2 9264 4357Websites:www.nlpworldwide.comwww.aainlp.com.auwww.anythingnlp.comwww.metacoach.com.auEmail: [email protected] in the sales of NLP multi-media training and personal developmentmaterials.www.metacoach.comTraining for the Meta-Coach Training System with Dr. L. Michael Hall, sponsored inAustralia by the Worldwide Institutes of NLP. Next training dates: 8-15 April 2011.

The contents of this document were written by:Dr. L. Michael HallPO Box 8Clifton, Colorado 81520USA+1 [email protected]

The Meta-Coach Training System - www.metacoach.com.au
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The Meta-Coach Training System@THE META-COACH SYSTEMEverything You Always Wanted to KnowAbout Meta-CoachingBut Didn't Know Who to Ask

Yes, when you first look at the Meta-Coach System it can be confusing. That's because it is rich,complex, layered, has numerous steps and stages, is the most systematic approach to the field ofcoaching and so can easily overwhelm and confuse. Since that is not our design, let me see if I cande-mystify the Meta-Coach System and answer common questions we receive.The NameThe term "meta" (pronounced "met" as in "I met a fascinating coach the other day") is a Greek termfor "above, higher, and about." In coaching, it refers to coaching at a higher level. It refers to notcoaching the content of a person's expertise or area, but to the processes and structures that governthat content-to the invisible processes in the back of the mind that governs our thinking andemoting.A sports coach may not have the expertise of the player being coached. Michael Jordan's coachundoubtedly cannot play like Michael Jordan. Don't expect Tiger Woods' coach to play better golfthan Tiger. Their expertise is not in the content of the game. The expertise of a great coachconcerns the form, structure, and process of how the client works or operates.In Meta-Coaching, the coach works with the invisible structures behind the scene that controls theclient's expertise. The Meta-Coach works with beliefs, perceptual filters (called meta-programs),thinking patterns (called cognitive schemas), and self-reflexive consciousness (called meta-states).All of these frames of mind that the client brings to the session operate "in the back of the mind" andthese are the frames that the Meta-Coach can detect, identify, and address. And doing so often finds"the switch" as the leverage point for transformative change.The StructureMeta-Coach is based on several models that address the seven components or elements of"coaching" itself. That is, if you were to ask, "What is coaching?" the answer lies in seven factors thatmake up the discipline and field of coaching. What are these seven components?

Coaching as a discipline is-1) Communication - a conversation like none other that focuses exclusive on a client's bestdreams and hopes for a more compelling future.2) Unconscious back-of-the-mind communication that elicits the mental and emotionalframes which governs the client's experience that gets to the heart of things.3) Generative change - that takes the client to his or her next level of development and/oreven transformation.

4) The implementation of the change - so that the solution, new performance, or differencecan be actualized in the world, made real, and the progress that makes can then bemeasured.5) Systemic thinking and working - so that the conversation and change is holistic andhealthy for every aspect of the client's life.

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The Meta-Coach Training System@6) The self-actualizing of one's highest and best potentials - so that the client moves to hisor her next level of development and success and unleashes potentials.7) The facilitation of all of these dynamic processes - a conversation that enables the clientto find, access, and mobilize his or her best resources for making the change real.

If this is what coaching is then what are the models that can enable a Coach to effectively coach?We asked that question at the beginning when we first designed Meta-Coaching and we came upwith the following models. These models inform and guide a coach in the actual practice ofcoaching.Coaching is:1) Communication2) Reflexive unconscious communication3) Generative change for transformation4) Implementation and Measurement5) Working Systemically6) Self-Actualization7) Facilitation of multiple processes

Models for a Meta-Coach for Effective Coaching1) The NLP Communication Model2) The Meta-States Model of Reflexivity3) The Axes of Change; The Crucible4) Benchmarking Model; Mind-to-Muscle Pattern5) The Matrix Model6) Self-Actualization Quadrants7)The Facilitation Model

The Modules ofMeta-CoachingThis structure now explains the first three modules of the Meta-Coaching System. If Meta-Coachingis based on seven models, then the modules provides a training program for learning and practicingthe models.Module I: Coaching Essentials.

The essentials of the NLP Communication model that enable a coach to powerfully andeffectively engage in a conversation like none-other that facilitates the unleashing ofpotentials and generative change as a Coach asks incredible questions that call forth the bestin the client. In Module I you learn the Meta-Model of Language that was modeled from twoworld-class communicators who could facilitate transformative change by their questions-Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir. You also learn the basic NLP communication principles: Wecommunicate from state to state; the meaning of your communication is the response youget; effective communication begins by entering into the client's world and matching it;resistance indicates the lack of rapport in the communication; etc. You also learn fifteenbasic meta-programs that govern communicating and how to recognize and use a person'scommunication style.

Module II: Coaching Genius.In this module you learn the essence of how to work with the special kind of consciousnessthat humans have- self-reflexive consciousness. If you don't know how to get to thethoughts and feelings "in the back of the mind" of a client, you will miss the most importantbeliefs, frames, understandings, permissions, decisions, etc. of the client. But when you canrecognize the layers and spiraling levels of the client's thinking-feeling, you can get to theheart of things quickly. Then you can get to the heart of the client's meaning-makingprocesses and facilitate a fierce conversation like none-other. In this module, you learn theMeta-States Model and experience 14 Meta-State patterns that are all coaching patterns.The immediate application is for accessing your own personal genius or mastery so that youcan step in and out of your best "flow" state and so be "in the zone" at your will. This willempower you with the very best state to operate from as a Coach.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@Module III: Coaching Mastery.We call Module III the Coaching Bootcamp because this is the 8-day intensive (9 am to 9 pmdaily) where you learn the next five models. Yet even more important than the presentationsand learnings are the practices- every day you will do a full coaching session and you will bea client and you will watch a coaching session from a meta-position. And during the coachingsessions, you will be bench marked on the seven coaching skills so that you know where you

are, what you do well, your strengths, and what you need to do to take your skills to the nextlevel - and reach competency level.In this module you learn the Facilitation Model so that you can operate as a Change Agent asa Coach (the Axes of Change Model), so that you can think and work systemically with yourclient and be able to "follow their energy through their mind-body system" (the Matrix Model),so that you enable the implementation of the change in the contexts of their life and measuretheir progress (the Benchmarking Model), so that they unleashing their highest meanings andbest potentials (the Self-Actualization Quadrants).In this module you will experience group coaching as you and a small group of other coacheswill become a team and then as a team become a high performance team as you complete abenchmarking project on some skill or intangible value. Later you will step back with yourTeam Leader to reflect on the group coaching skills used.In this module you will see and experience two expert Coaches being interviewed andmodeled. We do this so that you can develop your personal business plan for how to engagein the Business of Coaching. This will enable you to complete a Matrix Business Plan or ifyou work within an organization, your Professional Development Plan. Because the businessside of coaching is where most Coaches fail, we devote significant time in this module for thebusiness side of marketing, selling, entrepreneur-ing, organizing, etc.In Module III we bring in a group of Team Leaders as part of the Leadership Team. Theseare successful Meta-Coaches who run their own coaching practices. They are there first andforemost as team leaders and benchmarkers, yet they are also there to support and enableparticipants to reach competency and have a great experience.

Benefits of the Meta-Coach SystemAs you can tell, the system is complex and layered. From the beginning it has been on the cutting-edge of the field of coaching. One of our objectives is to lead the field of coaching so that iteventually becomes a Profession. And to do that we have designed it to be professional in the way itprepares participants to run a successful coaching business and to know what you are doing. Whatare the benefits that you will receive as a graduate of the Meta-Coach System? Here are some ofthe key benefits:* Become a Self-Actualization Coach!Since Coaching is based on self-actualization psychology and is all about facilitating peopleactualizing their highest and best- Meta-Coaching provides you the basics of Self-Actualization Psychology and training in how to facilitate the unleashing process forindividuals, for leaders, managers, companies. No other Coach Training can claim that.

You will learn how to use the Self-Actualization Quadrants to awaken and actualize thehighest and best in people for creating synergy on the Meaning / Performance Axes. Thenyou will be able to facilitating people achieving peak performance in their chosen areas. Youwill be able to facilitate people create meaningfulness in life - and so enjoying peakexperiences. You will also experience this first-hand- the unleashing of your skills andpotentials.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@* Develop a fully Systematic ApproachMeta-Coaching is the first and still, only Coach training that is fully systematic. We haveanalyzed "coaching" as involving 7 features or components; then to each we have identifiedor created a model that enables us to deal with that component.

The result is that you can answer the question- How do you know what to do, when, andwith whom and why? And as you learn that you will then develop the self-confidence forknowing what you are doing and being able to explain why.This then gives you a scientific foundation for enabling clients to unleash their highest andbest potentials. In it you have a way to rigorously measure improvement, progress, and evento measure the competency of any skill or intangible value.

*Achieve the Status of an ACMC CoachYou will receive an International certification and be part of a world-wide community. TheMCF (Meta-Coach Foundation) is equivalent to the ICF as a certifying body. What are thedifferences? MCF, like ICF, has a set of skills and has benchmarked the coaching skillswhereas the ICF has not. Also MCF has a board of examiners to provide a way to police theethics and standards of Meta-Coaching, the ICF has not yet established this. The MCFstandards are higher than the ICF.As a certified Meta-Coach, you will receive ongoing support as you will be added to theexclusive Meta-Coach email group and receive a 2-page article from Dr. Michael Hall eachweek. It is a way to stay in touch with the other 860 Meta-Coaches around the world. And asa Meta-Coach, you can join (or create) a local MCF chapter for practice.

* Hands on Guidance in lots of practiceIn the Meta-Coach training you will do a full coaching session 6 times, be a client 6 times andbe in the meta-position 6 times. This will give you lots of experiences in the actual hands-onexperience of coaching.When you are Coach in your coaching sessions, your skills will be benchmarked by anexperienced team leader/ benchmarker. This will give you immediate, hands-on experienceabout your strengths and weaknesses so that you know what to do to reach competency.You'll practice under the expert eyes of experienced Meta-Coaches who will provide you on-the-spot, moment-by-moment feedback. No other Coach Training in the world offers this.

* Many Rich Coaching ExperiencesIn addition to receiving coaching sessions every day on what you choose which will enableand enrich your experience as a coach, some of the participants will have the opportunity tobe coached by one of the Meta-Coach trainers.You will learn to distinguish the levels of coaching - Performance Coaching, DevelopmentalCoaching, and Transformational Coaching. You will also get to coach many different peopleover the 8 days as a stretch from coaching just one kind of person.

* For the powerful and cutting-edge patterns that you will learn.The training manual 20 to 30 coaching patterns. This extends the 14 you received in ModuleII (the Meta-States training) and the 10 or so in Module I (the NLP Training). So you will havea large range of patterns that you can immediately begin using as a Coach. You will be ableto Extend Meta-programs or Extending your Personality Style; you will learn some powerfulquestions for Torpedo Coaching. You will experience the De-Contamination Chamber to getyour ego out of the way and be "clean" as a Coach for your clients.There is the KPI pattern: Getting a Precise Objective for a Coaching Session. There is theAxes of Change patterns for a Non-Therapeutic Change Model for Psychologically healthy



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The Meta-Coach Training System@people. There is the Unleashing Potentials pattern, the Social Panorama pattern, and many,many more.

* Competency BenchmarksWhile the ICF and other Coach trainings also have "Coaching Skills," Meta-Coaching is theonly Coach Training System that has benchmarked the skills. Each day you will getimmediate feedback about what you're doing very well and what will take your skills to thenext level. This will be tough and challenging and yet it creates a clarity about your skill levelthat you can't get anywhere else.You will also learn the Benchmarking Model and this will enable you to be able to set upmeasurements for individuals and organizations for measuring progress. And it is with themeasuring of progress that establishes "the value" that you add to people and companies. Ifyou can't measure it, how can you credibly say that your work has such and such value?

* Learn about different kinds of Coaching domainsYou will learn about many of the different domains that Coaches specialize in- for example,Executive Coaching, Personal/Life coaching, Group and Team Coaching, etc. You will seethe Meta-Coach Trainers interview and model one or two Expert Coaches that we invite intothe training - someone who has "been there, done that" and provides a flesh-and-bloodexample of effective coaching.

* Change AgentAs a change agent, you will learn to facilitate change and to use the four mechanisms ofchange for people who are psychologically healthy. You will develop skills for the 8 coachingroles as an agent of change and be able to detect where you are with aclient. You will then use these processes in your coaching sessions to get hands-onexperience with them.* Group and Team CoachingYou will be put into a group of six others and experience group coaching from a Team Leaderso that you norm, form, storm, and then perform. As you then become a high performanceteam, you will be commissioned to engage in a benchmarking project and to then perform asa team. Later you will step back and reflect on what you learned about Group and Teamcoaching.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@The Meta-Coach Training System

Modules: Content and BenefitsI: NLP Model The "languages" of the mind and how communication works.Coaching Essentials How we communicate from state to state and induce state via

communication.The communication precision model (the Meta-Model Questions)The communication filters of our perceptual lens (the Meta-Programdistinctions)Discover a dozen patterns for state management and effectivenessLearn the basic NLP format for modeling excellence through Strategies.

II: Meta-States ModelCoaching Genius

III: 5 Coaching ModelsCoaching Mastery

The self-reflexive consciousness unique to humans.How to get to the communication in the back of the mind.The meta-stating process of setting frames that create our filters andvalues.Learn a systematic approach to coaching:How do you know what to do when, with whom, how, and why?Experience coaching sessions every day; practice full hour coachingsessionsReceive immediate sensory-specific feedback while coaching for shapingyour skills and competency

Axis of Change Model Learn a non-therapeutic change model, distinguish therapy models forChange from generative change models for healthy people.Learn to use the four change mechanisms and engage in the Dance ofChange.Identify the level of change an individual or group wants.Develop the skills for facilitating tranformational change.

Benchmarking Model Discover how to operationalize the language and concepts of clients.Conversationally set benchmarks for measuring progress.Ground change and establish metrics for measurement.Matrix Model Learn a cognitive-behavioral and developmental psychology systemsmodel.Discover how to identify leverage points for change in a person's system.

Experience how to "follow the flow of energy" through a Matrix.Accelerate your coaching ability to "get to the heart of the matter" with aclient quickly, cleanly, and profoundly.Self-ActualizationQuadrants

Facilitation Model

Learn how to diagnose where a person is on the Meaning/ Performanceaxes.Discover how to facilitate synergy for clients and groups for moving tothe self-actualization of Quadrant IVLearn how to set self-organizing frames for making lastingtransformational changes with clients.Discover how to facilitate a client in suspending a frame (belief frame,decision frame, identity frame, etc.) that no longer serves the client.Discover the unique coaching skill of facilitation and the dozen meta-processes to facilitate.Develop your facilitation skills.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@Questions about the Meta-Coaching SystemSince the beginning in 2002, we have received lots of questions about Meta-Coaching as a CoachTraining process. The following are some of the questions that are often asked.1) What does it cost to attend Meta-Coaching and to reach ACMC certification?The cost is generally around $4,000 to $5,000 US dollars. Generally, Modules I and II are 3-daytrainings that run approximately $500 each. This depends on where the modules are offered, thevenue, and other factors of the sponsor. Similarly, the 8-day intensive coaching bootcamp is around$3,000. Comparable trainings run $5,000 to $15,000.2) If I already have NLP training, can I skip Module I?Yes, if the training was at least three days, covered the Meta-Model of Language, States, and Meta-Programs and an actual in-person, hands-on training. No, if it was a correspondence course. NLP isan experiential model and expertise in the skills require the personal touch of doing and receivingfeedback.3) If I don't have NLP can I possibly get into the program?Yes. You can read anyone of a number of good NLP Introduction books to learn the language andmodel. Then you can begin with Module II which is always presented just prior to Module III. Duringthe training, if you reach competency in the skills and show a high level of precise understanding ofthe basic NLP model, you could possibly not have to complete Module I for certification. This onlyvery rarely occurs. If you do not reach competency of the skills, your certificate will be provisionalupon completing Module I and being re-assessed on the competency skills. The actual experientialexperience of NLP is highly, highly recommended and should not be skipped, and any furthercertification in Meta-Coaching not only requires the Introduction to NLP but also the full NLPPractitioner Certification. And if you are planning to move on to the next level, PCMC (ProfessionalCertified Meta-Coach), you will need the full NLP Practitioner course.4) How does the Meta-Coach System compare to other Coach Training systems?Meta-Coaching is currently the most rigorous program and the only one with a complete process ofbenchmarks for each coaching competency skill. No other system has evolved this far. The Meta-Coaching system also is the only system that is fully systematic and based with a focus on Self-Actualization Psychology. Many other coach training programs are based on other psychologies-Cognitive, Behavioral, Transactional Analysis, Psychoanalysis, etc. Meta-Coaching also stands outas one of the very few systems that models expert coaches in the training to give participants achance to see an Expert Coach at work and to ask questions about how to get started, mistakes toavoid, and secrets to success.5) What happens if I don't reach the level of competency for graduation?Everybody graduates at the Graduation Ceremony on the eighth evening. Most will receive theACMC Certification as a Meta-Coach; but some will receive a Pre-Certification Record. The Recordcontains a list of the prerequisites for Certification and everything you have qualified for will bechecked and the provisions that you still need to meet will be indicated so that you know preciselywhere you are and the next steps to full certification.The process is designed to help you succeed. All that's required of you is commitment, persistence,and resilience. We have designed the process so that you will eventually reach full certification.Provisional certification means that you still have some provisions to fulfill- perhaps Module I,perhaps re-assessment on one of the skills, perhaps if you missed a day of the training to catch upon that time. You will more than likely be able to complete those provisions at one of the Meta-Coach chapter meetings (the Meta-Coach Foundation Chapters) in the following weeks or months.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@We have set the standards high - so that the Certification means something and is not just acertificate of attendance. It is a certificate that means we certify that you as a Meta-Coach have therequired skills, competence, understanding, and ethics to do business as a Coach. And thecertificate is an International Certificate that associates you with a thousand other Meta-Coachesaround the world in 35 countries.6) What kind of support will there be for me after Graduation?Lots! You will be added to the exclusive Meta-Coach egroup where you will be part of a world-widegroup of Meta-Coaches. Dr. Hall writes an article for this group every Wednesday to continue thetraining giving you ideas about the models and answering your questions. You will also be able touse this group for getting ideas, support, sharing books and resources, etc.You will have the opportunity to be a part of a MCF chapter. These are practice groups that meet bi-weekly or monthly so that you can continue practicing patterns, using the models, beingbenchmarked, etc. MCF chapters are great places also for networking and expanding your coachingpractice.You will also have the opportunity to re-visit Coaching Mastery at 1/4 of the price (at 25% if the Meta-Coach has maintained "good standing") to keep refreshing and deepening your learning. Or, whenyou are ready, you can return as a Team Leader and Benchmarker and learn Group and TeamCoaching skills, expand your leadership, and become part of the Meta-Coach Faculty.7) How does the MCF relate to the ICF? Will my MCF Certification qualify me for ICF Certification?Yes and no. Yes, your ACMC credentials from the MCF and ISNS (International Society of Neuro-Semantics) will qualify you in terms of coaching skills to meet any and all of the qualificationsrequired by the ICF. But it will not occur automatically. Whether you take your coach training with anICF approved organization or an MCF organization, you still have to pay a fee, file papers, and sit forassessment. We provide you the papers to submit if you also want the ICF certification. The ICF isnot a coach training organization, it is a certification organization.8) How to I find out about upcoming Meta-Coach Trainings?On the Meta-Coach website (www.meta-coaching.org).click on Modules and then on TrainingDates. You will there find most of the upcoming trainings.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@EVIDENCE-BASED COACHING

Last week I received a brand new book by a Meta-Coach, NLP Coaching: An Evidence-basedapproach for coaches, leaders, and individuals (2010) by Susie Linder-Pelz, Ph.D. Now this is a bookthat you will want to quote and refer to when people ask you about coaching research and about thefoundations of Meta-Coaching. You may even want to get a supply of the book so that you can giveit to CEOs and companies who want evidence of the validity of Coaching and Meta-Coaching.The book begins with a description of NLP coaching, the skills of a coaching, and industrystandards. The second part of the book is "An Evidence-Based Approach to NLP Coaching." HereDr. Linder-Pelz explores best practices, theories, principles, the psychology of coaching, etc.Chapter 8 ties "Coaching" as a profession to various other psychologies to describe "coachingpsychology." It is a good chapter for knowing some of the theoretical frameworks- frameworks thatwe assume in Coaching and have integrated into the system.

But more than that, I am really impressed with Chapter 7- Systemic Principles for Coaching. Susieuses eight of the presuppositional premises of NLP and Neuro-Semantics to show how coachingworks. It is an elegant chapter that gets to the heart of the process of coaching. This is a chapterthat I highly recommend, one that I think every Meta-Coach should read and know. It will help yourcomprehension of this ever-evolving field.In Chapter 9 Susie writes about Empirical Evidence of coaching. Here she writes about how toactually do coaching research. Then later, in Chapter 11, she presents 16 research questions thatshe recommends for anyone who wants to do research in this area. And some of these questionsare exclusively focused for Meta-Coaching, so if you or someone you know are looking for anexcellent research question to explore to write a thesis or a dissertation on, you would do well to starthere.Susie ends the book in Part III by describing Symbolic Modelling and Meta-Coaching as two NLPforms of Coaching. One of Susie's skills is to write a clear and succinct summary of a model orprocess. You can really see this in Chapter 10. First she summarizes Lawley and Tompkin'sSymbolic Modelling using Clean Language. If you want to know what "symbolic modelling" means inNLP, here are a few short pages that gives you an overview. And the so-called "clean language"(which I still think is a misleading title; for more see my review on that on the website), but the 9questions essentially explores the meta-state of a client's metaphor and the meta-level "landscape"of that form of meaning.Then Susie provides an overview of 4 models of Meta-Coaching: NLP, Meta-States, Axes of Change,and Benchmarking. I am impressed with her succinct description of the Meta-States model. Shehighlights the role of reflexivity, the step-back skill, the process of meta-stating or framing, theprinciples and premises of Meta-States and much more. Now while Susie is not a Neuro-Semantictrainer, she shows excellent understanding of the Meta-States model. So if you want a few quickpages about the Meta-States Model, you can't do better than pages 127-131. She even addresses aleading misunderstanding that many NLPers have, that meta-stating is just "collapsing" of anchors.She shows that it is not, but that the reflexivity of meta-states leads to the coalescing of levels. Andthat you have to think systemically to realize what that means.For The Axes of Change (pp. 131-133) she similarly provides a short and to the point description ofthe model, the generative change focus, the levels of change, and the 8 coaching roles that emergefrom that model. And then in Chapter 12 she addresses the subject of Benchmarking.The weakness of the book is that the Meta-Coach System is now so much more than when shebegan writing this book! Since 2003 when she took her Meta-Coach training (and Susie was ourExpert Coach in 2004), Meta-Coaching as a training has continued to evolve! For some reason, shedidn't mentioned the Matrix Model which has been part of the Meta-Coach System from thebeginning. And since 2007, we have introduced several additional models: The Self-Actualization



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The Meta-Coach Training System@Quadrants, the Matrix-Embedded Volcano or Pyramid, the Six Coaching Conversations, theFacilitation Model and the Advanced KPI model. Also the 26 Coaching Skills have evolved to morethan 50 skills that we have benchmarked.Susie has also included in this book a rich description of a lot of the NLP Research that's going onaround the world and the key players who are leading out in research. She speaks about mirrorneurons and some of the current research about such as well as a clear description of self-organizingsystems.There's much more that I could write about the book. As a research-focused book, it is well-written.I would encourage you, as a Meta-Coach, to get a copy so that you have at your finger-tips thissupporting data for what you do as a Coach and especially as a Meta-Coach.And to Susie -"Meta-High Fives for an excellent book! Well done. May many use this work and follow in thepath that you have pioneered in this community!"Contact information:

NLP Coaching: An Evidence-based approach for coaches, leaders, and individuals (2010),Susie Linder-Pelz, Ph.D. Kogan Page, London. ISBN 978 0 7494 5452 4. 164 pages of text;48 pages of End Notes. www.koganpage.com

http://www.koganpage.com/http://www.metacoach.com.au/http://www.metacoach.com.au/http://www.koganpage.com/


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The Meta-Coach Training System@COACHING IS THE CONVERSION

I have recently been reflecting on the essence of coaching, the heart of coaching, the key variablesthat make up this new phenomenon that we call "coaching." When all was thought and said andevaluated- my reflection led to the following statements:

Coaching is the conversation. The conversation is how you coach. Coaching ultimatelycomes down to a conversation-to what and how you are conversing with your client.Ultimately that exchange of words and ideas (the dialogue) about hopes, dreams, fears, etc.is what we call "coaching."Now if that's true, then how are you at engaging in the kind and quality of conversation that makes itworth $100 an hour, or $500 or even $1000 an hour? What is so special about a coachingconversation that would make it that valuable, that beneficial to a client? And what can a mereconversation do?Since the beginning of Meta-Coaching, one of the descriptions I have used is that coaching is aconversation like none other. And later, as I began writing the series of Meta-Coaching books, Iwrote that coaching is a fierce conversation. I got that idea from Graham Richardson and fromMichelle Duval and other expert coaches. Then I came across the book by Susan Scott by that title.And for that reason, I have just completed writing several of these reflections on how to be bold andcourageous in your coaching conversations and how to avoid being a conversation wimp.It is the mere conversation, the normal and average conversation, that makes it lame or wimpy. Andwhen you have that, you do not have an effective coaching conversation. You will not have aconversation that can facilitate the unleashing of potentials, which is the unique domain of coaching.So you have to avoid the mere conversation. Yet what usually seduce you into those "normal"conversations is that they are made up of the same stuff that comprises a fierce conversation. Bothnormal conversations and powerfully fierce conversations are comprised of words, gestures, and thequality of your voice. No wonder it is so easy for many coaches to slip into having a nice chat.In the biography book on Donald Trump, Trump: How to Get Rich (2004), author and interviewerMeredith Mciver quoted "the Donald" saying this:

"Rarely does a day go by in which I don't have five to ten conversations that change the way Isee the world." (p. 122)Shazam! Isn't that absolutely amazing?! 5 to 10 conversations daily! Conversations that changethe way I see the world!! Can you say that? I can't. Not 5 to 10. No way. If I have oneconversation a day that changes my perspective on things, I consider myself really fortunate, andthat the day has been an incredibly transformative one, and I record it in the book of "AmazingThings that have Happened in my Life!" How about you? How about your clients?Would your clients regularly sign off on the following indicators:

Yes, my coaching conversation today with my coach was transformative sothat I now see things in a new way.Yes, my coaching conversation today got to the heart of things and was aconversation like none other.Today the coaching conversation radically altered one of my frames of mind; I'llnever be the same!



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The Meta-Coach Training System@Or would they check off one of the following:I like my coaching conversation; it was a nice chat.In my coaching conversation we talked about some interesting things.I felt that my coaching conversation was mostly a waste of time, we reallydidn't get to the heart of things.Why the hell do I pay for this Coaching? I should just go to a pub!What do you think? My guess is that most conversations are a waste of time and effort. They areshallow, self-serving, mediocre, and not real. My guess is that most business meeting conversationsskirt the real issues, are mostly made up of political and positioning moves, and fail in terms oflearning, growth, and transformation. What do you think? And isn't this a great reason for thecoaching profession- to help people learn how to use conversations more powerfully andproductively?How can we make our everyday conversations more productive? The answer is simple: Make themmore real. If you make them real, people will become engaged, curious, fascinated, andresponsible. They will come out from behind themselves- their masks, positions, P.R. and bereal- honest, transparent, open, and vulnerable. And this creates the context for insights andtransformations. And isn't that the whole purpose of the crucible model and the crucibleconversation?And how do we make them more real? By confrontation. You have to confront people withthemselves. You have to hold up the mirror. You have to ask those extremely personal questionsthat no one else will ask. You have to get in there and call for reality. This is the heart of theCrucible and it is the place where transformation occurs. So what would you check off:

I recognized the heart of the matter in my client and confronted him or her.I danced around the heart of the matter, but never got to it.I love the confrontation part of coaching.I avoid the confrontation part like the plague.In my own self-coaching, I'm always seeking the next level of self-confrontation.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUTWHAT NLP IS

In recent Meta Reflections I've written about the field of NLP which has brought lots of responses andwith them a number of misunderstandings about what this field is all about. So what is it all about?For anyone who has read the original documents and followed it from the beginning, there reallyshould not be any question. But many have not. So to offer some correction and clarity, here aresome misunderstandings about what NLP is about.1) "NLP is too cognitive, it lacks sufficient emotional and spiritual dimensions.This one comes primarily from Europe and reflects mostly on the way that some trainers presentNLP. This misunderstanding does not seem to arise anywhere else in the world. Everywhere elseNLP is presented as not cognitive enough!This statement also indicates a misunderstanding of the systemic nature of NLP about humannature. Modeled from the systems thinking of Korzybski and the Family Systems of Virginia Satir,NLP inherently involves a holistic approach. NLP is cognitive to the extent that we recognize that ourmapping drives our emoting. "We operate on the world (the territory) by means of our mental maps."And our mapping is primarily a function of our mind- our understanding, perceiving, and meaning-making. And it then inevitably affects our emotions.To say that something is cognitive is simply to say that it involves thought and that you have to useyour thinking skills. So what would "too cognitive" mean? Does it mean "too academic?" Does itmean that it involves concepts and that it requires some abstract understanding of something? Doesit mean that it involves some complexity? Does it mean that someone presents NLP by lecturing?By talking and talking and not using experiential learning methods? Effective NLP training alwaysinvolves experiential learning that increases your emotional intelligence as well as your spiritualintelligence.2) "Everything is NLP. "Well, no, everything is not NLP. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) as a communication model isabout how we communicate-first to ourselves and then to others. It is a model of that identifies anduses the components of thought-the sensory representational systems (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)and then words and language as the meta-representation system. Then through communication weinduce ourselves and others into states- mind-body-emotion states.And this Communication Model, in turn, gives us a set of modeling tools. With it, we can break downthe neuro-linguistic communication structure and so model any and every human experience. NowNLP can do that. We can use NLP to detect and create a structural format (or map) of anyexperience. Yet that's not the same as saying that "everything is NLP." Yes, using NLP we cantake just about everything in human experience and replicate it. But to say that anyone in previouscenturies or decades were actually "doing NLP" because they were identifying some aspect of someexperience is to extend this line of thinking too far. They were doing something, but not NLP. Whatwe do today, using NLP, may recognize that they were doing something similar. Similar, but not thesame.NLP arose from two movement. The first was the Cognitive Psychology and revolution of 1956.Historians use that date for Noam Chomsky's original work in creating Transformational Grammar(the particular grammar that John Grinder used to sort out the language patterns of Perls and Satirand then later Erickson). That was the year also that George Miller publishes his famous 7 plus-or-minus 2 paper about human consciousness. After that he along with his associates, Carl Pribramand Eugene Galanter wrote Plans and the Structure of Behavior (1960) and that was the basis for"strategies" in NLP.The second movement was the Human Potential Movement which was spearheaded by AbrahamMaslow and Carl Rogers. And that goes back to the 1930s and 1940s when both were doing their



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The Meta-Coach Training System@original work. The movement blossomed in the 1950s and 1960s with the launching of the firsthuman potential movement in California. It was primarily Maslow who created the paradigm shift inpsychology from the sick side of human nature to the healthy side. It was he who put forth the ideathat people are not innately sick, broken, or evil but have all the potentials for becoming fully aliveand actualizing their best. And that's where Perls, Satir, and Bateson got their ideas about humanresourcefulness.3) NLP is hypnosis.Well, no, not really. Now, true enough, the founders of NLP, Richard and John modeled Milton H.Erickson who founded modern medical hypnosis as a form of communication and so added theEricksonian language patterns to the distinctions of NLP. NLP is not hypnosis, but NLP has modeledthe structure of the hypnosis as a communication phenomena. It is called "the Milton Model" as wellas the "reverse use of the Meta-Model of language."Yes, many in NLP have wandered far away from the original modeling emphasis in NLP and sadly,most training programs in NLP do not even present the process of modeling- strategies, elicitationof structure, pattern detection, etc. But that's more to the core of NLP than hypnosis or trance. All ofthe work in using trance states for developing new resources or applying in certain contexts is butone application of NLP.4) NLP is therapy.Well, not exactly. True enough, the first models of NLP came from therapists -from world classpsychotherapists who did "magic" in healing traumas and enabling people to get over the past andget ready for the future. But NLP is not a psychology of therapy although we have many patterns inNLP that deals with traumas, hurts, and limitations. Instead NLP is a psychology and set ofprocedures about the structure and process-it is a meta-position of how things work. And this istrue for things of excellence and things of disaster.Experiences of heaven and of hell can be modeled and understood in terms of a person's meanings,communications, and neurology. The content of NLP is about the workings of neurology, linguistics,and semantics in the mind-body-emoting system.5) NLP is new age.Ah, another misunderstanding! And certainly one of the biggest. No, NLP is not "new age," even if itis used by people who believe in and practice various New Age things. Using that logic, we couldalso say that NLP is Christian, or Moslem, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Jewish because it is also used byChristians, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews. Yet obviously, who uses it does not determine what it is.As a cognitive-behavioral model, NLP is concerned about the structure of experience- as the sub-title of Robert Dilt's classical work, "Neuro-Linguistic Programming: The Study of the Structure ofSubjective Experience" (1980). In itself, NLP is not a new age phenomena although some NLPtrainers have (knowingly or unknowingly) contaminate their presentation of NLP so as to wed the twoand totally confuse themselves and others. As a result, they don't even know what NLP is at itsessence-at its sources-or the foundational groundwork of NLP in General Semantics, cognitivepsychology, and the first Human Potential Movement.The Heart of NLPWhat I loved about NLP when I first encountered it was that it provided a way to find and work withthe structure of an experience. And why? Because every experience has a structure. Everyexperience comes together within a person's mind-body-emotion system through the way a personthinks, emotes, speaks, and behaves. And when you know that, you have in your hands some verypowerful tools for change and renewal. And it is from this foundation that Neuro-Semantics arises.In fact, Neuro-Semantics specifically builds on this as it has contributed additional modeling tools tothe NLP field -the Meta-States Model and the Matrix Model primarily. But also Neuro-Semanticshas expanded the Framing model (Frame Games, Winning the Inner Game and Mind-Lines), createdthe Self-Actualization Quadrants (the Meaning-Performance Axes), and formulated theBenchmarking Model.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT VIAMETA-COACHING

I began Part I last week with the question: What are the core competency skills required for effectiveself-actualizing leaders? and commented that I've been looking for the answer to that question sinceI began my studies in Self-Actualization Psychology in 2003. Part I identified two core competenciesfor leaders and then 7 more as I related the seven core skills of Coaching Mastery to self-actualizingleadership.But there's more. In Coaching Mastery we also train eight-skills as a change-agent working withpsychologically healthy people. And in these eight-skills plus two-more that I'll add here, we have 5Leadership Axes for when a leader is leading transformation for a group, organization, or nation.And these also are core competencies for effective self-actualizing leaders. If that interests you, thenread on.A leader first and foremost lives in the future. He or she then returns to facilitate the envisioning ofthat more compelling human future in the now. But to get there, change is required. People need tochange their behaviors, communications, beliefs, values, understandings, frames, meanings,identities, and so on. And that requires that leaders be change-agents and know how to facilitatechange and transformation processes. Do you?What we introduced into Meta-Coaching several years ago was the Axes of Change Model. Themajority of the distinctions of this model is now in the first book in the Meta-Coaching series,Changing Change (2004 by myself and Michelle Duval). Unlike therapy models of change (whichassume people will inevitably resist change, relapse, lack the ego-strength to face change, are notwired for continual change with their self-actualizing drive, and "are" problems, rather than theirframes are the problems), the Meta-Coaching model of change operates from very differentpremises.For psychologically healthy people we used the premises of Self-Actualization Psychology to notefour primary mechanisms that actually bring about change that we can believe in and fullyexperience. These are: motivation, decision, creation, and integration. To complement this forleaders leading organizations, I have added solutions. And using 5 meta-programs, this gives us 10leadership skills or roles for facilitating self-actualizing change.Self-Actualizing Transformation:There are two leadership competencies for leading the inspiration that energizes the motivation offollowers to envision a more compelling future.

This is based on the motivation meta-program of away-from dis-values and toward desiredvalues. Leaders first facilitate seeing what is clearly as well as awakening a new vision ofwhat's possible and then use the creative tension between them (Peter Senge, The FifthDiscipline) for energy to forge a pathway to an exciting future.1) Leader as Challenger2) Leader as Visionary AwakenerThere are two leadership competencies for leading the creation of meaning that informs andinvigorates followers with a robust sense of meaningfulness.This is based on the internal and external reference meta-program that facilitates the creationof meaning in two dimensions, in mind and semantics as the inner game and in body and

neurology as the outer game. Leaders identify and transform the frames that govern thegame and that open up new possibilities for an entirely new way to function and to be.3) Leader as Framer4) Leader as Activist



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The Meta-Coach Training System@There are two leadership competencies for leading the engagement for a full commitment to thevision and for signing-on mind and heart of the followers.This is based on the response style meta-program from reflective to active. Leaders firstengage in town-meeting dialogues that begin the self-actualizing conversation and concludeby enrolling people for a decision and commitment. This takes the group or community to acollaborative engagement where we can achieve so much more together than alone or apart.5) Leader as Collaborator6) Leader as EnrollerThere are two leadership competencies for leading a clear understanding of the problems and thesolutions that together the organization will create and innovate.This is based on the staging meta-program of pessimism and optimism which enables aleader to first clearly define the actual problem (and not a symptom, peripheral issue,semantic riddle, or self-reflexive paradox) and then focus in a visionary way on the solutionsthat resolve the problem that is blocking the future. Leaders facilitate conversations thatgenerate well-formed outcomes, problems, solutions, and innovations.7) Leader as Problem Definer8) Leader as Problem SolverThere are two leadership competencies for leading the organization's kaizen or continual learningand improvement in quality and service.This is based on the comparison meta-program of matching and mismatching where weperceive and sort for either sameness or difference. Leaders cheerlead by honoring,supporting, and celebrating every small success along the way so that they can thenchallenge and refine what isn't working as well as it could possibly work. This generates theexperience of kaizen in an organization.9) Leader as Cheerleader10) Leader as RefinerSo there you have it. Ten additional core competencies for effective self-actualizing leaders. Wherecan you find more about this? Well, while it is not published in a book (yet), it is written in the trainingmanual of the Unleashing Leadership workshop and it is part of the conversation we have with thatleadership development program.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@"YOU'RE ALMOST A META-COACH BUTNOT QUITE"

Those where the words that recently I spoke to a Meta-Coach in a pretty intense conversation. Andit wasn't the first time. I think I have said those words to several Meta-Coaches over the years. Andwhat leads me to saying such words? What were we talking about that would call forth uttering sucha thing? Okay, here's the story.It almost always begins when someone asks me to do some coach supervision with regard to aclient. And almost always the exploration begins with an emotion that the client is experiencing. Theclient either wants an emotion that he or she does not have or the client wants to stop having anemotion that is far too frequent. So far, so good.But now the problem for the coach begins. Perhaps the client says, "I want to have more confidencein my work, my relationships, my public speaking, etc." Or perhaps the client says, "I'm tired offeeling fearful, angry, jealous, regret, etc." The problem begins at that point if the coach jumps in andbegins coaching. I saw and heard one coach begin using the Swish pattern, another focused onchanging the qualities of the representations of the feeling, another used Spinning Icons, another didstate accessing, amplifying, and then went for applying and anchoring.So what's the problem? Simple- all of this is indicates a mis-guided understand or lack ofunderstanding of how we handle "emotions" in Meta-States and in Meta-Coaching. Are you aware ofthe distinction I'm referring to? Do you know why this is a mis-guided approach? Can you explainhow and why it does not represent the premises and guidelines for handling "emotions" in Meta-Coaching? I hope so, but if not, here are some reminders to integrate this aspect of Meta-Coaching.Emotions (as a combination of kinesthetic sensations and evaluative understandings and beliefs) aresecondary. They come from our meanings. They arise from the difference between our mentalmaps about things and our experiences in the world as we use our skills to navigate a particularterritory. They measure the difference between our map and the territory we are experiencing.That's why they are always right! (Not always positive or useful, but always right.)Emotions are always right to the map and the experience out of which they come. And thatmakes them informational and useful and secondary.On the positive side, this means that you can always embrace, welcome, honor, and explore youremotions for whatever "information" that they might provide. Do you need to adjust your mapping ofthings, your skills and competence in handling things, or a bit of both?On the negative side, this also means that they can be wrong, distortion, delusional, and even toxic.If they come from a toxic map, expect the emotion to be toxic. If you believe that you are worthless,won't amount to anything, will always fail, are hopeless, helpless- you can imagine the emotionsthat you'll create in your body. And while the emotion is right to the map out of which it comes, it isalso sick and toxic!So how do you coach to address that emotion? Forget the sub-modality stuff of changing therepresentations- you need to go deeper and higher-you need to get to the frame from which itcomes. If you don't change the frame, then changing the voice tone, volume, image position, etc. willonly be symptomatic and your work will not last. You have to get to the belief frame that creates thatnonsense in the first place.Neuro-Semantically, emotions are just emotions. They are neither right nor wrong, just somaticenergies in your body by which you feel the meanings you have created. Change the meaning-change the emotion. That will bring lasting change. Fool around with where the emotion starts inyour body and how it spins around and where it goes (some of the current non-sense that RichardBandler is propagating) and you achieve no lasting change. It might be interesting and mystical and



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The Meta-Coach Training System@new-age-ish, but it will not succeed in the long-term. To do that you have to find and change theframe. The frame is the problem, not the energy in the body.Emotions are symptoms. So dealing with them directly is dealing with symptoms and working onsymptomatic responses and not getting to the source. If you want to get to the source, you have togo higher and deeper- to the frame. So if someone says, "I want confidence." "I want joy." "I wantcompassion." "I want to feel calm and relaxed." Immediately ask, "And what do you have to do, whatis required, so that you can feel X?" Do that and you move from coaching in a symptomatic way tocoaching the invisible structures of the person's experience- to coaching in a structural way.You have to ask the action question. You have to find the behavior that's required- the behavior,which if performed, will meet the meaning-frame and generate the emotion. Otherwise you canaccess an emotional state, connect it to the person's current incompetency and help them feel theemotion -even those it will be a delusion and a lie. So say,

"Great, that sounds like a wonderful emotion to experience, what will you have to actually doin the real world that will fit some criteria or standard or value or understanding that you haveabout that?"Now you are meta-coaching! Now you are using the Cognitive-Behavioral psychology that NLP andNeuro-Semantics is founded upon. If you do not, then you are not quite a full-fledged Meta-Coach.Meta-Coaching does not help to perpetuate delusions and lies in people's lives. It does theopposite. It facilitates people mapping better and more useful frames and meanings and thenimplementing them into a mind-to-muscle process so that they are more competent. Meta-Coachingis neuro-semantic in that it brings rich meanings to behaviors, expansive behaviors to meanings andit eliminates both meanings and behaviors that are not effective. If you have forgotten that, re-readthe front page of www.neurosemantics.com.A full-fledged Meta-Coach goes after the meaning-frames first and foremost which then facilitates amuch richer emotional life. This makes for true emotional intelligence- an intelligent way ofhandling, monitoring, and managing our emotions so that we have the kind of emotional freedom andmastery that accords with unleashing our highest and best potentials.

http://www.neurosemantics.com./http://www.metacoach.com.au/http://www.metacoach.com.au/http://www.neurosemantics.com./


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The Meta-Coach Training System@META-COACHING AS LEADERSHIPDEVELOPMENT

What are the core competency skills required for effective self-actualizing leaders? I've been lookingfor the answer to that question since I began my studies in Self-Actualization Psychology in 2003.One core competency skill that a truly effective self-actualizing leader needs is an appreciation of theself-actualizing drive in him or herself and in all people. That was Maslow's and McGregor's primarycontribution to this question. They both argued extensively and worked to enable leaders to makethe paradigm shift from Theory X of human nature to Theory Y and Z. A leader who does not thinkthat way, does not perceive, communicate, and believe according to Theory Y cannot be a self-actualizing leader, let alone an effective leader.So that's one core competency. What else? A leader has to be self-actualizing him or herself. Thisis one area where incongruency and hypocrisy will completely sabotage the leadership process. Thetalk of self-actualizing has to be backed up by the walk. You can be the greatest orator in the world,but without actions to back it up, you will lack the personal power and authority to be credible. Andthat's why congruency, authenticity, and being real are part and parcel of the Neuro-SemanticLeadership criteria (on the website) as well.Anything else? Yes! As a self-actualizing leader who can and does effectively lead, he or shefacilitates the development of a future vision. Visioning is especially the one thing that an effectiveself-actualizing leader does. He or she will constantly be awakening people to their own self-actualizing drive and to self-actualizing with their lovers, families, companies, communities, andnations. To not do that is to not be fully in the process of self-actualizing. Self-actualization, as Iwrote earlier, is not about you- not about your ego, your individualism to the exclusive of that ofothers, it is through you for the greater good. As a social creature, human self-actualization isentirely and inescapably social.So is that it or is there anything else? Yes, there is more, a lot more. And here is a surprise that I'veexperienced in the last couple months as I've had the privilege of presenting Coaching Mastery onthree continents- in Europe, New Zealand, and South Africa. If you want seven very powerful corecompetency skills of self-actualizing leadership- then you can do no better than to start with theseven core skills of Meta-Coaching! Surprised? I was. "Who'd thunk?"And yet, the seven core skills of Meta-Coaching, the very competencies that we benchmark are alsothe very skills of leadership:

Two competencies for creating connection with people for rapport, trust, and effectivecollaboration in a win-win spirit and which creates a crucible space. Leaders who don't havea heart for people will not be able to lead people; perhaps they can manage things, systems,or processes. To lead people requires heart- care, compassion, even love. It's been saidthat people won't care to hear what you have to say until they know you care about them.1) Supporting2) ListeningTwo competencies for being able to effectively explore the thinking, valuing, andunderstandings of people so that the communication is as accurate and precise as it isindepth and probing to the beyond-conscious mind. Leaders often face, and sometimes fallinto the mistake of secrecy and turf protecting. But a self-actualizing person and a self-actualizing organization lives from an openness and abundance that knows that we empowerourselves and others through open sharing of information (rather than hoarding). Peoplewon't share information who live in an environment of fear and positioning.3) Questioning



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The Meta-Coach Training System@4) Meta-Questioning

Two competencies for entering into an in-the-moment calibration that mirrors and shapes forthe unleashing of potentials. True enough, leaders live in the future but not all the time. Theyhave to come back to the now, to this moment; they have to be present to people and to theevents of this very moment. And when they do, and if they have a deep heart-felt connection,they can speak the truth of this moment. This is the fierce conversation that can free us fromdelusions, lies, and deceptions.

5) Receiving feedback6) Giving feedbackOne competency for facilitating and enabling a person to fully experience what we talk about.Leaders get results and they do that by focusing on implementation that executes the plansand strategies that we co-create. To get results, leaders have to have an action orientation.Results only come from actually translating from mind to body, from mind to muscle.

7) Inducing stateIf a leader shows a high level of competencies in these skills, he or she can effectively lead others, oran organization, which unleashes people's potentials as it taps their potentials for intelligence,creativity, and innovation. And conversely, a leader who does not demonstrate high levelcompetency and elegance in these skills has to rely on the old authoritarian command-and-controlmethods of manipulation, making him or her a boss, a general, a policeman, not a leader.A leader with these competencies will inspire people to not only "buy in" to the vision of theorganization or community, but become so engaged in their commitment that people will do whateverit takes to fulfill the vision. And when you have that level of engagement, any and all problems withmotivation and retention disappear. And with a self-actualizing company, you will have a companyon the cutting-edge of creativity and innovation- the only way companies can survive in these daysof accelerating change. And that means continued growth, return-on-investment, and branding of thequality value that you add.So what does this mean? It means that Coaching Mastery is an intense eight-day bootcamp inleadership development! That's what it means. It means that when you develop these skills forcoaching, you are developing your leadership skills for guiding and facilitating self-actualizingpeople.It means that the Self-Actualization Psychology that you are learning and experiencing in CoachingMastery gives you the most cutting-edge psychology/ philosophy for the 2151 century. And becauseyou are moving beyond the authoritarian psychology/philosophy of the previous centuries, you willhave the ability to flexibly adapt to the trends and changes that are now inevitable in themarketplace. And given that "capital" is changing from things (buildings, real estate, money, etc.) topeople's brains and hearts, you will be capitalizing on the only true capital that counts-and creatinggrowth and value through people. But there's more! But alas, I'll pick that up in the next MetaReflection.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@COACHING COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

Working with What is Invisible

In the Meta-Coaching System, you learned about Cognitive Distortions and received a list of 13cognitive distortions. These came originally from Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, two key leaders in thefield of Cognitive Psychology. When I found NLP in 1986 I began integrating these cognitivedistortions with the Meta-Model distinctions and later I even wrote a paper that I presented to theInternational Interdisciplinary Conference of General Semantics at Hoffa University on therelationship between these two sets of distinctions using the formulations of General Semantics.As an aside, I stopped in New York city to see Dr. Albert Ellis. I went to his Rational Emotive Centerso I could get a chance to talk with him. He must have been about 80 or so then and was just asfiesty and foul-mouthed as always. As a someone who read Korzbyski and used General Semanticformulations, I thought he might like to know that I was working on integrating his work with the Meta-Model of NLP. In his gruff voice, he said,"Oh, that has been disproved!""Really?" I responded. "By who and when?""Milton Erickson is a f .... fraud; and that's that; I don't want to hear any more about this?""Well, just one question, if the Meta-Model is a set of linguistic distinctions similar to the cognitivedistortions and some of the General Semantic distinctions, how could that be disproved?" But thatwas it, the "discussion" was over!What all of this refers to are the ways we mentally mess up our understanding of things. And thesecan be detected using the NLP Meta-Model as well as the Cognitive Distortions list. In Meta-Coaching, we encourage that you make copies of the list of Cognitive Distortion, give them to yourclients, and then use them as a checklist for a well-formed or ill-formed map as you engage in yourcoaching conversation. Or, you can do the same with the Meta-Model distinctions, make a list, giveto your clients, and then use them as a checklist.What is the value of this? You can call the meta-attention of your client to his or her way of thinking.You can invite your clients to "go meta" to notice the kinds of thinking they are doing in the back ofthe mind - and where and how they are using distorted ways of processing and meaning-making tocreate their inner game."Was that an universal quantifer?""Did you just over-generalize?""I think I heard a 'should' - are you 'should-ing' again on yourself?""I think you just engaged in two mind-reading statements back to back, what do youthink? Were you aware of that?""Ah! Isn't that an either-or frame that just excluded every possibility in-between andcreate a false sense of choice?"In all of the recent coaching demonstrations that I've done, I keep finding myself detecting cognitivedistortions, calling attention to them, and many times then move into coaching the cognitivedistortion. And like meta-programs, because these make up the invisible structures governing theperson's thinking, perceiving, feeling, and construct of reality- the cognitive distortions provides away for you as a Meta-Coach to work at the meta-level and to often identify the leverage point fortremendous change.I. How are you doing with detecting, identifying, and addressing cognitive distortions in yourcoaching?II. How skilled are you in using the cognitive distortion list as a checklist with your clients therebyenabling them to engage in self-coaching between sessions?



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The Meta-Coach Training System@III. How much competency have you developed to date for effectively coaching to the cognitivedistortions?To assist in this, I have completely rewritten the cognitive distortion list that you received in yourCoaching Mastery Training Manual and have sent it along with this post. Feel free to make copies ofthis for your clients, to include it in your "Coaching Workbook" for your clients, and/or to use it inpresentations that you make.If you have questions about any of these, the books by Ellis and Beck are great sources. You canalso write your questions to me on this post. Oftentimes the questions that you have - or the usesyou put to such tools - offer good insights for the other 600 plus Meta-Coaches on this group.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@WHEN CEOs ATTEND META-COACHINGFrom the very beginning of Meta-Coach Training, we have had top leaders attend the trainings. Wehave had CEOs, Senior Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Business Owners. From Corporations andbig Organizations, I think we have had more CEOs and people from senior management fromMexico attend Meta-Coaching Coaching Mastery (Module III) than from any other country. But that'sbecause Omar Salom, as an Executive Coach in numerous multi-national corporations, has madeexecutive development his central focus and niche and so they come for that.When Michelle and I first took Meta-Coaching to South Africa, we had several CEOs present, twofrom First Rand bank and they were so impressed with the Matrix Business Plan and other features,that we later took Meta-Coaching into First Rand as the Internal Meta-Coach Training for 55managers.But why? Why have so many top business leaders including CEOs of major organizations attendMeta-Coaching? What do they get out of it? And why should CEOs continue to attend the modulesof Meta-Coaching---- Coaching Essentials (I), Coaching Genius (II) and Coaching Mastery (III)?There are many answers. The first answer is that the best leaders use coaching as theirmethodology for leading and empowering people. This is what I've detailed in the book that has justbeen published, Unleashing Leadership: Self-Actualizing Leaders and Companies. If that'ssurprising, and it was to me when I first realized it, then consider what a true leader does and whateffective leadership is actually about. It is about a vision of a future which the leader sees andpassionately wants and which corresponds to what truly fits for people and which the leader thencommunicates in an inspiring way. In other words, leaders must first and foremost inspire a vision ofa compelling future.And surprising, or not so surprising, that's also one of the prime skills of a world-class coach and oneof the basic skills of coaching. So the Coach, as an Awakener, asks, "What do you want? Whatreally excites you and calls for your best?" The second skill is that of empowering people to actualizethe vision. Vision without the power to achieve it is futile. So among the critical skills of an effectiveleader is the ability to enable, equip, and empower people by unleashing their potentials. And that'salso the very methodology of a coach who specializes in unleashing the potentials of clients.

In short, the very skills of leadership are also the processes of coaching. The best skills of aneffective leader is best developed and expanded by coaching methodology. So to inspire people,communicate effectively with both precision and inspiration, to give sensory-based feedback forperformance enhancement, to call for the highest and best potentials to be actualized, to set upstructures that make that possible -all of these are also the specific skills in Meta-Coaching.Further, because a leader is, by definition, a change agent, someone who sees the coming changesin the markets, in the culture, and in the world and who then has the ability to facilitate culturalchanges in organization and groups of people as they prepare people for that change, leaders needchange skills. And, as it so happens to be, so do professional Coaches. And since both workprimarily with psychologically healthy people, not people needing therapy, they need a model thatenables them to work effectively with regular people for the purpose of developmental andtransformational change. And in Meta-Coaching, this is where the Axes of Change model comes in.As the only explicit non-therapeutic Change Model, the Axes of Change is the model usedexclusively in Meta-Coaching.For leaders who want to be effective in their communities, organizations, and/or firms, Meta-Coaching represents advanced training in communication. In fact, for Leaders who may not beinterested in a "Coach" Certificate, we provide another one-a Professional Communicatorcertificate. This is where Modules I and II of Meta-Coaching play such an incredible role- using



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The Meta-Coach Training System@NLP and Meta-States. The first one (NLP) provides the most cutting-edge Communication Modelaround and the second one (Meta-States) provides a model for the unique kind of consciousnessthat humans have- self-reflexive consciousness. This allows you to professionally get to thethoughts and feelings "in the back of the mind" and delve deeply into the overarching frames thatgovern a person's "reality."All of these models and processes in Meta-Coaching enables a Leader to learn the art of personalinfluence and persuasion and in a context of ethical accountability. The way we use the MatrixModel in Meta-Coaching empowers a leader to be able to think and work systemically with the inter-dependent nature of an organization. The Benchmarking Model empowers the leader to figure outways to measure the progress of intangible factors, especially the people factors in an organization.And the Facilitation Model enables the leader to truly facilitate the communications and actionsbetween key people.Finally, the Meaning/ Performance Axes of the Self-Actualization Quadrants puts the spotlight onhow both individuals and organizations can actualize their highest and best. That means enablingCompanies and Organizations to gain the full engagement of their people. What other CoachTraining can do all of that? I know of none and proudly present the Meta-Coach Training System asthe most cutting-edge, creative, empowering, and effective one of all. Yes, that's a big statement,boldly audacious, and yet one that we keep seeing and finding everywhere around the world. Ofcourse, the decision is yours- if you have not been to the Coaching Mastery Bootcamp- I'm soconvinced that if you are not convinced, then here's my invitation for you to come for a Day and try itout! See for yourself. If you're not convinced, you will be the first in the world!



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The Meta-Coach Training System@SELF-ACTUALIZATION IN BUSINESSES

In the past month I have been with hundreds of business people- leaders, managers, andemployees. I have been with them in business meetings and in trainings within organizations. Andwhile no one has asked the following questions in exactly these words, I find that when many peoplefirst heard the words "self-actualization" and business, they have certain questions about that:"What does self-actualization have to do with business? Are you mixing oil and water? Workis about products and services, what does it have to do with self-actualization? Shouldpeople take care of that outside of work? And what about those who aren't interested in self-actualization?"The answer is that self-actualization has everything to do with business because business is whatpeople do and it is what people do through people. So the quality of the people, the level ofmotivation at which they live, their intentions in their visions and missions, the values the companyexpresses, the culture that governs the organization -all of these are reflections of the developmentlevel of the people involved. And therefore the development level of the company.Because self-actualization refers to people being at their best, unleashing their potentials, fulfillingwhat is richly meaningful, contributing being-values (order, beauty, excellence, goodness, quality,etc.) businesses thrive when leaders, managers, and employees are self-actualizing people. Andconversely, when you have the opposite- fearful, rigid, non-creative, self-absorbed, self-servingleaders, managers, and people-business will suffer. These are the things that make business ajungle. There will be unethical competition, lying, cheating, stealing, and every other thing thatmakes business ugly. And that sabotage the business. These are the things that cause businessesto go bankrupt and CEO to be handcuffed and led off to prison.The quality of business depends on the quality of people. The quality of the products and serviceswe create in our businesses depends on the quality of the leaders, managers, and employees. Andthat's why it begins with self-actualizing leaders who set a vision for a more human and humaneorganization. It begins with self-actualizing leaders who begin with the right psychology- Self-Actualization Psychology.When we get our psychology right, then we can make leadership and management right. Maslowargued for this 70 years ago and McGregor put it into the language of Theory X and Theory Y ofmanagement. And while you may think that this is "old stuff," it is only in terms of what we know. Butin terms of practice- it is absolutely new and revolutionary! That's because to effectively lead andwork with people we have to know what drives them and how they effectively gratify those drives. InNeuro-Semantics, that's where we have extended Maslow's hierarchy of needs in our MatrixEmbedded Volcano.What does that mean? It means that we humans do not merely have drives that motivate us, but ourdriving needs are informed by the meanings that we create about those impulses. That's why everysingle one of us have different experiences with the same driving needs within us. It all depends onhow you think about, represent, belief, frame, decide, etc. about your needs. How you frame (ormeta-state) your needs and what you understand about gratifying them transform them into healthymotivational energy or neurotic motivational energies. This is what Neuro-Semantic NLP uniquelyoffers to leadership and business development today.Now you can discover why and how any person can distort his or her drives and end up psycho-eating, psycho-spending, psycho-sexing, psycho-securing, psycho-approval-seeking, etc. And whenthat happens, the need has you. The need distorts life. And the pseudo-coping skills cause you tobecome stuck at that level of need and unable to move up to the self-actualization needs.Businesses work best when people are actualizing their highest meanings and values and makingreal their best potentials. Companies need people who are able to tap their human capital ofintelligence and creativity. They need people living above the Jungle Needs (the first four levels of



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The Meta-Coach Training System@the hierarchy of needs)- people who live in the highest self-actualization needs. Firms need leaderswho can lead people to new visions of possibilities, managers who can empower and coach peopleto bring out their best, and people who enjoy fully engaging their best efforts in creating valuableproducts and services. Such companies are self-actualizing companies.The inescapable fact is this: People at work in every role are still human beings. We don't leave ourhumanness when we enter the front door of the office or the factory. Inside the business people arestill driven by their needs and those needs are informed by their meanings and understandings. Andthe level at which they live and work determine the quality of their lives as well the health or sicknessthey bring to all their actions and relationships. Does a person live at the survival level? Then thatperson probably won't attend to safety concerns. Does a person feel unsafe and need security?Then that person will not likely to give much energy to how he or she treats others and feelsconnected. Does a person live at the social need level (love and affection)? Then that person will beunlikely to treat himself with dignity and worth.It is only the person living at the level of the self-actualization drives and needs that's able to get theego out of the way and effectively contribute without being self-absorbed. It is only when a firm hasself-actualizing leaders and employees that people get beyond the deficiency needs that a firm canbe organized in a way that makes the culture human.



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The Meta-Coach Training System@THE FIVE STAGES OF META-COACHINGWould you like to know the five stages of coaching? I am sure there are numerous ways to create"stages" of coaching. I recently identified these stages as a way to distinguish the levels andqualities of coaching that a client goes through over the period of a coaching program. They dependon the developmental level of the client. And where did these stages come from? I got myinspiration for this from Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey and their Situational Leadership model(1968). It was there that I got the idea of using the two axes of direction and support.Direction speaks of the amount of direction that you provide a client as you facilitate the coachingprocesses. At first you will provide more direction and guidance as you help a client to truly becomea "coaching client" -co-creating the direction, the outcomes, enabling the accessing of resources,actualizing possibilities, etc. Support speaks about the personal care, empathy, and presence youbring to the client.

When I revisited the Situational Leadership model recently, and observed how Blanchard and Herseyused the term "coaching" for the second stage, I discovered that it does not fit the way we usecoaching in Meta-Coaching, or any other Coaching model for that matter. They use "coaching" toessentially mean "teaching."Yet we all know that when a client shows up at a Coach's room he or she will be at various levels ofdevelopment. Clients do not all need the same amount of direction