An Interview with Penny Bannister, NLP And Management

Penny Bannister is the Principal/Owner of Self Determine, a business transformation consultancy that has expertise in delivering large-scale strategic programs that include and require cultural and organisational shifts to deliver sustainable long-term outcomes. Self Determine works with corporate clients across a number of sectors including Financial Services, Information Technology and Public Sector

While Penny utilises a range of different tools and techniques, depending on the situation at hand she sees NLP as being a rock solid foundation approach that underpins the work Self Determine does on a daily basis, helping clients to transform their businesses, systems and cultures.

“I see NLP as one of the core, extremely powerful tools I use in any business transformation process as it enables my colleagues and I to truly understand patterns of behaviour, thinking and communicating, at all levels, organisation wide, within teams and with individuals”.

“By observing patterns we can identify the various shifts that need to occur for an organisation to embrace change. It is possible to identify the priority functions, projects and teams to work with to move quickly towards desired outcomes and goals”.

Penny says a key differentiator of this technique over others is that it enables people to identify ways to achieve shifts in their attitudes and behaviour without needing to go down a traditional therapy path, delving into the past to try and understand why they may have acted or thought in a particular manner.

“NLP focuses you on the here and now in the present, not on what may have occurred in the past. Sometimes it isn’t particularly helpful to keep returning to past actions and events, it’s better to focus on the present situation and address what could be changed to achieve desired future outcomes and goals”.

As Penny explains NLP encourages organisations and the people in them to be far more mindful about their thoughts and actions and to be more aware of how these thoughts and actions affect their day-to-day life, both personally and professionally. Being more mindful and present enables people to conduct their daily rituals with a far more heightened awareness, which ultimately delivers a change in culture at the organisational level.

“You become far more cognisant of yourself and of others. You see things in a much clearer light and you feel things you wouldn’t normally feel as you are far more perceptive and aware”.

Penny is particularly impressed with the versatility of NLP as a business change tool. Self Determine works with a wide range of clients in the public and private sector and most of the assignments it manages are complex transformation initiatives. In Penny’s view NLP is entirely adaptable and applicable to all sorts of scenarios, settings and environments.

“NLP is extremely practical and accessible on so many levels. Once you learn its tools and techniques you can use them in a myriad of environments and settings. It, doesn’t need to be complicated or overly academic. Its brilliance is in its practicality and in the results it can render”.

Penny completed the 10970NAT Graduate Certificate in NLP with Inspiritive, as they are the only organisation in Australia that offers a comprehensive, practical and rigorous program in learning NLP’s New Code tools and techniques. Penny believes Inspiritive’s Directors Chris and Jules Collingwood are impressive trainers who are endorsed by John Grinder, one of the co-founders of NLP. Chris has also worked with Penny on some of the experiential workshops she has managed as part of her wider transformation programs.

When it comes down to it Penny believes NLP is a business necessity for companies embarking on business transformation initiatives, a tool that will help ensure the outcomes of these initiatives are sustainable and measurable.

*Penny, has completed the Graduate Certificate in NLP at Inspiritive. To learn more about this qualification and how you too can obtain it click on the Learn More button below.

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