For the last 10 years I have been certifying consultants, trainers and executives from around the world to use the LAB (Language & Behaviour) Profile in business and industry. Highly-skilled people attend this program because they know it will dramatically increase their ability to help clients solve difficult problems as well as create a unique opportunity for their careers.There are now 170 LAB Profile Consultant/Trainer Certification graduates from around the world.
“How strange,” I thought, given that NLP is used almost universally by trainers, facilitators, consultants and coaches, even if they don’t mention that what they are doing comes from NLP. Why haven’t more people been using the LAB Profile and contributing to the ever-increasing knowledge base, especially since the LAB Profile has become the accepted way of teaching Meta Programs in many countries?
So I asked some questions and here is an unscientific sample of what I heard on some NLPers’ beliefs about Meta Programs and the LAB Profile:
1. Meta Programs are the same thing as the LAB Profile.
2. I already studied them and know what I need to know.
3. They are just filters and who needs more filters?
4. Nice to know but there are no practical uses for them.
What!? I was shocked! And all these years I had been using the LAB Profile along with my NLP skills to create a very lucrative practice helping organizations and people. Some examples: I have enabled a manufacturer to avoid a strike and get the first 5 year contract with their union in the history of the company; I have decoded specialized LAB Profile market research to direct advertising strategies; transformed entire call centre representative behaviour to stop the bleeding of customers from an insurance company; enabled negotiators to increase revenue by millions of dollars by changing their behaviours with their customers. I have even been on national television using the LAB Profile to decode election strategies for the general public.
In short, my NLP and LAB Profile skills have made my fee irrelevant in the market place. My customers are willing to pay whatever it costs to take advantage of the insights and skills afforded them by these skills.
Perhaps the information has not been getting across to NLP-based trainers and consultants, so I would like to correct some misunderstandings.
What are Meta Programs and what is the LAB Profile?
Meta Programs, originally developed by Leslie Cameron-Bandler (now Lebeau), describe what information a person takes in or gives out. Are they filtering for information, place, person, thing or activity? Do they notice sameness, similarities or contrasts? And many, many more filters. When I learned these patterns in an NLP Master Practitioner program in Paris in the 1980’s, they are rarely connected to how to detect them and what to do once you know the patterns.
I did learn however that some patterns were better than others; it was better to be internal than external, better to approach than avoid etc., a belief I have since rejected. I was fascinated by the information at the time, but also thought there was nothing one could do with the information.
In 1984 I translated Rodger Bailey’s LAB Profile manual into French when I working in Paris. I was immediately struck by the differences between his model and the standard NLP Meta Programs. I chose to use and develop the LAB Profile rather than any of the other psycho-metric profiling tools because of its simplicity, accuracy and usefulness.
While the LAB Profile was based on the original Meta Programs and Noam Chomsky’s deletions, distortions and generalizations, only the LAB Profile consists of:
1. A reasonable number of patterns to learn,
2. A methodology for detecting the patterns, and
3. A specific set of Influencing Language to match each pattern.
Meta Programs in Comparison to the LAB Profile
Meta Programs: 60 Patterns, No methodology, No specific language, No practical applications. Meta program development includes: Summarizing, Concentrating on essentials, Structured approach, Research and development of language structures and Ongoing research and development.
LAB Profile: 14 Practical categories, Questionnaire for eliciting patterns with clear indicators, Matches the motivation trigger and influencing language for each pattern, Used for mass and interpersonal communication, self knowledge, psycho-metric profiles. Benefits include:Easy to learn and remember, Easy to use for research with groups and in casual conversations, Dramatically increases ability to be persuasive because it fits language to internal mental structure, Incredible potential for creating new and rigorous applications.
Rodger had also discovered some practical applications. This was something I could actually use. At the time we included the LAB Profile in a program called “Managing High Performance Teams” and I began to explore what else could be done with it.
On top of this several people have used the LAB Profile as a research topic for their Master’s or Ph.D. theses. Several psychological profiling tools have been developed using the LAB Profile to use with individuals and teams.
All of this information on what uses trainers, consultants, facilitators and coaches are doing with the LAB Profile is irrelevant if people won’t give it a try for themselves.
I wrote the book Words That Change Minds quite a few years ago to describe the Patterns and give information on how to use them for a few practical applications. But that was only the beginning. Since then, we have discovered many more practical applications for consultants and trainers.
Imagine being able to understand, and predict people’s behaviour using a rigourous, empirical and scientific method for motivation. The LAB Profile is an exciting alternative to standard problem-solving approaches which our customers have all heard before.
But don’t believe me. Check out my book Words That Change Minds www.theShellestore.com or have a look at the LAB Profile Consultant/Trainer Certification Program at www.LABProfileCertification.com
Please email me at
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and visit my website for more information www.WordsThatChangeMinds.com .
Shelle Rose Charvet
