Neurological Levels – Awareness
The term “Neurological Levels” (also called Logical Levels), first coined by Gregory Bateson and the model was created by Robert Dilts. The logical levels are a tool which allows us to analyse our lives and situations in our life through different perspectives.
These levels form a hierarchy from bottom to top: Environment at the bottom; Behaviour; Capability; Belief; and Identity at the top. Sometimes, there is a sixth level – Spirituality– added to the top of the hierarchy.
My reflection:
What season are you currently in?
Like an onion, as we peel away, we get to the core of who we are and how we see the world. As I think back to session we had with Mel, I am reminded about a chapter in the Atomic Habits book by James clear. It speaks about how change in our behaviour or forming good patterns of behaviour is impacted and influenced by our Environment. This speaks true to all of us and the reality that different environments will play a role in our lives, good or bad. The physical environment, people we engage with, what we consume in terms of food and media all play a role in shaping us. These create our patterns of behaviour. When we are aware of the impact that our environment has on us, we can create one that is healthy and supportive for us. As a Coach we need to understand the current environment of the Coachee and allow them to explore each layer that could get them to a new awareness of their filters.
The next layer speaks to Behaviours, which is linked to our environment and how we show up in the world. We have a choice on the behaviour we bring into a room. This is in relation to how we speak, listen, think, and react to situations. In my years in corporate, I would often observe different leaders and say to myself this is a leader that I want to be more like, or this leader is teaching me what not to do as a leader based on their behaviour. Our own behaviour and the behaviourism of others play a role in creating a positive or negative environment. The Coachee might be challenged in a certain area of their life, home or work, and the Coach can hold the mirror up to allow them to see how their own behaviour might impacting the environment. Holding the mirror up with care and compassion will allow for growth of the Coachee and allow them to become self-aware of their behaviour in certain spaces or with certain individuals.
The next layer we worked through was Competencies. The competence level is about how we do things or what we do that translates into our skills, capabilities, and talents. When I think about this competency in relation to being a Coach and the hours that ICF require for you to move up the ranks from ACC, PCC and the MCC, all require a certain number of hours that determine the level that you are at, along with other factoring competencies. The more practice you have and hours in coaching the more you can improve your skill to conduct the task at a certain level. The more we perform a task the better we become at it. I remember a Coachee saying to me that they were hopeless at painting and yet had such a passion for it. I asked how many times they had attempted painting the the answer was once. At this point the Coachee themselves realized that 1 time was not good enough for them to say that they were hopeless at the craft.
As we move up or down, depending on which way you look at the pyramid, our next layer is Attitudes and Motivations which speak to what drives us. I have invested my own money in completing my Catalyst Coaching Certification and hence I am highly invested in ensuring that I meet the graduation date. This is a high priority for me. If I go deeper into my attitude towards my coaching and what motivates it speaks to my credibility and wanting to also demonstrate to my clients that I am lead learner and want to provide them with Coaching that is aligned to International Standards. Our attitude and our Coachee’s attitude determine the outcome that we want to achieve from the goals that we have set ourselves, this can result both positively and negatively based on the frame of attitude we have towards the task. This will also influence that pace at which the goal is achieved, the greater the why, the intense is our motivation to achieve the goal.
Value and Beliefs is the layer that allows us to reflect on how we were raised, what values have been instilled into us, good or bad. Do we have alignment with where we are, what we are doing and our values. Often, we do not feel in flow when there is misalignment. I have personally experienced this, when I am against my own values and beliefs, trivial things seem to start going wrong, that is when I need to pause and check in with myself and why I am doing work that might not be aligned to who I am or what my values stand for. There are also times when I beliefs are the reason that we do not take on a task or job, because we believe that we are not good enough, or that we cannot ask for help, these are limiting beliefs that often prevent us from moving forward towards our purpose. It is the story that others have made up about us or the story that we have made up about ourselves. When we hear our Coachee choose words like” I will never…” or” “I can’t.” this is an opportunity to allow them to say more into that thinking because it speaks to their limiting beliefs about themselves.
Identity – who are you. I remember when I heard Mel speak to this and how we can easily get confused by what we do in terms of behaviour opposed to the Identity of who we are. I am so aware of this now and catch myself before I use any title to introduce myself. When we continuously ask ourselves, who are we? it brings us closer to our IKIGAI. I have even changed my title on my social media platforms to read, “I am a human being, doing with heart” by no means have I completely figured out who I am in totality, but I certainly ask myself that question increasingly every day. The more I work on myself and my own growth, the more authentic Coaching becomes for me. I am always reminded that I need to walk the journey just as much as I expect the Coach to do the introspection and move through the Neurological levels.