Linda Ferguson and Chris Keeler are Senior Partners at NLP Canada Training Inc. Since 2003, they have worked together to train and explore nlp and continue its evolution through the development of new perspectives and practices. They work in seamless collaboration: all materials, products and programs have grown from the integration of their very different backgrounds, personalities and strengths.
Chris has a background that includes coaching professional athletes, coaching and consulting to executives, hypnotherapy and a wide range of experience as a police professional and police trainer. He was trained in NLP by his mentor, Derek Balmer, who was himself trained by the founders of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Chris also trained with John Grinder, whose New Code remains a foundation of the NLPCT approach to NLP.
Linda's background includes a Ph.D. in English Literature, many years of freelance business writing, experience teaching communication at the college and university levels, and professional storytelling. Her work at NLPCT builds on more than twenty five years of studying the multiple levels on which language communicates and turning that study into practical impact.
These very different people met and discovered that they shared three important beliefs:
1) they believe that play and work are two sides of the same coin and a sense of humour is essential to both
2) they believe that all people are capable of experiencing more of life with more satisfaction
3) they believe their Christian faith is the foundation for everything they achieve or will achieve.
Linda had committed her professional life to language; Chris had relied on language in life-or-death situations. When they met, they were both skeptical and curious about each other and each other's knowledge. They began to work together on projects, to test each other and stretch each other and learn from each other's strengths. Surprisingly, they found they learned more and learned faster by integrating their differences than by resolving them.
Over time, Linda and Chris have also built a community of interesting people who are committed to learning, to getting things done, and to continued exploration of how changes in thinking lead to changes in achievement. Some members of the community work with us on projects or assist in courses. Others have integrated practices from our training into their work and their work with clients, staff or colleagues. This community gathers occasionally at NLPCT events and keeps track of each other by email, websites and other meetings.
NLPCT has worked with entrepreneurs, managers, coaches, trainers, sales professionals, police trainers, IT "geeks", musicians and therapists. Among those you can visit on the web are Mike Murray, Ron Vereggen, Andrew Reid, Barb Luedecke, Nancy Hunter, Willard Bond and Mike Mandel. There are many others; you will often meet them at evening events, renewing their acquaintance and refreshing their perspectives.
The community fostered by NLPCT is growing. It is based on a firm commitment to systems that protect the integrity of individual members while exploring common ground and serving common goals. It is an intensely practical commitment: it results in opportunities and innovation that would be impossible without both diversity and teamwork.
The most fundamental challenge facing any organization is how to motivate people to stay inspired as individuals while working for the good of the organization as a whole. Organizations who meet this challenge have the edge they need to compete, to grow, and to prosper.