Nick Kemp Blog

I was thinking today about some of the smartest people in music and realized that many of the greats have been around for decades. Some of my favorite CDs are from the 1970s including Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, Springsteen’s Born to Run, The Stones Sticky Fingers, Neil Young’s On the Beach amongst others. In each instance these artists have produced some great work and although there have been many imitators, these are mostly pale imitations. It’s not that the imitators are poor musicians or songwriters it’s just that they don’t have a great deal of creativity. In contrast those musicians who have developed their craft, written their own songs and toured extensively tend to be those who are apparently most financially secure, even in these tougher economic times.

In the same way in the world of Changework, there are some excellent minds and original thinkers. Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Frank Farrelly, Gregory Bateson and others are said to have inspired the creation of NLP. In NLP and Changework there have been some great writings, seminars and products, but also some very patchy material. I remember watching a series of DVDs from one NLP creator thinking that it all looked “very familiar” and it was a bit like seeing a rock band attempting to recreate an album from days gone by and not quite getting there.  Many people are unaware that having a book published does not equate to great earnings and I know one NLP trainer who had an internationally successful series of books and made just a few thousand pounds in sterling for each writing!

So do NLPers make a good living out of NLP? If you believe what you read online, you would think so, but my observations are that in most cases this is not true. Many realize that running certificated events only really generates income for the certificating company that receives fees for each delegate. I lost track of the number of NLP trainers, who lamented their financial situation and in many cases individuals “retired” from NLP. I have previously blogged about the fact that the public don’t always know that many events that are advertised are in fact cancelled with some delegates  still chasing refunds months later. Also many “NLP training businesses” are in financial trouble and in some cases either in voluntary arrangements with Inland Revenue or struck off as limited companies by Companies House. I recently had a conversation with a colleague about this issue and we made a mental note of the number of people who had stopped running NLP specific events due to finding them not financially viable. Of course there will be exceptions but my guess is that the market has changed just as the economic times have done.

The most successful musicians and change workers continue to create and innovate, presenting new ideas.  The most successful musicians employ good financial advisers to ensure they run their businesses in an effective manner. This doesn’t always work out and we are told that Leonard Cohen among others lost millions in disputes over money. In the world of NLP some trainers have suffered financial difficulties sometimes through costly legal actions and/or having inflated expectations from the marketplace. Both musicians and trainers in changework come in all shapes and sizes. Those who stand the test of time realize that developing any brand requires dedication persistence, although a person can change their lives in seven days, developing a longstanding business concern or creating a great album in most instances takes a great deal longer. Belief in capability does not always translate into having capability. Anyone watching American Idol or X Factor will realize this!