Unlocking change for business development by Rory James MacLaren-Jackson, business development specialist on 15-Jan-2014

I  am often asked what I do for a living, says Rory James MacLaren-Jackson, business and personal development specialist. My answer that I 'help individuals and organisations to unlock positive change' nearly always prompts the question I want to be asked next – 'what exactly does that mean?!'

In short, I identify and help implement the processes required to make positive change a reality – either for personal or business developmental goals. I also believe that when planning a programme of development for an individual or organisation it is highly beneficial to view this from what I term a 'change perspective'.

Change is often viewed as something that is effected on a person or an organisation, whether brought about by internal or external factors. The resultant change then requiring management hopefully to ensure a positive outcome. In this sense, we understand change as a force, but one that is reacted to and not necessarily harnessed in a proactive sense.

There is also the change that comes from a more positive intention, when one decides to embark on a programme of development, and seek to effect certain changes in themselves or their organisation.

However, in both examples, change is expressed as something that either just happens or is created – a force fundamentally outside of the individual or organisation in question.

When I established my personal brand – Unlocking Change – I tried to capture in the name a key concept in how I believe change should be effectively approached in relation to business and personal development. Change in this context being not simply created or effected, but rather something innate that can be 'unlocked' or released from within an individual or organisation.

But what precisely is this change that is being unlocked? Put simply, an unused or underused (for this new purpose) energy or resource that exists within the individual or organisation. Re-shaped, re-applied or re-directed, it is the essence or raw material from which the new direction or approach that defines positive change can be fashioned.

Seeing the development of an individual or an organisation in these terms makes the programme of this development a question of 'which processes will unlock the change required?' At this point, it also becomes an issue of the exact nature of the change desired and also at what level it will be occurring. This naturally helps to identify the best-suited process to follow or apply.

For example, as part of their business development strategy, many sales companies are looking to improve their employees’ communication skills. The processes most suitable for unlocking this type of change are usually training and / or strategic consultancy. At this level, we are mostly concerned with change manifested by the acquisition of skills and knowledge and their relevant and successful application.

In other instances, change at a deeper level is required. Through my hypnotherapy work I often help clients to unlock change through processes such as clinical hypnosis, deeper level coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). At this level, though there can also be elements of training incorporated (as in the example above), the change is altogether a deeper one, concerned more with mindset, motivation and belief.

An example could be a businessperson who wishes to overcome 'performance anxiety' in order to deliver more effective pitches and presentations. Using hypnosis combined with behavioural coaching (even adding some practical presentation skills training, as required), the positive change here is unlocked at a largely deeper unconscious level.

It follows that the training work I do with a call centre team to improve their customer service skills and the clinical hypnosis I use to help someone quit smoking are not so different. In both examples I am using an appropriate process to help unlock positive change within those engaged, albeit at a different level of consciousness.

In summary, I have found that viewing both personal and business development in terms of 'unlocking change' is an extremely helpful paradigm. Above all, emphasising the tools and resources within the participant creates a positive intention from the outset – the metaphorical glass half-full of potential to achieve optimum development.

For further information on business and personal development please visit: www.unlockingchange.com

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