Running a marathon is no ordinary feat, as it tests a person’s physical and mental strengths to the fullest. When a person residing in Bengaluru had to train for a marathon happening in Ladakh, she initially found it very challenging due to the extreme differences that exist between the two regions. But then, she told herself that any marathon is essentially 1km run 42 times and was able train her mindset to focus on aspects such as breath control, running style, staying focused and others.

On reaching Ladakh the day before the race, she paused and reflected on how her training had got her ready for this moment. She imagined running through the beautiful landscape and finishing the entire race without any injury. And then, she did that!

Wondering the secret behind such a strong mindset? That’s the power of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, especially when its taught by a highly qualified and experienced trainer like Nikhil Damle. In an illustrious corporate career spanning close to two decades, Nikhil had an 18-years tenure with Morgan Stanley, where he garnered exposure to a globalized working environment while setting-up a variety of global, local, insourced and outsourced functions, and held COO/CAO roles in the last 4.5 years of his tenure.

He was also involved in volunteer capacity as a coach at Landmark Education and through TREE Society, taught finance to rural entrepreneurs across several states of India as part of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission.

Further, Nikhil is a certified NLP trainer from two international bodies, namely INLPTA and ABNLP, and holds numerous other certifications in areas such as Gestalt Therapy, Metaphors of Movement, Transactional Analysis, Hypnotherapy and others.

In a recent interaction with Siliconindia, Nikhil speaks about his journey as an NLP trainer, his firm Iridium Coaching, key practices & approaches, and many other interesting aspects. Below are a few key extracts from the exclusive interview. Let’s read on.

What inspired you into taking up a career in the field of NLP training?

Reflecting upon my career until I was in the job, I had realized my ability to work with a diverse variety of people and deliver value in what I did. This sparked my interest in starting off on a path which would be solely devoted to helping people in their personal and professional development journeys.

Thus, I planned a 2-year career transition between 2019-21 which was further enabled by the work-from-home practice becoming mainstream during Covid, where I got a chance to learn from some of the best teachers globally, gain exposure and build contacts. This proved to be instrumental for my transition into NLP and gave me the conviction to leave my corporate career and set up Iridium Coaching & Learning in 2021.

Throw some light on your unique approach to NLP training that makes you stand out in the market.

Strongly believing that NLP is a ‘doing’ discipline and not a ‘knowing’ discipline, we at Iridium Coaching & Learning focus on enabling our participants to imbibe NLP skills in a hands-on manner. Rather than overloading participants with theoretical concepts, our programs are mostly focused on activities and games oriented approach, making their learning experience a fun-filled one.

In light of this, we have a thriving community called ‘Deepening The Roots’ that’s been in place since 2019, where we come together and engage in deepening our continuous practice and application of NLP. Further, we also hold in-person community events called ‘Feet On The Ground’ through which we facilitate interactions over the weekends with fellow community members about new ways to apply NLP skills in their lives. As a result, participants gather easy-to-implement insights that help overcome their diverse organizational challenges and enhance how they adapt to change.

While working with organisations and businesses, I love utilizing NLP Meta Programs. They are such a simple, yet powerful set of patterns that can be effectively applied into any organizational context. This is such a versatile model that I use it in my coaching conversations, therapeutic interventions, organization goal setting and mentoring & assessing high potential leaders.

I have developed a variation of how NLP Meta Programs can be re-sequenced and used to change the way a person views a situation. This has enabled me to help many individuals find answers in areas where they were stuck and couldn’t find a way out. Additionally, I also love doing identity alignment and movement work with individuals to help them achieve their potential and tap into hidden resources within themselves. Often when people go through a training, the impact isn’t long lasting as it conflicts with their identity. In my work with clients, I find that change is easier to sustain when it aligns with their identity.

Tell us about a few key practices that you imbibe to be a successful NLP trainer.

No matter what culture, organization, city or group of people I work with, it helps to stay curious and willing to be surprised by new things that I might come across that day. I also focus on basics like respecting the other person’s map of the world, building and maintaining rapport with them, and trying to find a common ground. Rather than talking about NLP, it helps to speak the language of the business and use that understanding to build highly effective solutions with NLP as the foundation. Be it for corporates, educational institutions or the social sector, the aim is to leverage NLP to further human potential and apply it for societal benefit by creating a little bit of everyday excellence.

How do you craft tailored NLP trainings to suit diverse modern day corporate challenges?

Be it a simple 2-day workshop or a 9-month program that is an amalgamation of workshop, group coaching and individual coaching, every program that we offer is tailored as per the clients’ specific requirements and the end goal they want to achieve. Further, we work closely with each client to co-create trainings, advise them on what we think would be the best approach to achieve their outcomes, while offering them multiple options to get there.

This way, we ensure that our offerings are precisely focused on addressing their specific business needs, while also fostering collaboration, enhancing company-wide alignment and improving people’s ability to work in silos. While enrolling any individual participant into our NLP courses, we assess their objectives, commitment and needs through 1:1 conversations and pre-participation forms, so they are clear why they require NLP and how they envision using it after the course completion.

Share a success story on how your NLP intervention deeply impacted a client.

I was working with a women’s leadership group in which the sponsor of that group was also attending the program. When I was working on their goals in one of my sessions, she volunteered to work with me in a demonstration. This allows other participants to observe and learn how to apply what they are learning from me. She stated that she was unable to make time to go through new technology certifications and that this bothered her.

However, 15 minutes into the demonstration, she realized that it didn’t align with her identity. Rather, enabling junior team members resonated more for her, and it aligned with her identity. I still remember the relief and happiness on her face when she realized that her goal was something she need not pursue and there were better ways to add value as a senior leader.

What does the future hold for yourself and Iridium going forward?

The vision is simple and long-term. With individuals, we envision creating a group of NLP practitioners who apply NLP skills with depth and quality to enhance their experience of life, and of those around them. We are keen to nurture and incubate ideas to develop new and practical applications of NLP across different domains that people are involved in. With businesses and organisations, we want to enable leaders, empower champions of change and transformation, and help them scale and achieve business outcomes with ease, collaboration and alignment.

Nikhil Damle, International NLP Trainer & Founder, Iridium Coaching & Learning

A B.Com graduate from Mumbai University and holding a PG Diploma in Marketing and Finance from Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Nikhil boasts of a successful 20-years corporate career with renowned organizations such as Morgan Stanley and Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Additionally, he is a certified NLP trainer from two international bodies, namely INLPTA and ABNLP, and holds numerous other certifications in areas such as Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis and Hypnotherapy as well.