Michael Carroll

Michael Carroll is the only NLP Master Trainer in the world certified by NLP co-creator John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St Clair. He is the Founder and Course Director of the NLP Academy. Michael creates a collaborative learning environment where the interplay of conscious and unconscious learning processes fully harness the potential of each learner on a course. He has a unique style using metaphor, humour, questioning, and elicitation of altered states. This makes a course with Michael a profound learning experience flowing into every outlet of your life. In the words of his clients he is a "training genius".

Michael Carroll is a fascinating character, who makes an impact on all those he meets, and has certainly made an impact on the field of NLP. When he entered the field, Michael found the general quality of NLP and the depth of learning experiences available disappointing. As part of his mission to reset the standard, he sought out John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St Clair and has worked closely with them ever since. The ongoing goal is to develop and deliver courses that accredit quality Practitioners, Master Practitioners and Trainers of NLP and offer personal and corporate excellence.

As a young man of 22 with little experience but bucket loads of ambition, he joined a financial services business. In his first month he was the top salesman in the company. After four years he bought the company, turning it into a profitable business throughout the early 1990s recession. During his time in financial services, he knocked on doors, managed large teams of sales people, developed a highly effective process for passing exams, set up efficient fast track training programmes, arranged complex financial packages for people and had lots of fun. He sold his business in 2000 to concentrate on building The NLP Academy.

Michael stumbled across NLP at a motivational seminar and instantly wanted to learn more and read every book he could on the subject. (Michael can read a book in an hour). He took a Practitioner course in 1995 in the UK, and on the last day of the course set up his new business as a hobby and hired the NLP trainer to work for him for a short period of time.

In 1996, Michael’s next step was Master Practitioner and the Trainers Training in California. As a newly certified trainer when Michael calibrated his own skill level to be greater than the trainer he previously hired, Michael launched himself as Trainer in his own right and raised his game to work with the very best in the world.

By 1998 Michael Carroll’s name was emerging on the NLP scene as someone who wants to push the boat and make changes. He attended a John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St Clair seminar in the UK. Michael bonded very quickly with John and Carmen and developed a strong friendship with this amazing couple. John and Carmen requested Michael join them in their www.nlpwhisperinginthewind.com project in 2001. Michael was responsible for setting up the website to promote the ideas in John and Carmen’s book Whispering in the Wind. As part of the project Michael set up the most active NLP web forum in the world. Today John, Carmen and Michael actively engage in discussion with fellow NLPers regarding topical NLP information.

Such was the relationship between Michael, John and Carmen, that the NLP Academy became the natural choice for hosting John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St Clair seminars. John Grinder, Carmen Bostic St Clair and Michael Carroll make an exciting and diverse team. Together they totally redesigned NLP Trainers Training simultaneously raising the standards to a new level of excellence. Michael’s achievement in working directly with the co-creator of NLP stands alone as one of the highest achievements of any UK NLP Trainer.

Michael developed the first ever full Multi Media on-line learning tool in 1999 called the Sales Enhancement Series. This series was originally developed for a worldwide telecommunications company to load on to their on-line multi media learning programme. The Sales Enhancement Series was made available to over 10,000 users worldwide.

This was the first time people could experience NLP on their computer screen in video format with supporting slides and transcript. The technology quickly developed and Michael spotted a window of opportunity. He formed an alliance with a specialist multi media and training company and developed the NLPediaseries for NLP accelerated learning. NLPedia is the NLP Practitioner material in multi media format. In the programme there are seven CD ROMS with over 25 hours of video filmed at a Practitioner course, 800 Power Point Slides, and 600 pages of transcript. This creation is the most in-depth learning tool available anywhere in the world. The Master Practitioner is coming soon.

Michael is a continual researcher into accelerated learning principles. He loves to learn how people learn and create ways to enhance learning opportunities. Michael Carroll was the first NLP Trainer from Europe to be personally licensed by Paul Scheele to teach PhotoReading and he was one of the pioneer PhotoReading Instructors in bringing PhotoReading seminars to the UK. Michael runs more PhotoReading seminars than any other Trainer in the UK and has been delivering them on a continual basis for longer than anyone else. Michael was also responsible for bringing PhotoReading into one of the most prestigious business schools in the world. The faculty of Henley Management College learned to accelerate their speed of reading to super fast speeds when they invited Michael into their world for three days.

Throughout his NLP career Michael has adapted and updated many NLP patterns making them more efficient and easy to use. Michael is also the creator of several NLP processes. A significant contribution to the field is Michael’s work in developing TimeLine Re-Patterning. Prior to Michaels updates most of the TimeLine models were content models breaching the core ethics of NLP. Michael also created the Neuro-Linguistic Sales Process, which is taught in NLP Academy sales courses, in companies and for the general public. British Telecom, Lincoln Financial, Pervasive Computing are just a few companies who have enjoyed the benefits of Michael’s developments.

Michael’s work schedule is exciting and varied. As well as continually developing and researching, Michael leads the NLP Academy certification trainings, designs and delivers specialist corporate courses, teaches accelerating learning courses and PhotoReading. He also coaches and trains presentation skills and gives keynote conference speeches. He relaxes in his spare time at his home in Surrey with his wife Lynda and their four children.

John Grinder

John Grinder is the co-originator of NLP and one of the greatest thinkers of our lifetime. He has authored 14 books on complex subjects ranging from transformational grammar, family therapy and his creation of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

NLP belongs to John Grinder, maybe not in the literal sense. If you studied the patterns of NLP which were originally developed in the 70’s you will recognize the wisdom of John Grinder flows throughout the early work. John’s work is documented in well over 1000 other educational books on subject matter ranging from specialist NLP matters, psychology, sales, negotiation, management, parenting and accelerated learning. Dr Grinder’s work is also the subject matter of well over 1000 NLP public seminars each year, training people over 20,000 people each year around the globe hosted by specialist NLP Trainers. The majority of quality business seminars will now include aspects of John Grinder’s work, which equates to figure of tens of thousands of people learning implicitly from the genius of John Grinder. That figure is growing every year.

John Grinder has devoted his life’s work towards his quest to uncover and present human patterns of excellence, modelled from geniuses in different fields. He created Neuro-Linguistic Programming with Richard Bandler, as a means to investigate and replicate extreme human excellence. It is these applications of NLP which are taught at the highest level of Corporate Excellence trainings worldwide and to world leaders whether implicitly or explicitly. With his partner Carmen, John is continually exploring new territories and continually updates his work, introducing new models of excellence and vastly updated models of his and Bandlers early work.

The NLP Academy is the only company in the UK where even the most advanced Master Practitioner, NLP Trainer or Corporate Leader will learn directly from John’s genius. Still today John’s books form the core and foundations of any NLP Practitioner training. With the NLP Academy you will fully experience the depth of John’s teachings, the breadth of his knowledge and infectious personal charisma, whether as part of the training sessions or over coffee in the breaks. John’s latest teachings will significantly refine your original NLP experience and will ensure his students stay ahead in their field.

Carmen Bostic St. Clair

Carmen Bostic St Clair is the CEO and founder of Quantum Leap, the company Carmen and John conduct their corporate work through (www.quantum-leap.com). Carmen has held senior political research posts in government administration. (The White House Committee of the Development of Small Business) and Business Advisory Council representative from California.

Carmen began her professional life as a school teacher, where through her natural gift of creating powerful participatory learning contexts, she won the National Teacher of the Year Award in the USA. Subsequently Carmen returned to graduate school herself, securing an MBA and then a doctorate in Jurisprudence. She soon excelled in her field, becoming Director of Mergers and Acquisitions directing multi-billion dollar acquisitions through her excellent negotiation skills. At the point where she and John Grinder joined forces, she was the CEO of a holding company with 27 subsidiaries, ranging from plastic extrusions manufacturing through radio stations to commercial real estate development.

Carmen is an expert in cultural change, corporate excellence, team formation, leadership models and learning. She is an amazing and gifted woman who oozes charisma, who delights and provokes people, sometimes simultaneously, to instigate change at a deep level. Such is Carmen’s skill she can initiate unconscious change in large teams, a skill very few people possess.

World leaders and the highest ranking corporate executives receive their most advanced training from John and Carmen. When the world’s top government and corporate organisations have a seemingly untenable problem they call upon the wisdom of Grinder and Bostic St Clair to save the day. Organisations such as NASA and the most successful of the US Fortune 500 rely on the duo’s expertise to keep them ahead in their field.

Since the publication of their Book ‘Whispering in the Wind’ and the Launch of Whisperinginwindthewind.com (managed by Michael Carroll), in true Grinder & Bostic Style, they have updated New Code NLP. They have begun a worldwide mission to offer a new style of NLP for the modern world, redesigning the outdated patterns to a new stripped down and more effective application. The NLP Academy is pleased to welcome John and Carmen to spread their message.

Stephen Gilligan

Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D., is a licensed Psychologist practicing in Encinitas, CA. Stephen was among the group of students that gathered around the founders of NLP during its formation at U.C. Santa Cruz from 1974 -1977. Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson became his teachers and mentors. After receiving his doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University, Stephen became one of the premier teachers and practitioners of Ericksonian hypnotherapy. Motivated by his experiences as a therapist, a teacher, and by his own quest, he developed a new practice of radical awakening incorporating Ericksonian psychotherapy, Aikido, Buddhism, meditation, and the performance arts.

John Thompson

John began studying Applied Psychology before being inspired by the powerful effects NLP has on business and individuals. Since qualifying as a trainer he has worked passionately to deliver Practitioner and Master level courses. Now John operates one of the most successful NLP and Corporate Training providers in the north of England. His business and reputation have taken him overseas, establishing strong global relationships. Since training with the NLP Academy four years ago, he has worked closely with John Grinder, Carmen Bostic St Clair and Michael Carroll, supporting them on Trainers Training and he will be facilitating the Premier Practitioner course in July 2007.

Bill Phillips

Bill Phillips is a Management Consultant, adept at analysing and interpreting complex situations, building networks and relationships and facilitating agreement. He is a strong and innovative thinker and manager, results oriented with a pioneering spirit. An accomplished and experienced international facilitator, team-builder and coach, he regularly demonstrates an ability to create a positive thinking environment and inspire people to take action and get results.

For the past 18 years Bill has consulted both nationally and internationally with organisations including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), other parts of the UN and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He has taken part in consulting projects in Chile, Brunei, Nigeria, Holland, Belgium and Germany. Assignments with the Red Cross have taken him to Switzerland, Spain, Malaysia and El Salvador, and he continues to work with public and private sector organisations across the UK. He has been a specialist in understanding and working with teams and personal working preferences (TMS Accredited Master Trainer) since 1987, and has worked using NLP since 1988. More recent research has focused on building resilience and wellbeing at work, creating more choice when experiencing difficult emotions, and the continuing development of his Future-basing process.

Bill has a Master of Philosophy degree (MPhil) in Training Management, is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI) and of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Chartered MCIPD). He completed his NLP Trainer Training at the NLP Academy in 2006, when he was certified as a Trainer of New Code NLP by John Grinder, Carmen Bostic St Clair & Michael Carroll. A Founder Member of the International Trainers’ Academy of NLP (ITA), he consults and works fluently in Spanish. Bill’s areas of special interest include, among others, NLP Training and Certification, Executive Coaching, Certification of Future-basing Coaches and the PhotoReading Whole Mind System.