NLP DEVELOPER, SECOND-GENERATION FOUNDER
Robert Dilts
Second-generation NLP developer. Created the neurological levels and much of NLP's belief-change work.
PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTION
Neurological levels of change; belief-change protocols; modeling methodology; NLP applied to systems and leadership.
Robert Dilts was an early student of Bandler and Grinder at UC Santa Cruz and has been one of NLP's most prolific developers since the late 1970s. His most influential contribution is the neurological levels framework - environment, behavior, capability, belief and value, identity, spiritual - which gives NLP a hierarchical model for diagnosing and intervening at the appropriate level of change.
Dilts has also produced substantial work on belief change (the belief-change cycle, the museum of personal history), modeling methodology, and the application of NLP to leadership, organizational change, and systemic work. He has been particularly active in extending NLP's reach beyond individual coaching into team and organizational contexts.
Key works
- 1983
Roots of Neuro-Linguistic Programming
- 1990
Beliefs: Pathways to Health and Well-Being
- 1999
Sleight of Mouth
- 2003
From Coach to Awakener
- 1998
Modeling with NLP
LEGACY
Dilts's neurological levels framework is taught at virtually every modern NLP Practitioner training. His modeling methodology shaped second-generation NLP development.