Weird but wonderful ways of changing your mind

CHARLIE Jackson is a self-confessed weirdo. "Some people say I am weird," he says. "I don't mind that. I like being weird - it means I am different."

Different he certainly is. Look at his qualifications for a start - he has a Masters degree in management, a diploma in management studies and a teaching degree. He is also a Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Time Line Therapy and Hypnotherapy and is qualified in the field of psychological testing and quality assurance through the British Psychological Society and the Institute of Quality Assurance.

What all that means is that when Jackson gets to his feet and starts talking about change in the working environment, how to encourage it, how to take advantage of it and how it can improve your life, you listen. Among those who have listened eagerly are Royal Mail London, Scottish Widows, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lombard Business, Standard Life, Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise, Edinburgh Zoo and Gleneagles Golf Developments. Jackson is the managing director of the Edinburgh-based Change Management International, one of the UK's leading companies specialising in personal growth and transformation. He believes we are on the cusp of a business revolution which will change the structure and management systems within companies. And not before time. HE says: "A lot of organisations are still working with last century management principles, the same language, the same hierarchical structures. It is still a major challenge for people to make real changes in the way they think about their world, the things they do and the results they achieve. "Organisations don't change - people do. Real organisational change takes place when a critical mass of people make real behavioural changes in themselves. This critical mass has to include a sufficient number of key influencers or senior people in an organisation. "It is not uncommon for managers to invite us to come in and change the team because they believe it needs to change. We have to explain to them that for change to take place within their team they will also have to change. And if they show that they are changing this sends out a powerful call to their team to change." Stimulating people, helping them change and taking advantage of change, can see the sales figure shoot up and it can lead to a profits increase. It can also help sporting performance. Jackson has coached professional golfers on their mental approach and he can draw upon his experience of rugby at the top level and beyond, having coached Edinburgh Academicals for six years and acted as an advisory coach to the Scottish Rugby Union for seven. Many people, he believes, are trapped in what they regard as a comfort zone but very often, he says, they are in a zone which is far from comfortable. It is more of a habit zone. He says: "People worry about hypnotists putting them in trances. We find that getting them out of trances is our biggest challenge - in other words to waken them up to the choices available to them when they live more consciously - when they make a conscious choice to step out of their habit zone to experience the world in different ways." He refutes the suggestion that he can sometimes sound evangelical or that he indulges in what he calls "psycho-babble". He believes there is a great potential out there in people and companies if they waken up to the need to change and to the benefits of change. You are chastised if you suggest he is seeking to improve what people do. He explains: "I don't like that word. It implies that we see there is a need to improve but all we are doing is unlocking the potential. We believe that people we are working with have it already - we are merely facilitating it. Our belief is that it is something inside them which is preventing them from realising their full potential." Any tips for the departing scribe? "Give up something you really need - like the desk at the office, the company car or that comfy chair at home. If you don't, you are not going to make any difference - you are not showing a willingness to change." I'm not that weird.

Copyright 1999
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