EXPANDING THROUGH GENERATIVE COACHING

I just completed Level 2 of Robert Dilts' training in the Levels of Change Neurological LeveLS OF Alignment. And experienced massive change.

I just completed Level 2 of Robert Dilts' training in the Levels of Change - commonly known as Neurological Levels of Alignment.

54 hours so far. Six days online. Each day starting at 5pm (Malaysia time - afternoon for Robert currently in Paris).

Level 3 comes in November.

But here's what made this different from any NLP training I've done before.

This wasn't just about the levels.

It was about what happens when you combine them with COACH vs CRASH state, somatic tools, and what Robert calls the Jungle Gym - an advanced integration of the levels with other models, across Time, Space, and Matter.

I won't name all the specific tools. Some are still being developed. Some are advanced enough that explaining them without context would be misleading.

But I want to share what shifted for me.

Because the premise of this entire training is Generative Coaching.

And that's a term most people don't understand yet.

Here's the difference:

👉 Traditional coaching helps you solve problems. Fix what's broken. Get from A to B.

👉 Transformational coaching goes deeper—changes beliefs, shifts identity, removes limitations.

👉 Generative coaching does something else entirely. It creates possibilities that didn't exist before you started the conversation.

Not just solving what's broken. Not just removing what's limiting you.

But generating what's never been there before.

Milton Erickson - a world-famous hypnotherapist - said it best:

"A problem inherently contains the resources and the key needed to achieve its own resolution."

The resources you need aren't somewhere outside you.

They're already present in the problem itself.

Wow. What a statement, right?

Generative coaching helps you access them.

Here's what this looks like in practice:

During the training, Robert worked with me on an upcoming project I've been planning. Something big. Something I've been circling around for months but couldn't quite see clearly.

I went in thinking I needed a strategy. A plan. Someone to tell me what steps to take.

But Robert didn't do that.

He guided me through an exercise that had me step into different perceptual positions—seeing the project from multiple levels, across time and space.

And something emerged that wasn't there before.

Not a better version of what I was already planning.

Something completely new. A possibility I couldn't have imagined before the session.

That's generative.

Not fixing. Not improving. Not optimizing.

Creating.

And here's the state that makes it possible:

COACH state vs. CRASH state.

👉 CRASH state is where most of us operate:

Contracted (body tight, breath shallow)
Reactive (automatic responses, not conscious)
Analysis paralysis (stuck in your head)
Separated (disconnected from self, others, context)
Hurt (defensive, protecting old wounds)

You can feel it when you're in CRASH.

Tension. Racing thoughts. Trying to control the outcome. Defending your position.

👉 COACH state is different:

Centered (grounded, present, balanced)
Open (curious, receptive, non-defensive)
Aware (noticing what's happening, not your story about it)
Connected (to yourself, others, the larger field)
Holding (creating space for what needs to emerge)

The difference?

In CRASH state, you're trying to force solutions.

In COACH state, you're creating space for solutions to emerge.

And that shift changes everything.

Not just in coaching sessions.

In leadership conversations. In difficult family discussions. In moments when you're stuck and can't see the way forward.

What does this mean for coaching in Malaysia - and beyond?

Most coaching here is performance-based. Goal-focused. "How do I hit my targets?"

Some is transformational. "How do I change my mindset? Remove my blocks?"

But generative coaching?

Almost no one is doing it.

Because it requires a completely different approach.

You're not solving problems.

You're not even transforming the person.

You're creating conditions for something new to emerge—something that couldn't exist without the conversation itself.

That's what I'm bringing back from these 54 hours with Robert.

Not just more techniques.

But a fundamentally different way of showing up in coaching, in leadership, in life.

And here's what I'm realising:

The tools I've been teaching for 20+ years—NLP, Timeline Therapy, language patterns - they work.

But they work even better when you're operating from COACH state.

When you're centred. Open. Aware. Connected. Holding space.

That's when generative coaching happens.

Not because you have the right technique.

But because you've created the conditions for something new to emerge.

I'll be sharing more about this at a later stage.

The project Robert helped me work through? It's happening. And I want to walk you through what generative coaching actually looks like in practice.

For now, here's my question for you:

When you're coaching, leading, or navigating difficult conversations—are you trying to solve the problem, or are you creating space for something new to emerge?

What shifts when you move from CRASH state (contracted, reactive, separated) to COACH state (centred, open, connected)?

Send me a message and let's talk

#nlp

#nlpmalaysia

#coaching

#traininganddevelopment

Categories: : Beliefs, neurological levels of alignment, levels of change