Statement June 18, 2023
NLP Leadership Summit responds to supposed NLP Trainer hired by Putin
Andrey Polosin, who is claimed to be a certified NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) trainer, was recently hired by Vladimir Putin to build a new university curriculum that will “fall in line with the Kremlin’s programs to build a new patriotic intelligentsia.” https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/06/10/an-experienced-strategist

The Neuro-Linguistic Programming Leadership Summit (LS) is a group of over 150 NLP trainers from around the world, committed to training others to use the NLP tools for the betterment of the world in ethical ways. http://nlpleadershipsummit.org/

Andrey Polosin is not known to the NLP LS and therefore has not agreed to our values. NLP is a powerful set of communication tools. How these tools are used depends upon the values and integrity of the person using them. Therefore, the LS does not endorse this use of NLP tools; we expect that practitioners of NLP will be respectful toward all people, creating a world to which we all want to belong.

NLP was created as a tool to improve personal communication, achieve life goals, support health and relationships. It was never designed to influence politics, religious belief systems or Dogmas. NLP was designed and has been used over the last 50 years to propagate peace, a society where diversity and equality are welcomed as well as freedom of speech this is why every member of NLP LS without exception condemns any misuse of NLP to further tyranny, political gain or war between Nations.

What we are about…

In 2012, Michael Hall and Frank Pucelik started the NLP Leadership Summit for seasoned NLP Trainers and Leaders to get together and talk. It was a response to the legitimate criticism that “the leaders in NLP don’t talk to each other.”

Recognizing that the future is in our hands, we began talking about our dreams for the future. We decided to continue “associating” with each other as a group, and to avoid the conflicts of the past between leaders in the field. This also enabled us to look at where our field has been and where it is going.

Included in the Leadership Summit are a number of NLP Associations and accrediting bodies, and this is the first forum where all these people have agreed to meet and talk.

We consider this to be a huge breakthrough and are now seeing benefits, both personal and professional, from working together and fostering cooperation. From the original 20ish members, the Leadership Summit has grown to over 150 NLP leaders from around the world. Each member has agreed to our purpose statement, what we stand for, and our values. The responsibility for professional standards remains with each of the NLP Associations and accrediting bodies.

Since the mission of the Leadership Summit is to bring together a wide range of leaders in the field of NLP to talk things over, it goes without saying that the members may have differing opinions. Each member has equal rights. There are no constitutional leaders within the Leadership Summit. All work is done on a voluntary basis.

The Leadership Summit does not have a regulatory or ‘policing’ function. However, we do want to hold each other accountable to uphold the values to which we agreed. As a community, we address complaints by talking with each other, uncovering each other’s positive intentions and focusing on our common values to find solutions that work.

As we continue to associate, new possibilities for positive contributions to the field of NLP are opening up. The Leadership Summit supports members contributing to research and developing practical NLP strategies that people can really use. We share insights and resources, especially in our bi-annual meetings.

These meetings have created great new friendships, rekindled some older ones and everyone who has participated has been touched by the magic of people with common interests coming together.