As I continue to interview Stevie Kidd, I am intrigued to hear more about his plans for the future, and how Stevie's time with Richard Bandler on the Personal Enhancement Workshop has changed his attitude. But there is something else pressing on my mind that I am eager to ask him. It's to do with a hypnotic demonstration that John La Valle did with him a few days before on the NLP Master Practitioner course. Stevie had revealed that when he was at school he had never learned to do joined-up handwriting. It was quite an admission, and John was pleased to have Stevie demonstrate the positive effects of deep trance identification. I ask Stevie:
- What did this mean to you, to get on stage and do the handwriting exercise?
Without a moment's thought, he tells me:
"I hated my time at school. You know, I was made to feel stupid - not just in one class but in all of them. I hated going into school and I was glad to leave it. I guess that's why, when I was a kid I never learned to do joined up writing properly. All that time at school, and I couldn't even do that. So, going back to it, and revisiting it in the trance, that wasn't where I wanted to be at all. But these guys know what they're doing. And John La Valle does one simple technique on me, and suddenly I'm able to do it. It was really powerful, that trance. You know what I did in my mind during that session? It was like the movie Ghost with Demi Moore. I saw my mum in front of me, and I saw her writing, and then I floated into her body and I took all the things I needed from her to be able to get the writing going.
"The thing that's so stupid - and useful for other people to know, is that I left school thinking that I was going to continue that way for the rest of my life. But I had all that drive, once I got away from school. And Richard - well, he's added to it.
"My friends saw a change in me, when I came back from the Personal Enhancement Workshop. I remember I went to visit one couple that I've known for some time, and within five minutes I was back in the car. Well, they came to the door and looked at me with their mouths open. So I said to them: Let's be clear about this. I came here to see you. I didn't come here to have you bickering in front of me. It was tough, but they needed to hear it. So, my friends have seen a change. And it comes from knowing that you're only here for a short time, and that you have to make every moment count - so that every moment is a good moment, filled with positive contacts. That's a very useful lesson to learn.
"Another one of the things that was really useful for me was the timeline work we did on the course. People who've done timeline work will understand this. So here's what changed. I used to imagine that the future started a little way in front of me. But what I do now is see the future starting right at the level of my eyes, and spreading out in front of me. And the past stretches off behind me to the left and right so that I can still see my mistakes. It really does make a difference. And my future - well it's wide and straight ahead of me - and it's tilted up - because - hey - the future's looking up. Richard taught me to think of my future and past in that way. And it works."
- So tell me about the future of your company?
"The company has changed since I met Richard. It used to be called Kidd's Distribution Services - and it was all about distribution. But since I met Richard and he empowered me to be happy, then all the useful chemicals got released in my brain, and a lot of creativity got released. I use the Mind-Spa twice a day and go into hypnosis trances to think about what I'm going to do in my future. And I've been released to think about so many more things I'm going to do with my future. What happened is that I created so many new things to do with my business that I had to change the company name! Because it doesn't make sense for a distribution company to be doing training and caring - operating in all these different sectors. So, to orient myself into the future, I decided to call the company The KDS Group. That's where the future is.
"And it's funny, because customers would come up to me and say: Right, so... corporate training, training academies, prisons, youth offenders... and you're called Kidd's Distribution Services. How does that work? Well, the answer is that I'm distributing empowerment and happiness - but in the end the company name had to change to mirror what we are doing now.
"So we rebranded the company. That includes the brand logo, which is on my business cards and everywhere. People say to me: What is this logo? - Well, this is powerful stuff. Because our logo is now the palm of your hand. It's your lifeline. So, even when I'm handing people my business card I'm empowering them - because that gets me talking about Richard and how we've completely changed our mentality.
"Here's an example of that change. A little while ago we put out a tender for companies to take on the job of changing our website. I got thinking more strategically, and changing my strategy to enhance the business more. So one of my strategies is designed specifically for if people want to do business with my company. Because there is a particular mentality in this country for doing business, and Richard showed me a better way to do it. This is what I do - and I'll use the tender as an example.
"I had three companies come into my training room to give presentations about the work that they wanted to do for me. They did these powerpoint presentations. All the time that they were there, my staff would say to them: Okay, Stevie Kidd will be here shortly. And these three, each of them would say: Oh, who's Stevie Kidd? I mean - it's my name all over the company logo.
"Eventually, I turned up. And when I came into the room I was this happy, motivated, turbo-charged human being. Now, I make a point, when I'm going to do business with someone, of finding out everything there is to know about them. That's how you build lasting relationships. So I went in, and to each in turn, I said: Hi, Mark, Paul and Dave... And they looked at me and said: Who are you? And I said: I'm Stevie. Mark, you're just back from Portugal, aren't you? - And I started telling him everything he likes to eat on holiday, what motor he drives, how long he's been with the company, what his ambition is, what his values are, what his beliefs are. I did this with each of them. Once I'd done it I said: Now, who am I? They knew nothing about me.
"They all gave me different reactions. Two of them didn't really understand what I was doing with them. So they were knocked out straight away. But the other one looked at me and said: How come you're made like that? And I said: Formulas. You mix and you constantly improve and change things in yourself. That's how. You see, I constantly want to learn and improve - and I want people alongside who have that curiosity too."
- So, you want the best out of people?
"Oh, yes please! But in a good way. I'm not interested in going to someone who isn't the top of their game. That's why I'm constantly looking to learn new things from the masters of their profession. Only from the people who are the actual professionals. The ones who, whatever profession they're in, are at the top of their tree.
"So I have made a study of Sir Alex Ferguson because he's a fantastic leader. And I went to Richard Bandler for NLP because he's the best. And it's not just NLP that he's a master at. He's a master at many things - an absolute genius. And it was the same when I did my coaching diploma. I didn't just look people up in the Yellow Pages. I went after the elite.
"It's the same when I go fitness training. I train with the seven times world kickboxing champion, and I have done for a long time. If you want to learn anything, then you should learn from the leaders in their field. That's why I went with Richard."
"At an early age I modelled my father, my uncle and Sir Alex. I believe that school and Stevie Kidd just didn't understand each other's methods of communicaton - so instead I looked, studied and learned from these three men. I also learned early on that when I met people with more experience in things, to ask questions - and to make their answers relevant to how I could learn and improve. Richard has taken that to the next level."
- What else did Richard do for your business?
"He got me to think about the global picture. Before I went to see him I was thinking that Scotland was a big place. Richard showed me techniques that enabled me to rethink my ambition - to change my perspective so that I have a global perspective and global ambitions for my company. He made me see that Scotland is very small, and to shrink it down so that I could see the whole world.
"What I ended up doing was getting to know people from all over the world. From Harvard University to the Vice President of Shell to the director of Coca-Cola, America. Why? I attended a Road Safety conference - that's something I'm passionate about. The thought of going to Washington and standing up in front of 130 people from 68 countries did not scare me any more. All I did was get up to the microphone and say the things that I had to say with passion. And when you say something with passion - well - it's the Law of Attraction: things start coming to you."
So, what does the future hold for you, now?
"The future? Within five years, one of my goals is that I'll be living in America - and I'll be delivering my own style of training within America. You know, I think it's important to aim yourself at the things that you want to get to. I write to Barak Obama four times a year about clear things - I want his opinions on unemployment, education, homelessness, youth, apprenticeships - all these topics, because I have very strong values about them. I write to Westminster four times a year as well - and I've been down there a few times in connection with my contribution to road safety. I am in regular contact with the Scottish Parliament, and I also write to Sir Alex Ferguson, who is a role model for me. There's a lot going to happen in the next few years. You have to realise that you set yourself the big goals. One of the things I've taken from Richard Bandler's Personal Enhancement Course is how he gets you to realise that you can achieve anything in the world. You can put your brain and your mind and your imagination to anything."
- And how does this knowledge of the future affect you now?
"The energy is amazing. I mean I don't even set an alarm clock any more. I sleep four hours a day, five hours max - and I wake up at the same time every morning. I wake up at 6 o'clock and there's no snooze button to be seen! When I wake up I jump out of bed and I'm so full of energy I'm running on the spot. There's a sequence to events - shower - music- laptop on. Then I start programming and focussing on what I'm going to do in the day.
"I remember I was running a training academy in Inverness. It was just after the Personal Enhancement course. I put on Swing by Robbie Williams at 5am and everyone else in the house thought I was mad! I went out and was walking down the hill, and I looked at the sleeping city below me and I said to myself: I'm going to achieve so much more than all of you put together because you aren't even up and thinking yet!
"And that reminds me of something that I asked Richard Bandler. It was: how do you get over the emotion when you help someone? Because I was helping people and getting really moved and involved when I saw their lives improving.
"He just looked at me, blinking and said: Job done, who's next? Does that make sense? And yes, it did. What used to happen was that I would get caught up in the program I was involved in, and think of the change I was bringing about in people. But I don't do that any more. When I've brought about change for people, I'm already out the door and thinking about the next ten I can do.
"It's the modelling of successful people - that's what I've had programmed in. It's just like with Sir Alex Ferguson - he doesn't hang around in the dressing room after a game, and neither do I. When I've finished an academy and all these people are thinking about the future, and how they're going to get better lives, I'm pleased for them - but I'm out the door thinking about the next project I can do. What's next?"
It has been an amazing interview with Stevie Kidd. As the time comes for us to move on, I am struck by the vibrancy and energy of this fascinating man. His plans are expanding all the time, as he also tells me when he mentions that he has just secured major funding for his academies. With plans to expand across the UK and far beyond, Stevie Kidd and the KDS group look to be at the start of an exciting new journey. With the skills he has acquired from Dr Bandler, and the positive attitude and sense of drive that has been unleashed in him, this is a fantastic and exciting time for him, and everyone at the KDS Group. As I leave him after the interview, there's no doubt about it, some of his infectious energy and enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. Yes, this is one person I will be watching with real interest over the coming years!
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