20th Anniversary

A Brief Word from ITS Founder Ian McDermott

Twenty years… Wow, that was quick! So much has happened and yet some things stay the same.

What I loved then is what I love now - working with people so that you can create the kind of life which allows you to be who you really are. I know from personal experience that it really is possible to live your truth and make a living doing it: you can create a world for yourself that is rewarding to you and beneficial to others.

With wisdom and practical tools you can achieve this.

Twenty years ago I was busy developing those tools and discovered when I combined them with NLP I had a practical technology that could deliver tangible results, first with individuals and then with organizations too.

And the wisdom? In the years since, life has been developing the wisdom in me.

I thought, wouldn’t it be fantastic to make all of this available to anyone who wanted to know. Who knows I might really be able to make a difference!

That’s how International Teaching Seminars came into being. The bigger I am able to dream the better it becomes. Now there are ITS alumni making change possible around the world.

I strongly believe that if you want to make the world a better place you’d better start with yourself and that means having the technology that enables you to engage effectively with yourself. This is not something we learn in school although it’s absolutely fundamental to living a fulfilled and successful life. I want everyone to have access to what has been developed - that’s what drives ITS.

I have found that the paths you choose are critical because they shape the person you become. For me, working with people is a spiritual enterprise because it makes it possible for people to really be themselves – you get to come home to yourself.

To be able do this on an ongoing basis I needed to develop a model that was financially viable. To fulfill its mission, ITS must work as a business. It’s a good discipline to have because the market always tells you if you’re on track or not.

After twenty years of going from strength to strength I’ve concluded we must be doing something right!

Part of the secret I think is that for twenty years ITS has led the field by pioneering new ways of working and demonstrating integrity. Generating new approaches that take us beyond where we were before is really exciting to me.

That’s why now, as ITS celebrates it’s twentieth year, we are preparing a whole raft of new initiatives which will be rolled out through the next eighteen months.

Pretty much everything I’ve done has been in collaboration with others of like mind. ITS and its development is a team effort. Learning to let go and trust the team has been a profound learning for me. At this time of celebration I thank all of my collaborators, both past and present.

My greatest inspiration continues to be the people who choose to train with me and then change before my very eyes when I’m working with them. To all of you I say ‘Go on, go on - be more of who you really are.’

Here’s to the next twenty years!

Best wishes

Ian McDermott
Founder of ITS

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