gsage.com

About The the Unplugged Edge

The Edge is a metaphor for connecting social responsibility, creativity, innovation and risk.  The concept of the Edge was inspired by many things; growing up on the edge of a paradox of idyllic freedom while immersed and surrounded by revolution and change in the South West of Africa and Unplugged discussions with my friend and colleague, David Hagan and the lessons I learned from Richard Bandler.

The Edge is about executing on ideas that arise beyond the mainstream, beyond the conformist, beyond the well-known, far far beyond the mediocre, ideas that are born way out there on the Edge. People who live on the Edge get the idea immediately; then there are those who believe that living in the mainstream center is safe and correct – and they are proud of conforming to opinion - it’s the mainstream mediocre that find the Edge hard to understand, and for those who once had dreams and allowed them die it is even harder for them to get why the Edge is so important.

Those that live at the Edge are those whose dreams will never die - their dreams will become the things that change the world and make it a better place.

About Gary

Gary is a gifted trainer and highly respected communications coach. He has coached and conducted seminars on five continents to thousands of people. Gary spent over 15 years developing the Unplugged Model, which covers communication, intelligence, leadership and an NLP-centric influence methodology. Gary is a highly sought after executive coach and heads a busy executive coaching practise spanning 5 countries. He is an approved NLP trainer with The Society of NLP and the originator of the Unplugged Communication Model. Gary is a voracious reader and a committed perpetual student of anything relating to leadership, human functioning and psychology, His background in psychotherapy provides him with a deep and unparalleled sensitive insight into human consciousness and functioning. When all else fails it is usually Gary who is called upon to deliver a unique successful solution. He likes to create an opportunity driven environment where people can be unleashed to succeed and achieve.  In a bureaucratic world that expects a regulation standard worm, a butterfly will be considered abnormal and as such needs to be regulated.  Gary knows exactly how to encourage and inspire what is in a cocoon to emerge as a superstar.

A gifted storyteller with an utterly irreverent sense of humour, gary spins his coaching web with consummate skill. Gary has been in the business trenches live and embedded. He has 20 years of experience working with and observing hundreds of business leaders in all kinds of industries. He has learned lessons from the likes of Jack Welch and the homeless panhandler at Waterloo station. Most of his experience has revolved around having open, candid, and powerful conversations about the nature of leadership with his clients and then inspiring them to apply new thinking and fresh ideas to their specific challenges. Gary thrives on candour. No scripts, no guidelines, no taboos, no silly aids – real world stuff – Unplugged and open.

About David

David is an exceptionally skilled trouble-shooter who has been consulting internationally for the last 10 years in the areas of knowledge management, organizational change, and technology.
David has trained with some of the pre-eminent communicators of the 20th century and has –over the last five years – developed a ‘high performance’ coaching practice with clients from around the world. He becomes easily bored with the ‘conventional’ and enjoys using humorous, unconventional, and sometimes outrageous methods to effectively obtain desired results.
David has co-trained with Gary for many years, is an approved NLP trainer, and brings his superb skills in NLP modelling, creative problem solving, and personal change-work to the Unplugged table.

About Our Training Venues
All our training venues are hand picked by us to provide exceptionally high standards of comfort, service and cuisine. All venue facilities are required to conform to our stringent service standards in order to provide you with a premium class experience.
About Unplugged

Unplugged is what happens when we disregard Corporate Psychology, and Leadership Theory, and “modern” Business Philosophy when we hurl the Self Help Industry, Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Mysticism and management Militarism into the garbage can, and finally we turn Corporate mediocrity upside down by stirring in some Repatterning and give people’s unconscious a minimum of information and set things up so that they assimilate enormous amounts of material and skills automatically. This is about using very, very deep knowledge tools to be able to make very pervasive changes across a wide range of corporate activities so it becomes a habit. This is about redesigning the way you connect with yourself and your corporate obligations.
With Unplugged we go one step further.
Dr Richard Bandler the founder of NLP said, “People learn better if they do it quickly rather than slowly.” Different to what many people think but nevertheless absolutely true. We also go about things differently. To us training is not about providing information, techniques or data, it’s about establishing a state of awareness that allows people to assimilate material consciously and unconsciously. We also try to touch people internally sometimes even spiritually. If you teach people something at the conscious level they often don’t learn to use it automatically. So we try to build a powerful machine at the unconscious level that will help them assimilate what they’ve learnt as automatically as the handshake reflex when you meet someone. All the knowledge, tips, tricks and jargon in the world are useless unless you are aware of how to apply your skills. We deliver true awareness, it’s the only way too keep mediocrity at bay.
The Unplugged methodology always gives you a view beyond what you are - to what you can be, and then leads you there.
This Unplugged approach constantly questions, ignores limits, and never ever settles for mediocrity or even the benchmark. This program is not an as-long-as-it-works, tread-gently-lest-we-hurt-somebody’s-feelings kind of thing. It’s about taking action and participating in life and enjoying it.
This program requires you to participate, because as sure as life exists there are no passive masters or leaders. Leaders and masters participate – this is something that all leaders and masters know. To rise to excellence, means consistently executing and delivering beyond your own and your organizations highest aspirations.

Ask yourself this now, “what one thing about yourself could you improve, that would make the most difference in your life over the next week, month, quarter, year and three years?”

So how do you go about it?

Our Unplugged programme is well known for its distinctive approach to revolutionising the design and delivery of leadership skills training. Our experience of applying the techniques of the Unplugged model combined with NLP to business has enabled us to design and develop a set of unique programmes calculated to enable you to leverage the most out of your executive skills.

This is the leading edge of development in leadership and executive communication tools. Our tools are being used to boost the skills of some of the most powerful people in business today. We have a highly original approach to strategic challenges in the business arena, and our life changing methods and approach to skills training is utterly unique in the industry.
We host a showcase collection of world class training modules and deliver and maintain ongoing skills enhancement through our unique “Salon” based Coaching programmes. Additionally we constantly deliver cutting edge customised courses tailored to the needs of individual companies and corporations.
We are licensed NLP Trainers with the Society of NLP (headed by the original founder of NLP – Dr. Richard Bandler) and some of our material is provided with the kind permission of Dr Richard Bandler. Even our assistants are licensed with the Society of NLP. NLP is a highly effective methodology based on the belief that all behaviour has a structure and that this structure can be modelled, learned and changed. When you study NLP you will learn about your own patterns and programmes, how you can change them and have more flexibility in your life.