Secondary Gain NLP

In this hub I will discuss the concept of secondary gain. You should have a look at the hub NLP Basics before reading this hub as it will provide useful background and will make the concepts discussed easier to follow.

Secondary gain is the concept that all actions have a positive intent. When we look at some peoples behaviour for example destruction caused in the recent London riots it is sometimes difficult to understand why people would do what they do. The important point to realise is that even seemingly random acts of destruction have a positive intent. Even if the behaviour is destructive towards the person who is pursuing it such as alcoholism, there is still a positive intent the problem it is concealed beneath the act which is damaging. 


This concealed benefit is called secondary gain. For example the person who engages in seemingly pointless acts of destruction may acquire esteem from his peers. This is the secondary gain. So while the original act maybe of benefit to no one, there is a benefit to the person who has committed it. 

So why is this important? One of the tenets of NLP is that the responsibility for communication is on you as the communicator. Once you have discovered the concealed positive intentions of the other with you will have the resources required for effective communication. As an NLP communicator you need to have flexibility and finding secondary gain is part of this flexibility. 


Once you have discovered this secondary gain you will be able to find a way to address it in a way which is more positive for the person and others. For example with the person causing reckless damage there are more positive ways they could gain esteem. But in order to effect change you need first understand the other person.