There’s still time…

 

A quick note to remind you that registration for The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed: The Real Leader’s Guide to Accessing the Freedom & Flow of Your Authentic Genius is open until tomorrow, 8/25 and there are a few spots remaining.  Will one of them be yours?

Curious about the impact Pinocchio Principle Unleashed can have in an organization? Here’s what one CEO had to say about that…

“The things Diane has taught us through her coaching and programs have taken on a life of their own in our organization and given rise to some business practices that are helping us to get to the next level of organizational success. Diane has helped us to increase our self-awareness, gain insight into how we could be more effective, take inspired action, and build on our successes as leaders. Now we are finding ways to do that across our entire organization.

 We have put several of our people through her Pinocchio Principle Unleashed program, starting with myself and our C level team and we’ve continued to downstream the program through various levels of the organization. It’s been extremely helpful, and the ROI is something I can’t even measure – it’s just exponential.

 Thank you so much Diane for assisting to make CACU a better place to work chalked full of balanced, healthy, and motivated people – we have needed you and your skill set and you exceeded expectations for me personally, and more importantly, for the team’s transformation for the better!”

 – Pete Pritts, President/CEO, Corporate America Credit Union

This transformational 13-week leadership development program is now in its seventh year running and is also available to bring in-house.  Read more about The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed (and what others have to say about it) here.

Need to get your organization to sponsor you? Download the business case for participating, which spells out seven powerful ways organizations experience a return on their investment. To maximize individualized support and group dynamics, enrollment will be capped at 10 people. Save your spot while it’s still available! Attend with a friend or colleague and you’ll both get $500 off the registration (respond directly to this email to take advantage of that.)

Here’s to your success!

Diane

 P.S. If you’d like a taste of what is covered in the program, check out the replay of last week’s Real Leadership & The Pinocchio Principle webinar.  Regardless of whether you decide to enroll, you’ll learn practical tips for how to stop running yourself ragged and unleash genius in yourself and those you lead.

Ease the transition from weekend to weekday…

Welcome to a whole new week, fresh with promise and possibilities!

Maybe that isn’t your first thought on a Monday? The weekends do always seem to fly by, and re-entering the work week can be tough.  (For some, it may feel as though you never left it.)

If that’s the case for you – or if you want to find a way to fix more of your attention on promise and possibilities (and less on obstacles and limitations), I encourage you to check out the replay of last week’s webinar, Real Leadership & The Pinocchio Principle: How to Stop Running Yourself Ragged and Unleash Genius in Yourself and Those You Lead! 

In the space of an hour, you’ll learn:

• Why many high-achieving executives tend to unwittingly hinder their own and others’ performance (and how to keep that from happening)
• Puppet vs. Genius: Which are you leading from (and at what cost)?
• How to progress smoothly through a five-phase approach that unlocks the very best performance in yourself and others – while minimizing stress, pressure, and overwhelm

You’ll also get some inside information about The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed, a 13-week leadership development program designed to help you overcome stress, pressure, and overwhelm so you can maximize your effectiveness, make a bigger impact, and enjoy your work and your life more.

Registration is open until Friday, 8/25 and there are still a few spots left.  To maximize individualized attention and create the very best group dynamics, enrollment is limited to ten people.  Save your seat now!

Here’s what a previous participant had to say about it:

My professional goals weren’t going the way I wanted them to, and I had a suspicion that I was pounding my head against the wall trying the same tools or switching the tools differently and just needed a fresh perspective on them. I enrolled in The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed program after receiving encouragement from people who work with Diane who raved about their interactions with her and how impactful she’s been in their life.

The experience was just revolutionary for me and really changed the way that I look at personal things and professional things. It’s helped me better influence and connect to others, decrease my stress, and get much more done.  I’m more mindful and have replaced old, ineffective tools with new ones – it feels great, it’s really refreshing. The program is awesome, and I highly recommend it.

Dr. Anthony Sciscione, President of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Director, Maternal & Fetal Medicine, Christiana Care Health System

If you’d like to talk to a real person to get your questions about the program answered, you can schedule a brief call directly with me.

Here’s to your success – and a wonderful week ahead!

Diane

P.S. Need to get your organization to sponsor you for the program?  Click here to download the business case for participating, which spells out seven powerful ways organizations experience a return on their investment (it also overviews the curriculum in a bit more detail).

Today’s the day! Join me at noon PST…

 

It’s Friday… the day we all wait for.  A threshold between our work and personal lives.

What if you could spend an hour learning how to better integrate those two worlds in a way that enhances both?

Join me TODAY from noon to 1 pm PST for a free one-hour webinar that will shed some light on how to unleash your very best performance at work while also enjoying more satisfaction and fulfillment – both on and off the job.  (Details below).

Here’s what one senior executive had to say about learning to better integrate work and life:

What I liked about The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed is that while it is professionally career-oriented, structured, and measured, it incorporates lots of the human aspect too. That makes it fun. It makes you really reflect, provoke deep thoughts, and be more prepared to deal with your day-to-day stuff both at work and outside of work. It is holistic. It’s a well-rounded approach to how one could grow and develop as a human being as well as professionally as a leader.

 Diane’s style is very personal and highly engaged. She puts a lot of thought into her examples and has a knack for using just the right one at the right time. The content is excellent, and the tools are so useful. It has helped me to become more aware of what triggers me and how to self-direct so that I can stay in a state of flow and not fall into old reactive patterns that keep me from being effective. This has benefited me immensely, both personally and professionally.

Dr. Islam Salama, CEO, Hyperion Technologies

TODAY’S THE DAY!  Come join me from noon to 1 pm PST, when I’ll be sharing some of the same concepts I teach in The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed program. 

Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84361908256?pwd=S0pmRDY2L0NTc29rMDUyVTQ1U2RwUT09

To ensure that you’ll get a calendar notice and increase the chances that we can reach you in case of any additional technical difficulties, be sure to register in advance.

You’ll learn:

• Why many high-achieving executives tend to unwittingly hinder their own and others’ performance (and how to keep that from happening)
• Puppet vs. Genius: Which are you leading from (and at what cost)?
• How to progress smoothly through a five-phase approach that unlocks the very best performance in yourself and others – while minimizing stress, pressure, and overwhelm

I’ll also give you a sneak preview of The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed, a 13-week leadership development program designed to help you overcome stress, pressure and overwhelm so you can maximize your effectiveness, make a bigger impact, and enjoy your work and your life more.

Can’t attend? No problem.  Simply respond to this email and I’ll make sure you get a link to the recording.

Here’s to unleashing your Genius!

Diane

P.S. Interested in registering for The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed program? We’ve moved the deadline to Friday 8/25.  Get more details and enroll here.

Sometimes you just need a new perspective…

 

We’ve all experienced that feeling of banging our heads against the wall trying to figure something out or move beyond an imposing obstacle. It’s frustrating when solutions elude you – or when what used to work just doesn’t anymore.

What would it be worth to be able to lead and solve problems in a whole new, more effective way?

Join me tomorrow (Friday 8/18) from noon to 1pm PST for a free one-hour webinar and learn how a few simple shifts can open you up to a whole new level of effectiveness and clarity.  (Details below).

Here’s what one person had to say about learning and integrating these concepts…

“I have more tools in my toolbox of well-being and how to view any particular problem, whether faced with it on a personal level or on a professional level. I feel like I’m on a new plane of consciousness and I have a more optimistic and wider view of my own capabilities and life. I’ve been able to connect to my own intuition more readily and more often by practicing what we’ve done in this course and spending time talking with Diane. I think it’s very powerful.  My leadership has opened up.”

 Scott Munger, Chief Operations Officer, Omicron Technologies

Below you’ll find all the info you need to join me on tomorrow’s webinar.  I hope to see you there! 

Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84361908256?pwd=S0pmRDY2L0NTc29rMDUyVTQ1U2RwUT09

To ensure that you’ll get a calendar notice and increase the chances that we can reach you in case of any additional technical difficulties, be sure to register in advance.

You’ll learn:

• Why many high-achieving executives tend to unwittingly hinder their own and others’ performance (and how to keep that from happening)
• Puppet vs. Genius: Which are you leading from (and at what cost)?
• How to progress smoothly through a five-phase approach that unlocks the very best performance in yourself and others – while minimizing stress, pressure, and overwhelm

I’ll also give you a sneak preview of The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed, a 13-week leadership development program designed to help you overcome stress, pressure and overwhelm so you can maximize your effectiveness, make a bigger impact, and enjoy your work and your life more.

Can’t attend? No problem.  Simply respond to this email and I’ll make sure you get a link to the recording.

Here’s to unleashing your Genius!

P.S. Interested in registering for The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed program? We’ve moved the deadline to Friday 8/25.  Get more details and enroll here.

How to Stay Cool When Things Get Hot at Work (and life itself)

 

There are those days…

You know the ones – when everything seems to hit the fan all at once.  Sometimes it’s just work, and other times it happens across other areas of your life too.  Maybe it’s a bad day. But it could be a tough week, tough month, tough… year?

In times like that, it’s like someone turned up the heat and left it on full blast far too long (kind of like the record-breaking temperatures we had in Phoenix over the entire month of July).

Everything seems to take more effort than it used to. The pressure increases and your energy declines.  It might be so hot that you lose your cool and become impatient with people and things (or yourself) in a way that makes things even worse.

If you can relate to any of this, you’ll likely enjoy my latest article in Brainz Magazine, How to Survive Tough Times at Work – Three Tips to Help You Come Out On Top.

 And if you’d like more on how to not only survive but thrive during your most challenging times (both at work and at home), check out The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed: The Real Leader’s Guide to Accessing the Freedom & Flow of Your Authentic Genius. Registration is now open!

This program integrates much of the work I’ve done coaching executive clients over the last 25+ years into a thirteen-week curriculum and is especially appropriate for high-achieving professionals experiencing high levels of stress, pressure, and overwhelm.

The fall session will kick off on Thursday 8/31 and run through 11/16.  To maximize individualized attention and group interaction, enrollment will be limited to ten people and will close on Friday 8/18.

Learn more and reserve your seat here.  Attend with a friend or colleague and you’ll both get $500 off the registration (email me to take advantage of that.)

Want to talk to a real person to get your questions about the program answered?  Click here to schedule a brief call directly with Diane.

Here’s to keeping your cool and performing at your best – even in the hottest of times!

How to Have More Good Days at Work – and at Home

 

Work.  Some days are good, and others not so much…  Just like life, right?

Since we spend so many of our waking hours working, it’s likely that a good day at work will spill over into your life after work.  Unfortunately, a not-so-good day will do that too.

You can’t always change what comes at you in your professional life, but there are some things you can do to have a better experience of it. 

What’s interesting is that improving your experience of work won’t just allow you to enjoy your life more. It can also boost your performance, leading not only to greater satisfaction and fulfillment – but also increased effectiveness and better results.

This week’s video expands on that idea and gives you a simple example of how to have more good days at work – and at home.  The audio is a snippet of some opening comments from a recent Pinocchio Principle Unleashed group session.

If you enjoy it and want more, I encourage you to check out the full program here:  The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed – The Real Leader’s Guide to Accessing the Freedom & Flow of Your Authentic Genius.  Registration for the fall session will open soon, and priority enrollment will be given to those on the waiting list.

We all have plenty of work in our lives.  Here’s to putting more life into our work – and watching both grow infinitely richer!

FULL VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

One day when my son was 8 years old, he came home from camp with a riddle. He said, “Pretend you’re in a box with four walls all around you and it’s airtight. There’s no handles and no latches.  How do you get out?”

“Hmm, I responded.  “I don’t know. I think I would punch my way out.”

He said “No.”

“Okay, then I’d use my legs. I’d kick my way out.”

“No.” He was emphatic.

I thought for a moment. “Hmm. Maybe I’d try to chew my way out.”

He was getting more and more irritated with me. “No.”

I was out of ideas, “I don’t know. I give up. How do you get out?”

“Mom,” he said.  “If you’re pretending you’re in a box with airtight walls, the way you get out is you STOP PRETENDING.”

Wow, this from an eight year old.

It’s crept into my thinking several times over the years because I think it’s such a great analogy for what we do.

How Beliefs Can Become Boxes

We have these beliefs…

Have you ever thought about how your belief about work shapes your experience of work? To a large degree, we’re pretty much conditioned to believe that work is not supposed to be fun – that work is something that you do in order to earn a living, pay your bills, feed your family, and be a responsible human being. Work is something that you do and you just get through it.

And living… well, living is what you do after work, right?

It’s part of our societal conditioning. Have you ever noticed that?

You Can Break Out of Your Box

The people who enjoy their work are people who have realized that doesn’t have to be true.

“What if I didn’t think that? What if I approached it differently? What if I thought of work as an opportunity for me to do something cool, to contribute to something bigger than me? What if I thought of work as an opportunity to be around people or to partner with people that I really enjoy, or that are really interesting to me, or that I can learn from? What if I think of work as a way that I can somehow grow?”

What a novel idea.

Work is What You Make It

What’s interesting is that people who believe work is a chore, experience it that way. And they get bogged down, and they have so much to do, and they feel like they’re never going to be able to finish it. And it’s one more thing and everything’s going wrong. And then there’s this and there’s that and they can’t wait to go home.

And that person could be working side by side with somebody who believes – even just for that day, even just for that moment, that work is something different. And they will have a whole different experience. They will tell you something entirely different.

It’s not that they won’t have a whole boatload of work to do. It’s not that they won’t have pressure or deadlines and people relying on them and more to do than there’s time to do.

But there’s something about people who believe different things about work that changes the way they interact with everybody. EVERYBODY.

Learning How to Have More Good Days at Work is About Making a Choice

If you think about the last time you went even just to get a cup of coffee… the difference between somebody taking your order that never makes eye contact with you, that’s having kind of a crappy day, that is kind of wearing it on their body and the way that you feel when they serve you…

…the difference between that and somebody who when you walk in, looks you in the eye and asks you how you’re doing and maybe shares something funny or is genuinely interested in you. And really you can tell that when they ask you how you are, it’s not just part of their script. There’s something about their presence that is with you.

I guarantee you they are having a better day than the other person… not because anything different is going on, but because they made a choice to see work differently.

Make YOUR choice.

For more, visit www.UnleashtheExtraordinary.com

There Are No Missed Opportunities

 

Do you believe in “once in a lifetime opportunities”?

A lot of people will try to convince you to move on something because you’ll never have another chance…

Maybe you’ve even tried to convince yourself of that.

It creates a lot of pressure.  And when you decide to pass something up, you may worry or regret what feels like missed opportunities.  That can suck up a lot of wasted energy.

This week’s video will give you a different perspective – one that will save you a lot of frustration and help you to recognize that you may know more than you think you do.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Hi.  Diane Bolden, Executive Coach and author of The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed – Becoming a Real Leader: How to Unleash Genius in Yourself and Those You Lead.

Have you ever regretted not taking action on something?  Maybe it was something you’ve been wanting to do, but you just didn’t feel ready.  Maybe the timing just wasn’t right.  Maybe you just couldn’t get yourself to do it.

And then you might have beat yourself up or wondered, “Did I make the right decision?”  Because there’s so much pressure put on us for not passing up that “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

But I don’t buy that.  I don’t see life that way.  Experiences in my own life, as well as that of many clients I’ve worked with bear a different truth – life doesn’t give up on us.  And there are no missed opportunities.

Ancient philosopher/poet Rumi – “What you seek is seeking you.”  So, if you’re meant to do something, you’ll have numerous opportunities to say yes.  Like the waves in an ocean, one right behind the other.

Life prepares us for the grand things we do by giving us the not so grand little opportunities for growth.  And when you’re not ready for something, you’ll have chances to prepare yourself.

And ultimately, many grand opportunities.

So, if something you really want hasn’t happened, or if you’ve passed up an opportunity to engage with it, don’t despair. You’re that much closer to the next one…

And it WILL come.

In the spirit of there being no missed opportunities… though the spring session of The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed is now full, you can get on the waiting list for fall.   And if you’re interested in bringing the program in house, inquire at Support@DianeBolden.com.

Ever Feel Like Work is a Chore?

 

A third of your time on the planet is spent at work.  Why would you do something that makes you feel… dead before your time?

So many of us feel like work is a chore, which Merriam Webster defines as “an unpleasant but necessary task”.  It gets lumped in there with all the other things we dread but make ourselves do anyway ­– washing dishes, picking up the dog (or cat) poop, taking out the trash.

It’s interesting that Webster’s definition of the word “work’ has a similar connotation: “a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person has to do”.

So, you could argue that the words “work” and “chore” go hand in hand.  And if your previous experiences validate a belief that work is a chore the association will be even stronger.  So strong that it leads to a common expectation that work is a necessary evil, a thing to be endured, something laborious and heavy.

Neuroscientific research has shown us that it is often our expectations themselves that shape our experience of reality.  And that can keep you stuck in a perpetual loop of believing that work is a chore and a resulting experience that proves it to be true.

Over time, perpetual loops feel a lot like hamster wheels – you’ll expend a ton of energy, feel a lot of frustration, and not really get anywhere.

(And if you are a leader, you may be unintentionally setting that tone for your whole organization.)

But you can turn that all around and change your world for the better.  It doesn’t require a lobotomy.  And it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to quit your job.  This video will give you a glimpse of just how easy that simple shift could be.

 

 

If you want more on revitalizing your work from the inside out, consider enrolling in the spring session of The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed: The Real Leader’s Guide to Accessing the Freedom & Flow of Your Authentic Genius.  This exclusive 12-week leadership development program is now in its 7^th year, with over a hundred happy alumni.

Participants for this video-based, small group coaching program are carefully selected and capped at no more than ten.  Registration will open on February 15^th, and priority will be given to those on the waiting list.  For more information or to be considered for enrollment, go to www.UnleashtheExtraordinary.com.

The Way We’ve Been Working Isn’t Working Any More

 

Are you familiar with what’s being called The Great Resignation?  With resignations and job openings at an all time high, companies are competing to hire and retain top talent.  But much of that talent is feeling overwhelmed, overextended and burned out.

Because THE WAY WE’VE BEEN WORKING ISN’T WORKING ANY MORE.

We are at an unprecedented time with regard to work/life integration challenges.  Telecommuting allowed us more time at home, but for many it blurred the lines between our work and personal lives, skewing it toward work and leaving many feeling chewed up and spit out.

While it’s becoming clear we cannot go back to the way things were, we must find a way to chart a path that’ll get us where we really want to go – and redesign the way we work from the inside out.

There has never been a better opportunity for leaders to rise up and blaze a new trail.  But before they can lead others, they must first do it for themselves.  This video was created for those who feel compelled to answer that call.

Are you one of them?

Watch the video to find out, then visit www.UnleashtheExtraordinary.com for more details.

How to Keep Life’s Obstacles from Stopping You

Imagine that you’re cruising along in your car headed smoothly toward your destination. And then traffic slows to a stop.

Is there an accident ahead? Construction? Some other impediment?

No worries. Your GPS has an alternate route that’ll get you exactly where you need to go.

What if you could find your way around life’s roadblocks with the same ease and efficiency as your GPS system?

You can!

The video below will show you how.

It’s an excerpt from The Pinocchio Principle Unleashed: The Real Leaders Guide to Accessing the Freedom and Flow of Your Authentic Genius, an exclusive 13 week leadership development program kicking off next week, on 9/22/21. If you’re thinking about attending there are still a couple of spots available. Click here for more information or to reserve your seat.

 

 

GPS image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay.