Workshops by William Frank Diedrich

1. Emotional Intelligence

2. Adults at Work

3. Death By Meeting  (Based on the book by Patrick Lencioni)

4. Team Building (Includes real time assessment of team performance.)

5. Spiritual Adulthood

6. DISC Behavioral Styles

Contact me via Theroadhome@comcast.net to discuss workshops.

Workshops may be done in person or via Zoom.  Fees vary. Payment may be made here:

Articles: 

Bringing Your Soul To Work--Part 1
by William Frank Diedrich

What does it mean to bring your soul to work? It’s not about religion. We all have different belief systems and that is fine. We don’t want to promote or argue doctrine or theology. What about spirituality? Spirituality is about relationship. It’s about your relationship to whatever or whomever you consider to be the source  of your inspiration. For most people it is their higher power, however they may define it to be. It’s also about your relationship with yourself. That is, are you being authentically you or are you becoming someone or something different at work? Are you bringing your soul to work or are you faking it?

The problem with not being yourself at work is that it’s painful. The price of faking it, or of not living your values and not being who you are is high. The cost is borne by your body and your emotional state. Stress is the gap between how you see it and how you want it. You, your soul, want to just be you—to think, feel, speak, and act in alignment with who you are. When you are out of alignment there is stress. Stress produces a fight or flight reaction in your body. Over time your body is weakened and made more susceptible to disease. Stress leads to negative emotions including anger, hurt, resentment, guilt, shame, and more. Repressed, these emotions settle in your physiology, causing pain and disease. Dumped on other people, these emotions hurt and often destroy your relationships with others and damage your professional credibility.

What is the answer? Bring your soul to work. Take a deep breath, hold a second, and exhale slowly. Ask the question: "Who am I?” Or, you may ask, "Who do I want to be when I am here?”  Listen. Let your intuition speak. Pay attention to what comes to you. The biggest barrier here is our resistance to knowing the answer. We are so used to operating a certain way that our mind and body resist any effort toward change.

Be patient and persistent. Think about this: How many public leaders, people we see in the media, are actually reflective? How many know who they are? I think you’ll agree that very few seem to be reflective. Perhaps that is why the world is in such  mess!

I didn’t forget about the higher power. Your higher power is whomever, wherever, or whatever is your source of inspiration. What is your source of inspiration? Whatever it is, ask for insight. Ask for the ability to see yourself clearly. Ask for wisdom in your decision-making. Many people pray for things. Pray instead for wisdom and insight and the things you need will more likely come to you. Whether you belong to a religious path or you are agnostic, and even if you call yourself an atheist, you can still go within and ask for insight. You don’t have to know who you are asking. Just ask and listen. If you do have a strong faith in a higher power, then utilize that relationship. There is no law against praying at work or any other place. Just do it and keep it to yourself. Showing other people how prayerful you are with public performances gets in the way of this very intimate and private practice of making contact with your higher power.

Taking time to pray, meditate, or contemplate every day will strengthen you no matter what is going on in your life and work. A daily habit of quiet self reflection helps to center you. You want to be centered in your self—your authentic self. If you know who you are it is less likely others can shake you up. Just like in martial arts, being centered in who you are helps you to deflect and defend against any attack. For most of us those attacks are verbal. If you know who you are then verbal attacks hold less meaning. They become less personal even if the other person meant them as personal.

Who are you and what are your values? Sit quietly, ask, and listen. Take notes. As you determine who you are and what are your values become the nonjudgmental observer of your self. Ask: “Where am I in alignment with who and what I am, and where am I out of alignment?” If you find yourself lying, cheating, gossiping, criticizing people, backstabbing, drinking too much, or other destructive behaviors, you’re probably out of alignment. And, you’re paying a price for that.

Share your thoughts with a trusted friend, mentor, spouse, partner, therapist, spiritual counselor, or another who is willing to offer support. It’s tough to do this alone. Find books and programs that can be helpful. Decide carefully about who you will share your thoughts and feelings with, and about what you might read or listen to. This is your journey, not someone else’s. Don’t allow anyone to guilt you into taking a path that doesn’t feel right for you. This is your soul, your life, and it needs to be nurtured and yes, to be loved, by you.

William Frank Diedrich is a speaker, executive coach, and the author of ten books. He works with individuals and teams to achieve greater effectiveness. He offers workshops on emotional intelligence, being an adult at work, effective meetings, spiritual intelligence, assessment and goal setting. Bill lives in East Lansing, Michigan.  


Are you willing to bring your soul to work? Do you want to be more authentically you? This concept also works in relationships. Do you bring your soul to each of your relationships? Whatever your spiritual path may be, are you bringing it to work? To your relationships?  To life?
For individual and team coaching on bringing your soul to work, life and relationships contact me at Theroadhome@comcast.net