Psychotherapist Dana Skaggs joins our intergenerational pod to discuss the wisdom of boundaries in the workplace.

Well hello there—and happy Tuesday! Welcome to the Mode/Switch Pod, a biweekly roundtable on work-culture questions. Our intergenerational team equips you to do more than cope when work’s a lot! This episode asks why boundary-setting’s so tricky, especially in the workplace. Do you wish you could assert yourself at work—without creating more passive aggression? This conversation’s for you!

We are all two kinds of humans at once--those who want closeness and those who need their space. But being both kinds of selves gets tricky at work. We feel the need to assert our rights. We feel the need to get along with others. How do we do both?

Does self-care require fences? Does working community require eliminating fences?

This week, our intergenerational crew—LaShone, Emily, Ken, David, and I—talk with psychotherapist Dana Skaggs about how to create strong but open boundaries at work. It’s not about building a fortress, or even a fence. It’s more like—well, you’ll have to listen to find out!

Dana’s good at finding the laughter in difficult conversations. She’s an easy-going communicator with a gift for vivid analogies. And we should know! We pushed her pretty hard, probing her concept of boundary-setting on the job, asking questions like:

• Don’t boundaries become some people’s excuse for getting out of work?

• Won’t boundary-setting make us all lonelier?

• Aren’t boundaries easier for people who like conflict?

Our workplace-focused conversation today focuses on interpersonal conflicts at work: How do we assert our rights on the job and show up to collaborate generously with others?

But the question of boundaries today quickly raises urgent, widely felt questions about society and culture in our divisive times. My wife and I felt this keenly in Northern Ireland recently, when we did some dark tourism and wrote prayers on the Peace Wall (see below). Our tour guide’s father was murdered in The Troubles, and hearing stories like that made it feel urgent to keep boundaries from becoming barricades.

I produce the Mode/Switch because I think the workplace is a space where we can seek ways to be human together. I believe this episode equips you for that good work!

-craig

Susan Collins joins the pod to find subtle cracks in leadership styles in today's intergenerational workplace.

There’s a reason our podcast team’s intergenerational. Without multiple perspectives, you can’t make sense of the subtle patterns in today’s dynamic workplace.

But sometimes the subtlest patterns are your own.

Welcome to the Mode/Switch Pod, which comes out every other Tuesday to make sense of American work culture and help you do more than cope when work’s a lot.

Susan Collins joins the roundtable as an ICF-certified coach—The Network Concierge—to discuss the hidden patterns in our own vocational formation. Especially for Gen X managers, the things you take for granted about what it means to do the job need to shift in today’s workplace.

This week, Ken our Boomer, David our Xer, Emily our Xennial, and LaShone our Millennial discuss how to spot hidden, sometimes detrimental patterns in your own practice of leadership. But we’re not playing gotcha! If you can find the hidden patterns in how you work, you can find the courage to do more than cope in a changeful workplace.

A long time ago, a rabbi warned about putting new booze in old bottles. We’re trying to keep up with that wisdom right alongside you. So pour something good and pull up to our roundtable.

-craig

What happens before the "change" isn't just a women's issue.

Welcome to an intergenerational roundtable where we help you do more than cope when work’s a lot. If you’d rather not listen to this conversation in your email inbox, no problem: just whip out your phone and hit follow on The Mode/Switch Pod on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And by “we,” this week I’m introducing….

• Emily Bosscher, our Xennial,

• Ken Heffner, our Boomer,

• Delaney Kemp, our Gen Z co-host,

• David Wilstermann, our Gen Xer.

I’m in the mix, too, so I can tell you that this team asks the questions usually whispered in the break room and skipped over in the HR manuals. This week, we’re talking about perimenopause on the job.

Whether you’re going through this condition right now or working next to someone who is, you’ll find this episode deepens understanding and extends needed support.

Our guest this week, Amita Sharma, is a leader in workforce development and digital transformation. She brings two decades of experience and passion, helping organizations and individuals make workplaces more inclusive for everyone, at every stage of life. (You can access her work here.)

With Amita’s help, we’ll unpack what perimenopause is and how ignoring it can cost your team talent, productivity, and clarity.

When you pull up to our intergenerational roundtable, you’ll hear candid stories, surprising science, and gut-healthy laughter. And we’ll help you see that, when organizations offer zero help for silent suffering, it’s a red flag—not “just another hot flash.”

So glad you’re here!