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Navigating Workplace Culture: Balancing Boundaries and Work Ethic
Episode 174 • 26th September 2024 • TonyTidbit: A Black Executive Perspective • TonyTidbit ™
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Episode Audio Link: https://podcast.ablackexec.com/episode/Navigating Workplace Culture: Balancing Boundaries and Work Ethic

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In this episode of 'A Black Executive's Perspective,' Dr. Nsenga Burton discusses the importance of establishing boundaries within the workplace and balancing them with a strong work ethic. Highlighting generational differences, Dr. Burton shares insights on how millennials and Gen Z value personal time and self-care, while emphasizing the necessity of punctuality and professional communication. Using a viral video of a young woman being fired for chronic lateness as a case study, Dr. Burton explains the importance of adhering to workplace expectations and effectively planning time off. She encourages younger generations to understand the perspectives of older colleagues and leaders to foster a successful work environment.

▶︎ In This Episode

  1. 00:00: Introduction to Need to Know with Dr. Nsenga Burton
  2. 00:18: The Importance of Setting Boundaries at Work
  3. 01:25: Viral Video Discussion: Workplace Attendance Issues
  4. 02:18: Balancing Personal Boundaries and Work Ethics
  5. 03:10: Generational Differences in Workplace Expectations
  6. 04:08: Celebrating Birthdays and Professional Responsibilities
  7. 05:10: Advice for the New Generation Entering the Workforce
  8. 08:41: Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcripts

BEP Narrator:

A black executive perspective now presents need to know

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with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Dr.

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Burton, what do we need to know?

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Dr. Nsenga Burton: Good afternoon.

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I'm Dr.

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Nsenga Burton and welcome

to need to know with Nsenga.

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Today I am talking about this idea

of workplace culture and In the last

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episode, I talked about boundaries at

work, and I think it really is important.

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One of the things I love about Gen Z and

millennials, um, is that they are willing

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to say, Hey, listen, not today, Linda.

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I have been working overtime.

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I was supposed to be doing ABCD and E.

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You have me doing.

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Z, F, G, K.

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I really need to get some clarity

on where it is, where we are.

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Um, I need some clarity

on my job description.

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No, I cannot come in on weekends because

I've been in every other weekend.

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I need some time to myself.

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So those are some of the things

that we really actually like or

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people like me who manage others.

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Um, in certain, uh, capacities.

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I do appreciate, I'm also someone who is

a proponent of self care and of setting

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and establishing boundaries for your,

uh, your self health, um, and worth, uh,

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and identity outside of the workplace.

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So, um, not everybody

loves that, but I do.

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But there is a video that's going around,

um, and it is It's an interesting video.

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It's a viral video, and I'm not

sure if it's really, if it's

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an enactment or if it's real.

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Some people think it's real.

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Some people think it's an enactment, but,

um, there's a young lady, uh, who looks

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to be about 20, you know, early twenties

or what have you, um, who's getting

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fired from her job and she records it.

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And one of the things that she

gets fired for is because she

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was chronically late to work.

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Um, and chronically late, meaning

I think in one instance she said,

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I mean, I was only 21 minutes late.

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Um, and then she didn't show up to work

and, um, didn't call and the supervisor

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was like, yeah, you didn't call.

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And this, and this is after we

had already sat down and we've

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talked to you multiple times.

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I just talked to you last Friday

about this type of behavior and

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then you do a no show and, and the

person said, well, it's my birthday.

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So I say all of that to say, while we

appreciate you having your personal

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boundaries and you choosing self help.

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Choosing self care in order to maintain

your health and your personal happiness.

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Those are all important things.

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There is still such a thing as a work

ethic and a necessity to show up and

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to be present while you are at work.

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There's also such a thing as

professional communication, right?

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Um, a professional communication

meaning when someone Calls you

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into an office and gives you a

list of things you need to work on.

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That's them initiating steps It

means that they have been documenting

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what you haven't been doing to their

satisfaction And they're now making

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you aware of not only what you haven't

been doing But also setting those

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expectations in place and we'll be

measuring you against those expectations.

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And so we love You know, when

I say we, I'm not talking

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about me cause I'm, I'm Gen X.

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So I'm a little bit older.

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We weren't abused in the workplace

and continue to be abused.

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That's kind of our culture.

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So we're working on getting our, uh,

getting ourselves together saying, no,

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I've worked 80 hours a week for 15 years.

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I haven't worked, uh, had

any weekends or breaks.

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I'm taking one.

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That's a big deal for us.

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Um, but we also have to be clear that,

um, even though there's a shift in

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culture and there's an understanding by

HR and other people who are leaders and

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managers, that there needs to be clear

lines, uh, and that people do have the

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right to have a personal autonomy and,

um, to be able to have access to their

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personal lives outside of the workplace.

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Um, You know, you still do have to

understand that there are basic things you

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have to do and coming to work is on time.

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Um coming to work on time

is one of them, right?

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So chronic, uh, tiredness or lateness

is something you can get fired for.

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Your birthday.

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Now as black and brown people,

we celebrate our birthdays.

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It's important, you know, it's culturally

important, but it's also because many of

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us are not supposed to be here based on

the history of the world in which we live.

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You know, um, so every time we get

a year we Especially some of us

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who've grown up in some precarious

situations, some tough neighborhoods.

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Um, you know, you're very aware of

your relatives who are no longer with

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us for lots of different reasons.

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Relatives you can't celebrate with

for lots of different reasons.

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Um, we celebrate, we party.

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You know, it's our birthday, you know,

some people, you know, Make fun of it.

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Oh, we're going to celebrate

for the whole month.

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I'm turning 21, 21 days of Nisinga, you

know, all the things, but ultimately,

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if you have a job, you actually

have to come to work, even on your

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birthday, you should be coming to work.

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You had a plan to celebrate your birthday,

either earlier or later, or like plan

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in advance and take the day off and make

sure you don't take so much time off

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that you don't have time to take one

day off when your birthday comes around.

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And I say all of that to say

that I think this, um, generation

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just needs to be mindful.

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And I used to say this in my classroom

too, that yeah, you're a new generation.

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You have wonderful ideas.

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You have different ways of doing

things, thinking about things, um,

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and things that are important to you.

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And you are very clear and okay

with communicating that to us.

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You also have to be cleared.

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Okay, for people in my generation, many

of whom are in leadership positions

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now, um, in this point of our careers,

um, you also have to be clear that

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you have to understand who we are.

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What our backgrounds are and what our

expectations are and we actually do

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clearly articulate them and document

everything because we had to do that

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When we were coming up, we didn't

have all this electronic stuff.

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Even me, you know, I had a telephone

with a rotary Part to it, uh, but

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we didn't have all this electronics.

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So we had to sign everything We

had to write things we had to write

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down the notes Uh in the meeting

you had to keep track of them.

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You had to make photocopies

you had to share Okay, so

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that's kind of our practice.

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So we do that in our sleep So,

please note if you're engaging

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with anybody who looks like me in

my age group Middle age and above.

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I'm 51.

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They are taking notes.

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They are paying attention and

they are grading you against

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the criteria against which.

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Your job is either in play or in jeopardy.

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So don't lose your job over a birthday

don't lose your job because you

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want to Uh, push the boundaries.

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I talked about this with my daughter

like you got to have a boundary You can't

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push it as far as you can you have a b

c d and e today, that's it Don't keep

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pushing all the time, especially over

frivolous things when you got mostly what

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you wanted You get to work from home.

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You get as much paid time off as you want.

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You have benefits, healthcare, you

have a decent salary that allows

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you to do what you want, right?

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So you can, and many of you are living at

home, so you actually can go on vacation

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and go hang out with your friends and go

turn up in the club and do all the things,

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um, that a lot of people just weren't able

to do in my generation because we were

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actually paying for our own stuff, right?

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So I know that that's complicated.

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And why are you living at home?

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Because the job market and all that.

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That's another discussion.

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But what I'm saying to you

is take advantage of that.

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Um, but don't take advantage of people

who give you a lot of space So that you

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can have the boundaries that you need

Um, and you can have the life that you

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need and the and the fun that you want.

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So I say all of that to say Be mindful

of what you elevate In your life as

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important, especially as it relates

to your job, because now this young

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woman, whether it's true or not, and

if it's not true is a great example of

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what you should not do is out of a job.

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Perhaps doesn't have benefits.

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Maybe the work environment was

toxic and she didn't really care.

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She was looking for a way out

anyway, you know, but ultimately.

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People have expectations in the

same way that you want us to learn

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how your generation moves or rocks

or whatever verb you want to use.

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Um, you need to understand how we

move and that's the generation that's

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typically in the leadership roles.

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Uh, and we actually have to engage

with you cause you're our children.

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So we are very familiar with

who you are, but you also have

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to be familiar with who we are.

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And there are just basic workplace

practices that you have to participate in.

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If you want to have.

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A successful time or tenure in your job.

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And if you want to remain in your job, so

this is probably not the right audience

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for that, but I felt like it needed to

be said just in case there are people who

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are graduating from college, you know,

that flexibility that your professors

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have with you workplaces don't really

have that your ability to kind of, uh,

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You know, move the way that you want to

move and, and, and cite this and that for

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why you need to not come in and you need

a mental health day and all of that, a

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lot of workplaces are adjusting to that,

but many of them still are coming to it.

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So you do have to communicate and

give people advanced notice for

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everything, uh, whether you celebrate

your birthday or whether you

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really do need a mental health day.

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Uh, so at any rate, that's it, uh, tune

in next week for, uh, Another episode of

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A Black Executive's Perspective Podcast.

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I'm Nsenga Burton.

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Have a wonderful day.

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BEP Narrator: A Black

Executive Perspective.

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