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Episode Audio Link: https://podcast.ablackexec.com/episode/Understanding Workplace Boundaries with Dr. Nsenga Burton
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In this episode of 'Need to Know,' Dr. Nsenga Burton addresses the critical importance of establishing boundaries in the workplace. Highlighting two alarming incidents—a worker found dead in her cubicle after four days and a team member left behind on a mountain during a team-building exercise—Dr. Burton discusses how a lack of boundaries and poor workplace culture can lead to dire consequences. She emphasizes the need for self-care, understanding personal needs, and advocating for oneself in professional environments. Additionally, Dr. Burton touches on the true history of Labor Day and its relevance to today's labor issues, urging listeners to set boundaries and look out for their colleagues to ensure a safe and supportive work environment.
▶︎ In This Episode
00:00: Introduction to Need to Know
00:19: Shocking Workplace Incidents
01:39: The Importance of Workplace Boundaries
03:18: Recognizing Red Flags in Team Dynamics
04:38: The True History of Labor Day
05:43: Final Thoughts on Workplace Boundaries
06:32: Closing Remarks
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Transcripts
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.
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:What do we need to know?
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:Dr. Nsenga Burton: Good afternoon.
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:I am Dr.
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:Nsenga Burton and welcome
to Need to Know with Dr.
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:Nsenga.
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:Today we're going to be talking
about boundaries, particularly
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:boundaries in the workplace.
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:You may have heard of a couple
of news stories that have been
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:going around, uh, very much viral
about employees in the workplace.
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:One of which was an employee
who was found four days after.
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:She had expired, died at work in a
cubicle and people had gone to work
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:and have been to work and no one
had noticed that she was dead in
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:her cubicle for at least four days.
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:Uh, one person said they kind of smelled
a body and then other people said, you
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:know, they just didn't think to go and
check in her area to see if anything
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:was wrong because they didn't really
have that kind of culture at work.
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:Another incident was of a gentleman who
was left on a mountain during a team
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:building exercise for a company and.
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:They had climbed this mountain and
he got separated from them and he was
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:able to communicate with them, but
they would not give him the information
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:that he needed to get back safely.
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:Uh, a storm arose, he got
disoriented, got lost again.
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:Uh, the markers they had put down
for people to find their way up the
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:mountain, they had taken them down.
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:Uh, and so he was literally stuck
on this mountain, had fallen 20
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:times by the time he was found.
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:Luckily he was able to get a cell
phone signal and was able to notify
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:police and they came to look for him.
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:Not his colleagues.
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:So I say this to say, um, as we
have just celebrated another labor
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:day, uh, weekend that when we think
about the workplace, there should be
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:boundaries that are put into place.
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:And you should also consider what you
need out of said workplaces boundaries.
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:For example.
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:I'm sure the person who went to work and
didn't come home never thought that they
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:would be at work and they would never be
found, you know, you know, for four days,
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:at least that they would not be found.
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:Sometimes you have to really think
about yourself, which your needs are.
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:Um, and what is required
of you in your job.
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:So, you know, we always want to
aim for the stars and we always
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:want to do the best that we can.
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:We want to put our best foot forward
and we want to be team players.
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:But you also have to think
about the workplace and the
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:environment in which you work.
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:And you have to really ask
yourself, is it really worth me?
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:Is it really worth me having this pain
in my chest or in my arm or in my leg
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:every time I come to work and not taking
the time to just go see the doctor?
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:You know, sometimes we have benefits.
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:Sometimes we don't have benefits.
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:Sometimes they are not great.
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:But, you know, the number of people who
are keep waiting and waiting and waiting.
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:You know, to go to the doctor,
to take the vacation, to take
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:the day off on Labor Day.
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:I can't tell you how many emails
I got on Labor Day, um, yesterday.
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:And I purposely, uh, did not check email,
uh, because I wanted to explore it.
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:I wanted to enjoy the day with my child,
my daughter, my family, and my friends.
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:Uh, and so I think about that when
I think about boundaries in the
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:workplace, we have to have them.
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:Um, when you think about the gentleman
who's on the mountains, And he probably
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:didn't know, you know, but when you deduce
that the people that you are supposed
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:to be working with and you are in a
team building exercise and they are not
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:functioning as a team because anyone who
has ever been in a team building exercise
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:or if you pledge a sorority or fraternity
or what have you, if one person is out
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:of the group, the whole group is out.
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:There is no team.
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:So the fact that one person was
left behind initially, um, and then
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:eventually, and they never went back
to get the person, uh, states very
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:clearly that there was no team involved
and there's no teamwork involved.
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:If teamwork is important to you,
if collaboration is important to
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:you, when you start getting those
flags, uh, you know, those signs.
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:Uh, you know, getting left out of
important meetings, uh, maybe, you
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:know, working in the team and having
your work presented by others, but not
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:getting, uh, any credit for that work
or the person that I'd be saying, Hey,
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:Adrian, help me with this presentation.
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:We did this that the other, even if
you're making the presentation or they
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:can say at the end of the presentation,
thank you, Adrian, for your help in
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:getting this presentation together.
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:We worked long and hard
to get this, uh, together.
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:So if you really liked this
presentation, make sure you share
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:some of that love with Adrian.
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:It doesn't take a lot to give people
their attribution and their respect.
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:And so in closing, what I want
to say is that boundaries in
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:the workplace are important.
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:If you know the real history
of Labor Day, you know that
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:it wasn't a benevolent thing.
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:We think about it in a benevolent way, but
it really was over Pullman, uh, workers
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:who wanted to have, Better pay, better
benefits, sharing the profits, all the
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:things that we're still fighting for now.
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:Uh, and actually the president at the
time, Grover Cleveland, uh, unleashed
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:the military on them and a lot of
people were killed during the protest.
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:And two days later, Labor Day was
enacted in order to quell those issues.
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:Um, and really as a PR move for
President Cleveland who had, uh,
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:grossly overstepped and had harmed
people who were really just fighting
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:for their rights in our democracy.
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:All right.
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:So if you know the true history
of Labor Day, then you understand
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:the importance of boundaries.
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:Um, the importance of taking a day off
if you need it, the importance of going
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:to check on yourself or saying, Hey,
listen, I have to go to the doctor or
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:no, I cannot come in because I just
got over COVID and I'm still exhausted.
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:Or yeah, I did have this procedure
and I was off for two weeks, but you
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:know, I'm still moving around a little.
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:So is it okay if I work from home for a
couple of days until I get my bearings?
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:Right?
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:You have to put those boundaries in and
stand up for yourself in the workplace.
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:Because at the end of the day, if
you end up dying on a mountain or
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:dying in a cubicle, they're going
to sanitize your office, send
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:your stuff home to your family.
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:And start to search for a new person.
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:All right, so find your boundaries
stand up for yourself in a respectful
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:way And make sure you are taking care
of yourself so that you can be The best
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:that you can be and then finally look
out for others look out for others, you
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:know Um, if you are a true colleague if
you are a collaborator if you believe in
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:the team vision and identity, you know
that One person can't be left out of the
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:team look out for your colleagues, you
know Do that so that everyone can have
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:a safe and prosperous work environment.
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:So tune in next week to a black executive
perspective podcast Have a wonderful day.
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:Stay black.
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:Stay happy
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:BEP Narrator: a black
executive perspective
