Understanding Workplace Boundaries with Dr. Nsenga Burton

BEP Narrator: 00:00:02

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