70. Boundaries

About this episode

The episode explores the essential skill of boundary setting in personal and professional contexts, highlighting its importance in protecting time, energy, and values while maintaining relationships.

We explore the essential skill of boundary setting through personal and professional examples, examining how clear boundaries protect our time, energy, and values whilst maintaining relationships. We discuss practical scenarios from declining alcohol at social gatherings to saying no to dessert at dinner parties, illustrating how boundaries become easier to establish with people we know well versus strangers or colleagues. Through workplace examples, we examine the challenge of setting boundaries around availability, deep work time, and the delicate balance between being a supportive leader and overstepping professional responsibilities. We explore how cultural expectations and the fear of appearing impolite can make boundary setting particularly difficult, especially when declining invitations without external excuses. We delve into the art of saying no elegantly and respectfully, sharing strategies such as buying time before responding, offering counter-proposals, and being honest about personal preferences. We examine how boundaries connect to personal values—recognising that violated boundaries often signal compromised values—and discuss the importance of flexibility to avoid…

People in this episode

Hosts: Pia, Bart

Topics covered

• boundary setting
• personal values
• professional relationships
• workplace boundaries
• cultural expectations
• saying no

Keywords

• boundaries
• personal values
• workplace
• saying no
• relationships
• cultural expectations
• time management

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