For Arguments Sake

08/24/22 • 34 min

The ability to engage in “healthy” conflict at work is essential for promoting and encouraging diverse viewpoints. But how much conflict is too much? And what if your team doesn’t ever disagree with each other? Is that just as bad? In this episode, Chris De Santis and Mary Abbajay tackle listeners' questions about how to disagree without being disagreeable...

Put a Lid on It in New Hampshire has an employee who likes to argue about everything with everyone. His constant contentiousness and criticisms are driving his boss and his coworkers crazy. What can be done? How should his manager approach this situation?

Spine Free Zone in Manhattan has the opposite problem. She finds herself leading a team of “yes-men” and it is driving her crazy. She wants her team to engage in more healthy debate—so how does she get them to see the value of sharing different viewpoints?

Six to One Odds in KansasCity is one of six partners in a law firm. She has been tasked to lead the firm in its ESG efforts. The problem? She is the sole black woman in a sea of white male partners who are resisting all her ideas. How can she get them to stop arguing with her and start supporting her?

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We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

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Show us your love. Please give us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us on LinkedIn!

Previous Episode

Friends With Benefits?

Research repeatedly shows that having friends at work can boost employee engagement, productivity, and happiness. In a recent study, most people say having a best friend at work makes work more enjoyable.

We see coworkers nearly every day, collaborate with them on important projects, maybe even share inside jokes about our boss—but do we consider these people friends? Should we? In this episode, Mary & Chris answer listeners’ questions about navigating workplace friendships.

Alone But Not Lonely in Louisiana wonders why she needs to have work friends. She’d much rather stay in her remote cocoon rather than mingle with people in the office. Are there benefits to making friends at work?

What Would Chandler Do...has just been promoted. He is now the boss of his friends. The problem? He wants to keep his friendships intact and doesn’t know how to navigate being their manager and their friend.

Out of the Closet and into the Frying Pan has a crush on a same sex coworker. Should she make a move? She doesn’t know her coworker’s sexual orientation or if this coworker knows hers. How should she proceed? Or should she?

Show us your love. Please give us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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Next Episode

Setting Boundaries (Is That a Real Thing?)

Setting Boundaries

What does it mean to set boundaries in our professional and/or personal lives? Are boundaries rules for others or rules for you? How do you even begin to know what your boundaries are? In this spirited discussion, Chris and Mary help listeners learn how to determine and set boundaries. Even in difficult situations....

Making it Happen in Michigan is starting a new job—how does she begin to set boundaries with her new boss and team?

Working for a Workaholic in Washington has a boss that is, well, a workaholic. How does he keep his career on the upswing without burning out? His friends tell him to set his boundaries, but he doesn’t even know where to start...

Sort of Hating My Husband in Hawaii is challenged by her business partner husband who never turns work off. How does she set work boundaries while maintaining happy marital relations?
Show us your love. Please give us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

Thanks for listening! Connect with us on LinkedIn!