Susan Collins joins the pod to find subtle cracks in leadership styles in today's intergenerational workplace.

There’s a reason our podcast team’s intergenerational. Without multiple perspectives, you can’t make sense of the subtle patterns in today’s dynamic workplace.

But sometimes the subtlest patterns are your own.

Welcome to the Mode/Switch Pod, which comes out every other Tuesday to make sense of American work culture and help you do more than cope when work’s a lot.

Susan Collins joins the roundtable as an ICF-certified coach—The Network Concierge—to discuss the hidden patterns in our own vocational formation. Especially for Gen X managers, the things you take for granted about what it means to do the job need to shift in today’s workplace.

This week, Ken our Boomer, David our Xer, Emily our Xennial, and LaShone our Millennial discuss how to spot hidden, sometimes detrimental patterns in your own practice of leadership. But we’re not playing gotcha! If you can find the hidden patterns in how you work, you can find the courage to do more than cope in a changeful workplace.

A long time ago, a rabbi warned about putting new booze in old bottles. We’re trying to keep up with that wisdom right alongside you. So pour something good and pull up to our roundtable.

-craig

What happens before the "change" isn't just a women's issue.

Welcome to an intergenerational roundtable where we help you do more than cope when work’s a lot. If you’d rather not listen to this conversation in your email inbox, no problem: just whip out your phone and hit follow on The Mode/Switch Pod on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And by “we,” this week I’m introducing….

• Emily Bosscher, our Xennial,

• Ken Heffner, our Boomer,

• Delaney Kemp, our Gen Z co-host,

• David Wilstermann, our Gen Xer.

I’m in the mix, too, so I can tell you that this team asks the questions usually whispered in the break room and skipped over in the HR manuals. This week, we’re talking about perimenopause on the job.

Whether you’re going through this condition right now or working next to someone who is, you’ll find this episode deepens understanding and extends needed support.

Our guest this week, Amita Sharma, is a leader in workforce development and digital transformation. She brings two decades of experience and passion, helping organizations and individuals make workplaces more inclusive for everyone, at every stage of life. (You can access her work here.)

With Amita’s help, we’ll unpack what perimenopause is and how ignoring it can cost your team talent, productivity, and clarity.

When you pull up to our intergenerational roundtable, you’ll hear candid stories, surprising science, and gut-healthy laughter. And we’ll help you see that, when organizations offer zero help for silent suffering, it’s a red flag—not “just another hot flash.”

So glad you’re here!

Geoff & Cyd Holsclaw join our intergenerational roundtable to discuss attachment strategies for your next frigid (or white-hot) workplace meeting.

Lately, Nashville’s been feeling more like January than May. I’m attending a conference here, and the seasonal weirdness has totally messed with the HVAC brain of the meeting space. The result’s been uncomfortable. The thermostat, thinking we were enduring a hot and soggy summer day, has poured down frigid air on our heads.

Some people were sorta okay with the cold. Not me. I zipped up my jacket, pulled my hood, and felt homesick for balmy Grand Rapids.

The longer I thought about it, the more it felt like a parable for how emotions circulate in a workplace. Let’s say a distressing email arrives from the company president. Budget cuts are coming. Layoffs are threatened. The client rejected the bid. Whatever it is, the cold air starts pouring through the ductwork, and everybody’s under stress. So, tell me: what do you do when your coworkers get cranky? How do you engage your team when they go dark and get quiet? What happens in you when your work bestie starts spouting vast opinions?

Here’s a recommendation: listen to this conversation with Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw, who offer good advice for better attachment strategies at work. Geoff’s a theologian and an entrepreneur who runs the Embodied Faith podcast, focused on the intersection of neuroscience and spirituality. Cyd’s a professional coach and a pastor who works with organizational leaders. They’ve co-written the forthcoming book Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You Into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection.

These two funny and smart people join this week’s Mode/Switch Pod to discuss how to cope with other people’s feelings at work. As usual, you’ll hear Ken the Boomer, David the Xer, Emily the Xennial, and Haley the Gen Z asking questions and telling stories. (Okay, I’m in the mix, too. Is my reluctance to put myself in the list an avoidant attachment style?)

Do you know the old country song that asks, “Is it cold in here, or is it just you?” It’s a question that comes to mind when the meeting room at work goes frigid. Sometimes your anxious brain—like a seriously confused thermostat—urges you to cope by avoidance or aggression. But this week’s podcast helps you move towards steadier responses and stabler attachments, not just with your coworkers but with your work itself.