Boundary rules

Great piece from Sahaj Kaur Kohli about setting boundaries when you may have been brought up in a culture in which this is uncommon or frowned upon. The context here is setting boundaries with family during the holiday, but I think the principles here are very applicable to setting boundaries at work—especially given the huge variety of cultural backgrounds we all navigate in our workplaces. Among the bits of good advice here: you can say no without saying no directly. I’m a big fan of speaking directly, but I’m also a fan of adapting to the needs of the circumstances in front of you. Or, to put it another way, saying “no” directly and clearly is a good hammer to have in your toolbox, but some days you may also need a wrench.