Welcome to the Mode/Switch Pod, an intergenerational roundtable helping you improve your internal communication to strengthen your working community.
If, as a team leader, you catch yourself wondering…
Why’s everything simpler and faster if I DO IT MYSELF?
How come my team stops working at 5, and I’M STILL WORKING AT MIDNIGHT?
Why do my people keep DISRUPTING MY WORKFLOW?
How come we have so many AI options but NOT A ONE MAKES THIS JOB EASIER?
… you need this week’s Mode/Switch w/ Karen Sergeant!
A tree falls at work…does it make a sound?
My question is partially inspired by a personal story. My family’s front yard Norway Maple fell in a winter storm just before New Year’s. Thankfully, nobody was in the yard when it fell, but we definitely heard the whoooooooouuuumph the tree made as it hit the ground.
As we chainsawed it into firewood, piled up the brambles, and ground the stump, I kept wondering:
Was there anything we could have done to keep this tree from falling?
My sad tree story is also a parable for struggling workplace leadership.
The winds at work today are gale-force. We’re enduring political storms (who can stop thinking about Alex Pretti and Renee Good?). We’re blown about by digital overwhelm: so many shiny new tools, so few trust-building encounters. And to make things gustier, there’s Hurricane AI.
These storms are real. But today’s Mode/Switch guest, Karen Sergeant, redirects focus from external forces to root problems. Last summer, I started reading her Substack Human in the Loop to benefit from her indispensably fresh takes on AI and work culture. Now, I’m so pleased to have her join the Mode/Switch to show how the windstorm of generative AI could transform the workplace for the better if it’s a “forcing function for better leadership.”
But (you ask), how could all those sycophantic chatbots force leaders to recognize patterns of mis-communication? Our 30-minutes podcast will show you how. So, pull up to the roundtable!
I confess my opening question above was a little misleading. I’m not suggesting that you’re about to fall like that tree in my front yard. I’m more worried that, if you don’t communicate clearly, your team will.
But improve your internal comms, and you’ll improve the whole ecology.
Does your work culture need a Mode/Switch?
I’m so glad you’ve subscribed to the Mode/Switch where, every Tuesday, you get a newsletter about improving internal comms to improve working community.
But sometimes making a mode/switch takes a longer conversation.
I am convinced that the best changes in your workplace won’t come from a smarter chatbot but from improved patterns of internal communication.
So, if you’re wishing to build trust, transform conflict, deepen collaboration, and get some seriously good sh#t done, let’s talk!
