9.  Should employees leave their personal lives entirely behind them when they enter
the workplace, as the speaker suggests here? While I agree that employees should not
allow their personal lives to interfere with their jobs, the speaker fails to consider that
integrating personal life with work can foster a workplace ambiance that helps everyone
do a better job, thereby promoting success for the organization.
      Engaging coworkers in occasional conversation about personal interests and
activities can help build collegiality among coworkers that adds to their sense of
common purpose on the job. Managers would be well advised to participate in and
perhaps even plan the sharing of personal information—as a leadership tool as well as a
morale booster. An employee feels valued when the boss takes time to ask about the
employee's family or recent vacation. The employee, in turn, is likely to be more loyal
to and cooperative with the boss. Company-sponsored social events picnics, parties,
excursions, and so forth—also help to produce greater cohesiveness in an organization,
by providing opportunities for employees to bond with one another in ways that
translate into better working relationships.
      Admittedly, employees should guard against allowing their personal life to
impinge upon their job performance or intrude on coworkers. Excessive chatting about
nun business topics, frequent personal telephone calls, and the like, are always
distracting. And romances between coworkers are best kept confidential, at least to the
extent they disrupt work or demoralize or offend other employees. By the same token,
however, employees who are too aloof—sharing nothing personal with others—may be
resented by coworkers who perceive them as arrogant, unfriendly, or uncooperative.
The ill-will and lack of communication that is likely to result may ultimately harm the
organization.
      In the final analysis, employees should strike a careful balance when they mix
their personal lives with their jobs. Although there are some circumstances in which
bringing one's personal life to the job may be counterproductive, for many reasons it is
a good idea to inject small doses of personal life into the workplace.