A conversation worth having
When two colleagues approach work differently, an age label can bring a conversation to an early stop. KLBL’s Expert Sharing on 10 September 2026 offered a more useful place to begin. In Gen Z × Gen Y: From Workplace Clash to Collaboration, Dr Cassendra Anak Gilbert brought the discussion back to relationships, expectations and the strengths people can contribute.
One thread in her sharing was curiosity before judgment. Rather than deciding in advance what somebody’s generation must mean, she encouraged the room to seek understanding. People can look at the same situation from different positions and still believe their own interpretation is obvious. A conversation creates space to discover what the other person is seeing.
A second thread was clarity. Her example of giving one instruction while expecting several results made the problem concrete. The speaker may believe the task is fully explained, while the listener has received only part of the expectation. The useful next step is to make that expectation visible, rather than leaving the other person to infer it.
Cassendra also asked how one person’s strengths could complement another’s. She used a layered cake as an image of different elements coming together. Her closing emphasis was on creating an environment in which different people can succeed together, instead of expecting everyone to work or communicate in the leader’s preferred way.
Try it in your next conversation
Here is a short workplace exercise inspired by those themes. Choose a task on which two people have different approaches. Before defending a method, ask each person to describe the result they are trying to produce and what they need from the other person. These are KLBL editorial practice prompts, rather than a quoted checklist from the sharing.
Next, make the expectation specific. Describe what completion would look like, when a response is needed and what should happen if something is unclear. Ask the listener to explain the agreement in their own words. Treat any difference as information that helps both people improve the agreement.
Finally, name a contribution each person can make. The aim is to discover an actual strength, rather than assigning one on the basis of age. Agree one small change to try, then return to it together and discuss what happened.
Bring your perspective to the room
The session’s practical invitation was to begin a different conversation before repeating a familiar judgment. At KLBL, professional sharing sits alongside prepared speeches, impromptu speaking and structured feedback, giving members opportunities to practise that attention to another person’s perspective. Explore Cassendra’s member profile for her published professional background, or join a club evening to experience the conversation.
Paraphrased from the recorded KLBL sharing. The workplace conversation exercise is original KLBL editorial, inspired by the session.