Should We All Join A Union?

📈 Learning: Consistency Is My Achilles Heel

Have you ever given one great presentation, thrown one awesome event, designed one great marketing campaign that went viral? I have. Have you ever done it twice in a row? I have…but less times.

That’s the thing. Doing something once is easy. Well, not always “easy” per se - but easier than doing it over and over again while maintaining quality, timing, and integrity.

I struggle with consistency in a lot of different areas in my life. I love the beginning of things that excite me, and I tend to overcommit as I start bringing my passions to life. One great achievement really puts me on a high - and I sometimes artificially tell myself that I’m incredible (relatable?). But as I ride this high…I let myself off the hook for not doing it again.

As I get older, I have been able to finally recognize this about myself - and by recognizing it - I have been able to (sometimes) foresee this and adjust my expectations of myself, time block in my calendar, etc etc.

But not always.

When I started writing this summer, I committed to a weekly drop. But as my coaching business is picking up, I end up deprioritizing my weekly newsletter in favor of client work. So with that! I’m recommitting to two newsletters per month.

Challenge: what’s your achilles heel? aka - where’s an area you always let yourself off the hook? Can you identify it? What do you need to do to recommit to it? Can you do it less often, but with more integrity? Or more often, but with less perfection?

✍️ Real Talk: Should We All Join A Union?

Did you know that it’s super hard to lay people off in Europe and the UK? In my day-to-day life here in the US, I am constantly hearing of professionals navigating horrible work places, being laid off or living in fear of an upcoming layoff, and trying to think ahead about health insurance and unemployment.

The more I chatted with friends on my trip to London, Brussels and Berlin, the more I thought about the possibility of a different reality: a reality in which workers have job security, basic rights, and the promise of work, health and housing.

Only 10% of Americans are currently in unions (Ezra Klein Show, as referenced in Spotlight below). As multiple industries have gone on strike this summer (auto workers, writers, Trader Joe’s, UPS, Starbucks…) you may be wondering like me…why aren’t all workers in a union? As a working professional for the last 10+ years, I’ve never even considered the possibility of being in a union. But the more I think about it - could unions be the answer to horrible work culture across startups and tech?

Want to learn more about unions and the worker’s movement? Here are a few episodes I’ve learned a ton from and enjoyed on this topic recently:

🎧 Socialism Is Supposed To Be A Working Class Movement. Why Isn’t It? (The Ezra Klein Show)

🎧 Dig: Seizing Labor’s Moment w/Alex Press & Eric Blanc

🎧 Autoworkers Slam The Breaks

 🔎 Spotlight

🎤 September 27th | A Night Of Storytelling (LA) - I’ll be one of 8 speakers sharing our stories about “Names We’ve Been Called.” If you’re in LA, I’d love to see you!

🛬 October 2nd - 4th | I’ll be in NYC. If you’re there and/or would like to explore some in-person coaching, hmu!

🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏻 October 14th | Potluck Stories: Firsts - Join me and my friends in LA for another evening of community building and storytelling around “firsts.”

As always, if you’re interested in learning more about leadership coaching, grab a call with me to learn more.

Thanks for reading, and until next time ✌🏽

Arshiya