Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
I worked at a job that started as a 6 week contract that kept getting extended. Now the person I was covering for eventually came back and the company looked for a way to evolve my role. I know it’s cheating and that isn’t really a positive example of “feeling loved” but it is a positive example of feeling appreciated in the workplace which I think on this internet of ours is a rare occurrence.
As we enter 2025, I didn’t make a New Year’s resolution but I decided to trust: trust people, trust the process and most importantly trust myself. I am starting a new blog collection, based on the current labour market and I will start with this as our foundation “Asking your work if they are laying people off is like asking a man if he would ever cheat on you or a woman if she likes money” . . . If you like go and argue with your ancestors
An intro to the Labour Movement is in Shambles – An examination of work in 2025
“In 2023, 630 000 [500 000–820 000] people died from HIV-related causes globally. Since 2010, HIV-related deaths have been reduced by 51%, from 1.3 million [1.0 million–1.7 million]. The global HIV epidemic claimed 69% fewer lives in 2023 since the peak in 2004.
76 000 [53 000–110 000] children died from HIV-related causes in 2023.
560 000 [430 000–730 000] adults died from HIV-related causes in 2023.
HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, claiming 42.3 million [35.7–51.1 million] lives so far.”
Global trends in people acquiring HIV and people dying from HIV-related causes, 2010-2023 and projections to 2030
This post seems very timely as it is the anniversary of my podcast. Happy 6th birthday to my podcast, yes I promise this is connected to my contribution to my community. I wrote a while ago about how it’s hard to stay consistent in content creation and that has been true not only in my blogging but in the recording of my podcast.
I love reading and to be fair after university it has become difficult to read fiction. I primarily read non-fiction and so most of what I read I feel the arrogant need to share with others for their own good. At some point I realized that unlike at university life is not a seminar and generally people are not interested in debating or learning more. The only people that may be interested in debating you are on twitter and to be fair they are not doing so in good faith nor are they actually interested in the ideas you are trying to share.
I read a few things and listened to a lot of podcasts and my conclusion is explained best by Seneca who says “I am acting on behalf of later generations. I am writing down a few things that may be of use to them.” The older I got I realized that as a black woman there are so many things that I did not know that impact my life, my community and a little guidance may have prevented a lot of things or at least helped in the understanding of many things. So while I was learning more things about finances, voting, colorism or just nutrition, I figured I would write down what I am learning because even though people may not be open to what I have learnt at the moment there will come a time when they will be and at that point I would have written and recorded a few things for them.
My contribution to my community is the things I am learning and even though if often feels like it is falling on deaf ears, I continue because of the chance that a young black woman may wish to know why is it important to budget, hold political parties accountable and so she knows that someone grappled with the same questions and they took some notes for her to use, update or disregard.
My involvement in my community is sharing knowledge that they may not realize they need yet.
I will start this post with the full acknowledgement that I should be and am grateful for all the blessings I have, but seeing is the post is not an ode to my lack of gratitude I will say the thing I complain most about is work. I am an advocate of the labor movement and am of the belief that “the labor movement is in shambles” so I find myself often complaining about different elements of work.
My favorite and timely complaint is the mandatory return to office. Wait hear me out. I know this is somewhat of a first world and white collar worker problem to have but still its emblematic of a larger problem between workers and employees. The issue is never if the work is done because when work is isn’t done there are many different metrics that employers have figured out to calculate efficiency. In fact if you fall below an adequate level of efficiency I believe they do something they call “firing you”. No the problem is not that work will not be done. The problem is trying to control employees time so if they are able to complete the required tasks in an adequate manner you figure out a way to pile more tasks on without paying them anymore. God forbid they use the extra time to spend with their family, friends or figuring out how to make additional income.
That brings us to the second thing I like to complain about. Much like what we keep hearing about inflation “it’s going down”, “we have brought it to an adequate level”, we should be really happy we are paying $20 for cooking oil our wages may be “up” but it seems like we still can’t afford rent, houses or the $20 cooking oil yet at every turn we are told wages are higher than ever and we should be happy and grateful. So we may not be the greatest mathematician but we can do the maths and see that the amount that we are getting paid and the profits we are helping make don’t add up.
To conclude, I like to complain about the state of employee rights in this current economic climate
I read this book a while ago and have been waiting for the right time to review its contents and 5 a.m. for bloguary seems like the perfect time.
I spend a lot of time wondering about what makes a good leader at work, within a family and especially a political leader. I came across this book in a used book store and I was immediately drawn to the title because I thought it was talking about servants as leader but it was actually talking about the need for leader to be servants in order to be successful leaders. That was a little surprising to me but I read on and the following quotes summarize the elements of a good political leader.
The servant-leader is servant first — as Leo was portrayed. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then the conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He is sharply different from the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is established.”
Page 7
My mind immediately runs to African politics where the goal of the politician is to make as much money as possible and helping people becomes secondary. I think this mindset became more prevalent for African leaders post independence because they now had access to resources and figured why not fill our pockets. Maybe one day we’ll help our people maybe we will just keep helping ourselves and keep criticizing western systems. I don’t believe this was the case pre-independence. Most leader were concerned with the well being of their people but I guess something changes in you when you control the purse strings.
The next quote that stood out to me felt more inward facing. Before the leader can rob the servant they need to be accepted as a leader. This is accomplished
By clearly stating and restating the goal the leader gives certainty and purpose to others who may have difficulty in achieving it for themselves”
Page 9
Political leaders in particular are required to inspire the masses into voting, paying more taxes, agreeing to start or end wars and this all requires a leader that gives them purpose as a nation. They need the ability to sell a dream which is why propaganda can be so effective. It easily sways the often vulnerable citizens by evoking strong emotions.
The next quality that makes a good leader is knowing and being able to read the room. I think about Donald Trump and how so many people were surprised at him winning in 2016 US presidential election, but I wasn’t surprised because I could see that the mood in the US had shifted. I read one of his books and while it wasn’t Pulitzer Prize literature he was accurately reading the room and the public sentiment. Not only was he correct about the US sentiment but we saw many leader like him get elected across the globe following his win. Many people looked at Trump as being beneath them an error I hope won’t be made in 2024 because
“The requirements of leadership impose some intellectual demands that are not measured by academic intelligence ratings. The leader needs two intellectual abilities that are usually not formally assessed in an academic way: he needs to have a sense for the unknowable and be able to foresee the unforeseeable………Others will depend on him to go out ahead and show the way because his judgement will be better than most”
Page 14-15
I want to emphasize the point that it is better than most not necessarily the best. This brings us to what I think is the most important quality of a leader the ability to persuade their followers. I think some people erroneously believe that force is enough to be a good leader but
“The trouble with coercive power is that it only strengthens resistance. And, if successful, its controlling effects only last as long as the force is strong. It is not organic. Only persuasion and the consequent voluntary acceptance are organic.”
Page 32
No one feels like they have to persuade anyone anymore. Engaging in discourse often lands people being categorized as spreading hate and our leaders have become fearful to persuade those that are not already on their side. I think the best leaders should be able to persuade not only those that have already accepted their leadership but the ones still in doubt.
TIGERE.CA 