Ted Audio Collective

You want to hear something interesting?

There are thousands of people who walk within the halls of Columbia Business School every

day.

Students, faculty, staff, visitors.

And of those thousands of people, you know who I see the most frequently?

Not my management colleagues, not my beloved students, it's Kevin.

Our evening janitor.

I have many late nights at the office, particularly when I'm teaching, which means I see Kevin

a lot.

And I welcome our conversations because every now and then I need a break or to procrastinate.

And sometimes when I see him, he has his air pods in.

Not listening to music, not listening to a podcast, but talking on the phone to his colleagues

in the union, offering them advice on some situation or another.

Kevin is an executive board member at large of the TWU Local 241 Union, which is made

up of nearly 1,000 individuals who work at universities in Manhattan.

One evening, I asked Kevin what he enjoys about being part of the union.

He said it brings positivity and a sense of purpose to his work life.

He enjoys ensuring that he and his fellow cleaners, mechanics and security guards have a voice

in their workplaces and aren't being taken advantage of.

It's powerful to hear Kevin in action because I'm telling you, he could teach negotiation

better than my colleagues or I might.

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