Andrew Bramley

When I wrote the chapter about midlife as a blog many years ago, a friend who was just starting out in her sixties said: ‘There’s also something about fifty-nine! Only when I crossed that line myself was I able to write this, and it landed when I went to get new spectacles. I had a […]

I was lucky. My first job set the bar for how the workplace should be. It was target-driven with great leadership and people who cared about people. Colleagues became friends whom I still love dearly. At the funeral of our Regional Manager a few years ago, many of us didn’t get as far as the

There are three traps when using interests to make choices in your work life. The first trap is making a direct link between your interests and your job. It presents itself in statements like, ‘If you like animals, you should be a vet’ and ‘If you are interested in movies, you should get into the

Maybe, like me, you thought behaviour was a soft skill. It took me more than a few years in the workplace to realise behaviour was far from soft. There’s an old adage that we hire people for their skills and fire them for their behavioural faults. Our behaviour choices have the potential to advance our

It’s 3 a.m. Another cup of tea gets cold as I sweat over two floor plans for my new offices. The first plan was created by design architects and uses the space and budget most efficiently. The second plan, less professionally drawn and less space-efficient, is my own. It also costs a lot more. Before

Work Depression: A Barrier in Job Hunting and Employment Understanding Work Depression Work depression is a term that can resonate deeply with those struggling to find employment. Being out of work can deliver a giant dose of work depression, robbing you of the energy to keep going, which is why many people give up, often

‘The first step towards getting somewhere is deciding you’re not going to stay where you are.’ John Pierpont Morgan (15-minute read) My Dad bought the handsome dark green Volvo. He drove it proudly till he died, after which it became mine. When Grandpa, my father-in-law, needed a more reliable car, I gave him the Volvo

It’s Sunday morning, and I’m sitting up in bed with good coffee gazing out over our sunny morning garden. Across my legs lies Poppy, a medium-sized fawn-coloured dog who came to us through my son Sam who worked for many years at our local Animal Welfare clinic. Poppy When Poppy arrived, her ribs stuck out

I received a phone call at my office one day that started like this. “Hoe spring jy?” (How do you jump?) “Where do you want to jump to?” I enquired cautiously, wondering whether the caller, who introduced himself as Johan, had the right number. “Well, I heard the way to make a career change is