Blogs & Podcasts

Andrew recommends:

Changing careers as an adult isn't easy. A 'moonshot' goal might help

Author:  Rhiannon Stevens

Changing careers, starting a business, or walking away from something familiar is scary at any age — but doing it at 54 after spending 22 years in the same company? That’s a whole different level.

When you take that leap, you need people around you who will lift you up and have your back as you build something new. Stepping away makes it crystal clear what truly matters and what was just noise filling your day.

If you're thinking about making a career change or starting your own business — especially in your late fifties — here’s what you need to ask yourself:

✅ Do you have mentors and business partners who will give you honest, 

 no-BS feedback?

✅ Is your family on board so they can support you when things get tough?

✅ When the tough moments hit (because they will), do you have 

 the resilience to push through?

✅ Can you afford the initial salary drop — do you have the financial runway 

 to make it work?

✅ Most importantly, do you have a plan? And are you ready to pivot 

 when things don’t go as expected?

It’s not easy, but if you set yourself up right, it’s absolutely worth it.

Natalie recommends:

Uncensored Money Season Five: I Wish We Didn’t Celebrate International Women’s Day.

Author:  Melissa Browne

I absolutely love this.  It's about being angry that we still have to celebrate a day where women don't have equality.

At a&co we promote the fact that we are a largely female based organisation.  We promote equality and pay everyone their worth.  We offer paternity pay, menopause leave and don't take women for granted.  The men are treated the same as the women. Can we stop talking and just do it?

Andrew recommends:

Women Are Leaders of Mindfulness at Work - Here’s Why

Author:  Misty Pratt

As a Leader you’re always learning and when you fully embrace your own vulnerability, you can learn so much more.  Over the past year, I have been really intrigued on how I can use mindfulness within my own personal and professional life.  I personally find it hard to stay in the moment as I’m always looking at the what ifs and my mind tends to wonder off in a thousand different directions.

Through my reading, I came across a great article on “Women are Leaders of Mindfulness at Work”. 

My take aways from the article

• Women in general take more action to advance the well-being of their employees.
• Effective leadership is more about trust than gender.
• Leaders must take an interest in their team and get to know everyone within it.
• You must create a safe space for all team members - one without judgement .
• Trust creates an environment for everyone to succeed.
• All leaders have the capacity to develop these skills.

Karen recommends:

3 surprising roads to burnout (and how to get off them)

Author:  HBF

Great candidates are not afraid of working hard. They do complex tasks, meet deadlines, and perform at a high level in the workplace. But even the most assiduous person can be affected by ‘burn out’ and high levels of stress at work. Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion that can occur after a long period of excessive or stressful work. 

I enjoyed this article by HBF as it provides some insight into the early signs of burn out that can be identified in yourself and by an employer in their teams. We all have different levels of capacity to cope with emotional and physical strains, but burnout occurs when employees experience a mix of physical and psychological symptoms that result in decreased job satisfaction.

Recognising these signs early and developing strategies to avoid long term burnout will lead to a happier, healthier, and more productive team. Which is what we all want.

Andrew recommends:

An ER Doctor on triaging your "crazy busy" life

Author:  Darria Long at TEDxNaperville

Everyone’s busy but busy looks different for everyone.  It can be overwhelming balancing work and personal life and managing all the different tasks coming at you.  Leaders that have worked with me over the years and especially the COVID years,  would have heard me say “let’s triage that and work out what’s important”.  At the time I didn’t know why I used the word "triage".  

When I heard the Ted Talk by ER Doctor Darria Long it really resonated with me.  She explains how she goes about triaging her crazy busy life and it made so much more sense.  Some amazing take aways in this for all of us.

Andrew recommends:

Why Great Employees Leave “Great Cultures”

Author:  Melissa Daimler

Who would have thought that a free breakfast and a weekly fruit basket wouldn’t stop people from leaving a company. For a long time, I have said that these things are nice to have, and they can make you feel special, but they don’t stop people from leaving. 

This article by Melissa Daimler really resonated with me and I totally agree with her “that Culture takes time to define, and it takes work to execute.” 

Melissa’s key take aways;

1. really understanding the behaviours expected throughout the organization;
2. identifying the systems and processes that will continue to help those behaviours be expressed and sustained.
3. shaping practices that help employees and the organization become better, then you can close your culture gaps, and stop your best people from saying, “I know it’s a great culture, but I am leaving."

Andrew recommends:

Challenging Traditional Recruitment for Greater Diversity

Author: Tony Pownall – Cultivate Recruitment NZ

Tony from Cultivate Recruitment NZ is working with his team to create a better recruitment process for people who are Neurodiverse. Within the blog Tony provides some great solutions to enhance the recruitment process.

Natalie recommends:

How does menopause affect women at work

Author:  Dr. Louise Newson GP

Dr. Louise Newson GP and Menopause Expert answers a few questions on “How does menopause affect women at work” Dr Newson quotes up to 10% of working women actually consider giving up work. That’s way too many women potentially leaving the workforce.

Andrew recommends:

The Listening Leader

Author:  Katherine Tiddy – The Work Happy Project

A great article written by Katherine Tiddy from The Work Happy Project.  It’s so easy to move quickly from meeting to meeting and not give yourself enough time to actual stop and listen.