Description: The author explores leadership—what it is, how to achieve it, and qualities of great leaders.

Description: A review of the book, You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader, by Mark Sanborn. Throughout the book, you may need to rethink your concept of what a leader is. In addition to the concepts provided, Sanborn also provides leadership action points at the end of each section.

Description: To persuade successfully and non-manipulatively, it's important to understand five key principles of influence. Principle #5: A person will more likely be influenced if you help them get to the heart of the matter.

Description: No matter what you do, you are in sales in some way. The word, "sales" or "selling" brings up negative connotations for many people. It may be helpful to think of it as "influence". Whether you're a sales professional, coach, consultant or executive - there are key stakeholders in your world you need to influence. To persuade successfully and non-manipulatively, it's important to understand five key principles of influence. Principle #3 is covered here.

Description: Great lessons come from bad experiences. This is a story of how I learned the importance of influence after a difficult relationship with my supervisor.

Description: Over the last decade, the actuarial career has gained significant attention of entry level job-seekers as it continues to be one of the consistently top rated jobs in the market. There are different avenues to break into the profession, but one of the most common is through an Actuarial Student Program, where a company formally supports the exam progress of individuals through paid study materials, exam fees, and time off to study. Most programs also include an emphasis on development of leadership and communication skills. As the recruiter for MassMutual’s Actuarial Student Program, I get the opportunity to regularly share with candidates why I believe a student program is such a powerful springboard for a successful actuarial career. Profiled in the article is two actuarial students and one recent actuarial student program “graduate” to highlight the value a student program can bring to one’s professional development.

Description: Metadata for entire issue

Description: Editor introduction to the Fall 2017 edition of Small Talk.

Description: This articles showcases the principles of effective servant leadership.

Description: Author's 4 personal heroes inspiration for readers to identify their own noble purpose, & create a 5-year plan for personal growth (Competency Framework).