Description: This article is an overview of the SOA Leadership & Development Section Council's current projects, recent accomplishments and some immediate focal points of the Leadership & Development Section Council's efforts.

Description: A regularly occurring column in this Leadership and Development Section publication, it is a platform for the Section Chairperson to communicate with the readership regarding upcoming important topics that this Section will focus on in the current year. This article provides an overview of the new plan of focus for the newly-elected Leadership and Development Section Council for 2023.

Description: Discusses the upcoming 20th Anniversary of the Leadership and Development Section and how some leadership topics are as valid today as they were 20 years ago.

Description: Article presents the basic terminology and theory of attribution theory, the theory explaining the causes that people attribute their successes and failures to. The article reviews i) typical attributions(e.g. effort, luck), ii) dimensions of attribution (controllability, stability), iii) useful and non-useful attributions, and iv) attribution retraining and v) other aspects of the theory (such as accompanying emotions)

Description: An update on recent and upcoming activities of the International Section Council as it continues to find ways to serve its members and other interested parties who are either working overseas or have a strong international interest.

Description: Executives often tell subject matter experts such as actuaries, “You should think more strategically!” But, the executives never define what they mean by “thinking more strategically”. This article defines the skills actuaries need to be perceived as being more strategic. It will provide practical steps actuaries can take to gain more strategic influence and escape the trap of being perceived as only a subject matter expert who provides limited strategic value.

Description: Tracy Choka is managing director and regional head business management at Swiss Re. Tracy has spent her career in L&H reinsurance, working across multiple areas that include pricing, valuation, operations, client solutions, deal development, and mortality and underwriting research. In her tenure, Tracy has headed Applied Research and Development, Products, and since 2014, Business Management for U.S., Canada and Latin America.Tracy shares her thoughts on how the pandemic has accelerated trends in underwriting and the challenges - and the silver lining- in managing professional relationships during COVID-19

Description: This article is about small business changes and challenges before and after COVID.

Description: Executives often tell subject matter experts such as actuaries, “You should think more strategically!” But the executives never define what they mean by “thinking more strategically”. This article defines the skills actuaries need to be perceived as being more strategic. It will provide practical steps actuaries can take to gain more strategic influence and escape the trap of being perceived as only a subject matter expert who provides limited strategic value.

Description: This article describes the EXCEL Model, a teaching and coaching tool developed by The Flippen group, College Station, Texas and adopted by many organizations. It focuses the leader on the needs of the team. The five components of the model are: Engage, X-plore, Communciate, Empower and Launch.