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: Quality Measures - December 2000 In the Office and on the Floor - Similarities Between Refereeing and Consulting by Nickolas J. Ortner, ASA, MAAA from The Stepping Stone Newsletter, April 2001, Issue No. 6.

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: 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 is a conversation with two critical staff members of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) about their experience there. Jane Lesch is a non-actuary who has been working at the SOA for over 20 years, and is an engagement specialist. Mike Boot is an actuary who retired at the end of February after 15 years at the SOA, most recently as managing director. We spoke to both Jane and Mike to get their take on what leadership is about, and how working at the SOA impacted them.

Description: Latest installment in series that applies Buddhist philosophy to the actuary's daily activities. This installment discusses the challenges for actuaries in dealing with the ongoing ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses mindfulness tools to cope with the resulting stresses in a peaceful and effective way.

Description: In this article, corporate culture expert, S. Chris Edmonds, is interviewed. Chris is an author, speaker and consultant on creating corporate cultures that are based on values alignment and high performance. In addition to sharing Chris' expertise with the actuarial community, the goal of this article is to also get actuaries to think about their leadership beyond the confines of technical expertise and leading a team.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision. This issue’s case study involved uncertainty about a job offer

Description: This article is about the need for actuaries and technical professionals to develop critical leadership and other soft skills, and highlights the ways the SOA Leadership & Development section provides tools to develop those skills.