Description: February issue of The Stepping Stone

Description: July 2019 issue of The Stepping Stone by Leadership & Development Section. practical information for actuaries, trends that impact section, section activities.

Description: Fifteenth installment of series applying Buddhist principles to working world of actuaries. This installment focuses on the challenges actuaries face in adapting to the various changes in job and career expectations.

Description: Reader responses to whether an actuary faced with unexpected negative financial results should cancel personal plans to deal with it immediately.

Description: We will demonstrate three analytical tools along with a sample case study showing how they might be applied to a fictional actuarial organization within ABC Life. The goal is to highlight how they might be applied to perform a health check of an actuarial function organizational design. This can measure effectiveness quantitatively via benchmarking how an actuarial function might stack up against the industry and management expectations. The tools and techniques are critical for actuarial leaders and managers but are also relevant to all actuaries, since we can all benefit from understanding how our individual work efforts fit into the bigger picture of an organization.

Description: metadata for the entire issue

Description: The author discusses how to enhance your career status, by setting yourself apart. This involves approaching your career as if it were your own business. The author notes that if you are a consultant, this way of thinking may not be a huge leap, but when you work for a company performing functions that are not directly revenue-producing, you may not have thought about this approach. The author then provides a checklist of seven essential steps to accomplish this. From ‘The Stepping Stone’ issue number 43.

Description: The author, working in his sixth insurance organization, notes the key consideration is having a direction for your life, emphasizing life, not career. The author discusses taking time to write your goals for both your personal and professional life, including career goals, personal goals, and family goals. The author notes that the balance of professional and personal priorities changes over time, so this is definitely not something you only do once in your life, and the goals for your career and the goals of your family need to be reconsidered and discussed throughout your career. From ‘The Stepping Stone’ issue number 43.

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.

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 a new employee being hired specifically for an expertise that then does not seem to be valued once they arrive.