Description: Providing ways to master the art of soft skills and embracing agility to propel actuarial success in today's market.

Description: The article presents specific operational guidelines when managers and staff are having difficult conversations. The article reviews half a dozen "popular" guidelines but shows that they are not specific. The article then in two layers presents specific operational guidelines. First the article based on a commonality of principles of email etiquette and Jewish Speech Laws reviews five guidelines for ordinary conversations: focus on events vs. people, focus on fixes vs. blames, being holistic (acknowledge any good done), be operational (indicate outcome and how to accomplish it), and use of tentative tone. The article concludes by adding three specific guidelines for difficult conversations: shared-self-evaluation, skillful use of breaks when emotions flair, and use of open-ended lead-on questions coupled with continuous empathy and offers of collaborative support.

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 what to do when an actuary turned in her resignation, but didn't seem excited about the prospective move.

Description: A article summarizing the SOA 2024 Regional Symposium in Riyadh

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 very new actuarial manager trying to deal with a disruptive employee.

Description: This article identifies four root causes of poor performance and four remedies to address them that every leader should know.

Description: Join us for this in-depth workshop and explore a variety of highly interactive sessions on topics such as leadership competencies, business execution, strategic planning, and building a high-performance culture.

Description: This article looks at critical points in my life, offers a very brief bio, and then explains how I used the experiences to learn decade by decade. It is motivated by wanting to tell the story of how able I am to contribute to the SOA and other activities at the age of 85. It is motivated by offering this story as a way to motivate others.

Description: In “Gearing up for Designing Your Future,” published in the May 2017 issue of Actuary of the Future, the author cited four heroes as his personal inspiration. This article is the successor, showing the glory of these heroes and how they can inspire us actuaries today, as we strive to live our best lives. Identifying your own Noble Purpose as an actuary and in your life makes creating a five-year plan for personal growth meaningful and motivating. What will you gain from reading biographies of famous people and the classics? To aspire, to approach eloquence, to emulate the poetry of how they put their ideas across to mobilize their publics, to elevate our own characters by their examples, to be fully equipped to make moral and ethical judgments, to master the primary tool, verbal communication.

Description: The true value of any leader is measured by how much they are able to accomplish through the work of their team. Actuaries in leadership roles are no different. But, to get the most out of your teams, leaders must first focus on building a high-performance culture. One that rewards measurable success and challenges everyone to reach farther all the time. There is no easy path to building a high-performance culture, but the benefits of a leader’s efforts will pay substantial dividends for the team, the leader, and the company. This series of articles is intended to educate leaders of large and small groups on how to build a high-performance culture and achieve outstanding results.