Insights from Experience

They say hindsight is 20/20. That might be true. After reaching a significant milestone in 2025—25 years of working—I took some time to reflect on what I have learned as an actuary and in related roles, how to apply that knowledge going forward, and what I might have done differently.

Here are the top 10 things I would tell myself at the start, back in June 2000, before I passed my first actuarial exam.

1. Change is truly the only constant

The first company I worked for was undergoing notable change. It was a healthcare company looking to divest business. The rate of change has not slowed since then. In 25 years, I have had 27 managers, 12 roles, and worked for five companies. Some change was by choice, such as actuarial student rotations, but much was not.

Articles from Harvard Business School and McKinsey & Company reveal that adaptability is an important quality that executives look for in a leader. It is a difficult skill to build. Change can make us uncomfortable. It is uncertain. It takes us out of our comfort zone.

Whatever the strategy, it is critical to adapt to change in the workplace. This includes learning new skills, like working with artificial intelligence. It includes proposing solutions to adapt. It is important to accept that change is occurring. This helps to be proactive in addressing it.

2. It really is a small world

In college, a friend asked me to attend a Student Actuarial Society meeting. Soon after, I took my first actuarial exam. Two years later, I was working full-time in an actuarial student program.

Four companies and 15 years later, I found myself at a company working closely with the same friend who had convinced me to attend the Student Actuarial Society meeting years earlier. That company bought a block of business from the first company I worked for. I found myself interacting with colleagues with whom I had worked 15 years earlier. I worked for a manager—one of my favorite bosses—for the fourth time over two companies. This story is just one of many I can share about how small the actuarial community really is.

Candidates and newcomers to the profession: It is likely you will see the same colleagues repeatedly in the years ahead. Keep that in mind, including in stressful situations. Remember to value the relationship over the situation. Your career will benefit if you maintain high-quality professional relationships in the years ahead.

3. Be part of the solution

I worked for a manager who coached me on being solution oriented. I was in the habit of presenting problems and expecting him to solve them. He asked me to present three solutions for every problem. I found that usually there was one solution, more than the other two, that made the most sense. After presenting this solution, I needed only to get his alignment. This practice of proposing a solution—especially to my management chain—has stuck with me ever since.

As a people manager, I find it easier to provide guidance when an employee presents a solution rather than just a problem. To reinforce this behavior, my team set up a norm: No problems on a silver platter. I want them to tell me how they believe they should solve a problem when they find one.

Being solution oriented is a habit. If proposing a solution for every problem is not a habit, refer to the guidance my manager gave me: Propose three solutions for every problem. It will become habitual to identify the solution that makes the most sense and then recommend it with every accompanying problem.

4. Deliver work that is good enough and on time

I got the line “good enough and on time” from my wife. She emphasized this as a key tenet of success in a past role. She was a coder with tight deadlines. She knew it was important to deliver work that the client believed was of good enough quality and met their timing expectations. A pitfall of others she worked with was failure to deliver on-time results, due to incremental changes resulting in delays and diminishing returns. A phrase often used to describe this is, “don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.”

To be good enough and on time, it is important to understand the success parameters. If a project calls for completion by a specific date, prioritize completing work by then. Figure out what is, and is not, possible to complete within the allotted time. Specify assumptions needed to complete work on schedule. Be transparent with management and team members about what the team can and cannot do on time. If it is not possible to hit a specified deadline with the given scope, negotiate due dates or a scope change early in the process. It is a rotten experience for a leader to receive a status of “on track,” then have team members provide an update right before the deadline that they will not complete the project on time.

I use this phrase to remind my team to prioritize on-time completion. I make sure they know to escalate concerns early. When teams abide by the mantra of good enough and on time, the way they talk about priorities changes. They become aware of scope changes that add little value. They de-prioritize these changes to ensure they hit their deadlines.

5. You are continuously defining a brand, even when you do not realize it

Sprout Social defines personal branding as “the process of defining and promoting what you stand for as an individual.” A personal brand is made up of the trivial things you do that people identify with, recognize and remember you by. Just like a company, you bolster your brand each time you reinforce behavior associated with it.

Many people do not realize that they define their brand continuously. For example, many remote or hybrid employees stay off camera and on mute during calls. They give other meeting attendees the impression they are not engaged in the meeting or topic. I have worked with people who only speak in that moment when a meeting organizer says, “Okay, we finished the agenda and can wrap early.” It is wince-worthy when someone asks a question right at that moment, causing the meeting not to end early. These behaviors inadvertently reinforce a negative brand.

Being self-aware is key to reinforcing a positive brand. Focusing on how others perceive your actions helps reinforce behaviors that have a positive impact on brand. For example, in reaching out to a colleague for a “quick chat,” do not take an inordinate amount of time. If most participants are on camera, go on camera and engage in the meeting. Be the person that ends meetings early, not the one that inhibits the meeting from ending on time. These are little actions that contribute to a personal brand over time.

6. Practice public speaking

In an article for Inc., Warren Buffet articulated that improving public speaking can increase career earnings by 50%.

I focused on public speaking after agreeing to serve as president of the Actuaries’ Club of Hartford and Springfield in Connecticut. This required speaking in front of several hundred attendees. I joined Toastmasters. It took me six months to give my first speech. I was nervous, even though I spoke to only eight to 10 attendees. Ten speeches and two years later, my manager asked me to present onstage to 200 colleagues. I was not nervous, because of the safe space practice gained through Toastmasters.

The key to improving public speaking is practice. Presenting at work, at an industry conference or giving a toast at a family gathering are all ways to practice. Practicing in a safe space, like the one Toastmasters affords, helps to quell nerves, increase public speaking skills, and bolster career growth and earnings potential.

7. Build rapport

I worked with someone who occasionally started conversations with the phrase “good news.” I enjoyed that always because there were times when I was not getting a lot of good news. He gave me updates on small and large wins. I enjoyed his calls.

People whom I have known to be effective in a work setting often begin conversations by building rapport. They get to know those they work with and what is important to their coworkers. They are concise in their interactions, listen well, and follow up on their commitments.

A colleague of mine once quipped, “People work with those they like.” I have found this to be true. When someone builds rapport, others work with them more. That can lead to other career opportunities, especially when people seek out those with whom they like working with for future roles.

8. Less is more when it comes to business writing

According to Prosperity Media, the average office worker receives 121 emails a day. If I sum up instant messages, work emails, personal emails, texts and other communications, the daily number for me is higher. It is important to make written communication as clear, concise and meaningful as possible to stand out from the many other communications our colleagues receive daily.

Most writings I’ve come across say it’s best practice to send business communications at an 8^th to 10^th grade equivalent level. While our colleagues can understand complex, written communications, it usually takes time that they do not have.

I have noticed that senior leaders often send written communications with one or two lines of text, making it clear and easy to understand what they are intending to communicate. Although not all communications can be this concise, it is indicative that it is prudent to spend time reducing content. That includes the total word count, number of words per sentence, and number of multisyllabic words. When we do this, it will increase the likelihood of achieving the desired outcome of the communication.

9. Deciding what not to do is as important, if not more so, than deciding what to do

I once worked for a leader who became triggered when his staff talked about lack of capacity or resources. He re-trained his team to talk about prioritization. This helped emphasize that it is important to focus on what matters most.

President Dwight Eisenhower employed a prioritization method that was later named for him. The “Eisenhower Matrix” has two axis, one representing urgency and the other importance. President Eisenhower allegedly acted only on both urgent and important items. He delegated, scheduled or removed the rest. My personal way of prioritizing is to keep a detailed daily to-do list, limited to three intentional tasks per day. More is too many and less is not enough. I stay disciplined on scheduling no more than three daily tasks, to keep up with all others incoming and to avoid scheduling more than I can carry out.

Whatever the method, it is critical not to act on lower priority items. The more senior you are in the organization, the more important this skill is. The earlier one develops this skill, and the more consistently one applies it over time, the more utility it will have over the long run.

10. Take risks and fail fast

For years, I was a pricing actuary. A boss encouraged me to expand my horizons. I received an offer to move to a different function in the company. I remember saying, “I’m taking a big risk.” He responded, “Not really.” He was right. After working for several companies, in many functions, and in another industry altogether, it seems now like a modest risk.

Another example of taking a risk is working on a project that management has not yet sponsored. This manifests for me when I have an idea with uncertain momentum. This can result in working on projects that never take off. This is frustrating.

It is this type of work, however, that led to one of my biggest successes at work. I had an idea and put it on paper. I talked to peers, and it gained momentum. I showed my manager, who was supportive. I presented to management, and they were receptive. The work continued from there. For every situation like that, there are four others that do not take off. The key is to acknowledge when something will not bear fruit and abandon the effort. This saves time, energy and future frustration. This is the fail-fast concept.

Bringing it all together

I’ve heard it said that those who do not study history are bound to repeat it. Taking the time to reflect, after my quarter-century career milestone, will give me an opportunity to act on all that I have learned in the years ahead. What are the top 10 things you would tell yourself, back when you started working? I invite you to share your stories at the email linked in my bio, below.

Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries or the respective authors’ employers.

Copyright © 2025 by the Society of Actuaries, Chicago, Illinois.