Senior Leadership - An Essential Guide for Actuaries
1st Edition
Author: Julia Lessing
ISBN: 979-8-89016-530-5
This multi-media professional development book is designed for actuaries who are aspiring to senior leadership roles.
Based on the content from the Guardian Actuarial Senior Leadership Program, you can work through this resource to learn the necessary skills to succeed in senior leadership, including negotiation skills, presentation skills and practical skills to engage more effectively with stakeholders.
On average, Actuaries increased their senior leadership confidence
from 49% to 74%
after working through this content on the GA Senior Leadership Program.
Graduates of the program say:
“This is one of the best investments that would help enhance and future-proof an actuarial career”, Desmond Muzorewa, 2024 Graduate.
“Insights from both Julia and Martin and other members in the group are invaluable and provide a very practical space to test and grow your knowledge”, Shivani Juneja, 2024 Graduate.
“I feel more self-aware, more confident and genuinely better equipped as a senior leader”, Kriti Khullar, 2025 Graduate.
“The structure it creates and the content sorted into the various sections. I will be keeping the material to go back to as I implement everything I've learned”, Adam Lowe, 2025 Graduate.
About the Author
Julia Lessing is a qualified actuary (FIAA) and Associate Certified Coach (ACC) based in Australia. After 20+ years as an actuarial consultant and leader, Julia now helps actuaries and technical professionals develop communication and leadership skills to accelerate their careers. She enjoys creating safe, engaging adult learning environments through her 1:1 coaching, corporate training, cross-company leadership development, and university programs.
Julia is the author of Aspiring Actuarial Leaders, which is the textbook for the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program.
Julia wrote Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries as the textbook for the Guardian Actuarial Senior Leadership Program, which she developed with Martin Mulcare.
“In Senior Leadership - An Essential Guide for Actuaries, author Julia Lessing takes leadership training to the next level. While her first book, Aspiring Actuarial Leaders, takes readers from individual contributor to manager, Senior Leadership prepares the reader for senior management roles.
Julia covers ten essential facets for senior leaders, from strong self to negotiation and people and risk management. She makes each skill reachable for the typical analytical, perhaps introverted actuary, using explanations, quotes, and examples from other actuaries.
This book has the power to lift interested actuaries to senior leadership.”
Linley Baker
FSA, MAAA, FLMI, Experienced Actuary, International Award-Winning Author
Is this book for you?
This book is designed for high-performing actuaries who are aspiring to, or currently working in, senior leadership roles. The term “senior leader" may be defined in several ways. In this book, we have assumed that senior leaders are actuaries who have management experience and are contributing to their organizations at a senior level.
You may be an actuary serving as a Chief Actuary, in a C-Suite roles, or in other senior roles in your organisation. You may be an actuary working in a senior roles such as Director or Partner in a consulting firm, or a senior executive in another organization. As a senior leader, you may have direct reports, possibly even managing managers, or you may have few (or even no) direct reports.
You don't need to have read Aspiring Actuarial Leaders to gain value from this book. However, we have assumed that you have already mastered the key skills covered in that book, including time management, delegation, project management and the basics of managing people and teams. You'll find references throughout this book to chapters from Aspiring Actuarial Leaders if you want to revisit these concepts.
Meet Anne and Mark
In Aspiring Actuarial Leaders, you met Anne Actuary and Mark Manager, who were both recently promoted actuaries working in their first management roles.
In this Senior Leadership, you will follow Anne and Mark as they progress through their careers into senior leadership roles.
Anne is thrilled to have reached a career goal she has been working towards, having now been promoted as the Chief Actuary at Amazing Insurance Co.
When she became a manager, Anne built on her reputation for having strong technical actuarial ability and developed her delegation and project management skills, while strengthening her personal well-being. Her new skill set gave her more time to focus on raising her profile to be considered for the Chief Actuary role when it became available.
Mark has bought himself a new watch to celebrate his recent promotion to Director at the Fabulous Consulting Co.
When he became a manager, Mark worked hard to complement his strong coding ability by building new skills to better manage his time and develop his team. His stronger organisational and management skills positioned him well for this promotion.
“The book I wish I’d had when I first stepped into leadership. It’s packed with practical skills you can start using straight away, plus a huge amount of digital content that brings every lesson to life.
This isn’t a book you read, it’s a book you work through. The exercises, the approaches, the reflections… they’re all designed to genuinely grow you into the senior leader people look to, trust, and want to follow.
Whether you’re stepping into a senior role for the first time or you’ve been carrying that responsibility for years, I’m certain this will help you reach your potential and become the leader your team will be proud to follow.”
Jeremy Keating
FIA, Founder of Price Writers, Multi-Award Winning Author of Price Writer
Senior Leadership - An Essential Guide for Actuaries
This book is designed for actuaries who are aspiring to senior leadership roles.
Based on the content from the Guardian Actuarial Senior Leadership Program, you can work through this resource to learn the necessary skills to succeed in senior leadership, including negotiation skills, presentation skills and practical skills to engage more effectively with stakeholders.
Grab your copy today!
Praise for Aspiring Actuarial Leaders
“Julia’s leadership programs have helped to fill a large gap in the actuarial training program, with a focus on management and leadership skills that are not taught through the traditional actuarial exams. These skills are so vital for actuaries or any other professional to succeed in the workplace and progress their career.
My organisation has sent a number of qualified actuaries on the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program, and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in communication skills, as well as project, stakeholder and people management skills from those who have attended this course. The program is very practical and is structured in a way that enables students to immediately apply what they are learning in their jobs, benefiting both themselves and the organisation.”
Mike Williamson
VP, Finance, Corporate Actuarial & Appointed Actuary, Australia, Pacific Life Re
“If you’re aspiring to journey from technical actuary to leader, Julia’s book is essential in your toolkit to enhance your skills to manage yourself, your team and strategic projects. It captures valuable insights from experienced actuaries and provides practical tips to implement in your current role to boost your career to the next level.”
Kim Clough
Insurance leader and Actuary
“Julia’s thoughtful, diligent and empathetic approach to learning and development combined with her wide experience as an actuary, manager and educator make her an ideal person to author this book for actuaries who are seeking to move from technical to broader management roles. Her book combines practical examples, insights from the experience of others and plenty of opportunities to reflect on what might work for you in different situations.”
Jenny Lyon
Actuary and Non-Executive Director
"Where was this book when I was a newly qualified manager? To learn these management skills I needed to rely on the (hopefully good) example of those that managed me in the past. Julia takes a systematic, holistic and thoughtful approach to developing the necessary skills for successful actuarial management and leadership. A valuable resource for all actuaries."
Simon Guthrie
Senior Lecturer, Nominated Accreditation Actuary, Macquarie Business School