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What Essentials Skills Do You Need to Build?
I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to groups of actuaries over the years. Yes, I’m using the terms actuaries and pleasure in the same breath. Hey, I love working with super-smart people.
If we had to assign a pecking order among stereotypes of nerdiness, introverts would be up there and actuaries would be somewhere near the tippy top. But in reality, since introverts are half the population—the half that prefers solo time to social time to recharge its energy—isn’t it time to rethink those stereotypes?
In fact, members of the actuarial profession, which many believe is a magnet for introverts, are demonstrating quite a bit of self-reflection by recognizing the need to build some essential skills to thrive in today’s business environment. “Our greatest gaps…are often referred to as ‘soft business skills,’” says Cecil Bykerk, FSA, MAAA, FCA, Hon FIA, past president of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) in a letter he wrote to the society’s membership.
“I would like to see us, as a profession, replace the word soft with essential,” adds Bykerk. “In my opinion, it would certainly be difficult to grow as a professional in a profession,” he continues, “without mastering the essential business skills of communication, leadership and interpersonal collaboration.”
What skills are essential for you to reach your career goal?
In a recent review of my book, Self-Promotion for Introverts®, for the Independent Consultant, an SOA newsletter, Ruth Ann Woodley, FSA, MAAA, a consulting actuary and vice president of Ruark Consulting, LLC, shares what she learned: “I had just landed a significant assignment with a new client.” She adds, “Instead of being excited, I scared myself to death with thoughts of everything that could go wrong. Lucky for me, Chapter 1 is titled, ‘Your Negative Self-Talk,’ and I found myself quickly and actively engaged in the exercises included.” Woodley tells how she did an about-face in her attitude and tackled the new assignment excitedly.
She continues, “Some of the points are quite basic, such as e-mail etiquette, or learning as much as possible in advance about your audience for a presentation or people you want to meet. And yet,” she adds, “there wasn’t one of these tips that I haven’t needed at some point, or seen others (often senior executives who should know better!) need too. I loved the examples of networking e-mails and conversation starters; these will be great to use so that I don’t have to start with a blank page.”
While Woodley comments on other aspects of my book, she says that the last chapter, which is titled “The World According to Jo(e) Extrovert,” is “full of entertaining stories of Nancy ginning up her courage to get advice from famous chatterboxes.” She adds, “And it features some ‘us’ and ‘them’ comparisons that made me laugh out loud with recognition, but also gave me better insight into some of those extroverts with whom I sometimes struggle to connect.”
Click here to read the entire book review.
