“My self-image had to change to realize I had something to offer.” Last time, I wrote about my friend Dave Miller and his journey from actuary, to successful business coach, back to actuary. This time I’m going to talk about Alan Seiden, who turned a little bit of moonlighting into a consulting practice where […]
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“I imagined myself… 80 years old… and I felt this deep sense of regret if I don’t try this.” Lord of The Rings fans may recall that the full title of The Hobbit was The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. Many will say “you can’t go back again”, particularly to an earlier stage
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So I left the story yesterday with the company merger, where I knew a year ahead there would no longer be a spot for a Chief Actuary at my company. I first hired a friend who was a coach to help me figure out what would be the next chapter. Then the company offered
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Temple of Poseidon in Greece People are often curious about how an actuary (simplest definition – insurance mathematician) morphed into a career coach who focuses on job search strategy, particularly how to market oneself. Part of the curiosity comes from the magnitude of the shift, and part from the fact that actuaries are
“These opportunities came about like a stepping stone.” That’s a quote from Melanie Davis, from the very first Career Journeys interview I did way back in 2020. (At the time, I called them The Path To Career Reinvention.) We had a great conversation about Melanie’s journey from reporter, to her own successful marketing and
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“Most people would rather have a lousy job working for a great person than a great job working for a bad manager.” I read an interview with Aron Ain, then the CEO of Kronos, a workforce management systems company. He had a lot of interesting things to say about your impact as a
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“Don’t assume everything will go right. Assume something won’t—and you’ll stay centered.” What can you learn from a tennis champion’s meltdown in the middle of a critical match? If you’ve ever had a presentation go sideways (or a team project implode without warning), you’ll appreciate these simple strategies that keep your leadership steady
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“The highest-value roles require skills that don’t tend to ride together in nature.” Ever wonder what actually gets someone into the C-Suite? LinkedIn studied 450,000 leaders — and the results upend a lot of popular assumptions. In this short video, Dave and I break down: Why switching industries may hurt your
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“The more I direct my people, the less they can perform without me.” In this episode of Influential Leadership, we share some powerful leadership principles from an interview with Ben Chestnut, the CEO of MailChimp, a successful internet startup. Watch this 6 minute video now to discover Ben Chestnut’s leadership principles. Transcript For
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“The best way to get into a leadership role is to demonstrate that you already have the attributes of a leader.” In this episode of Influential Leadership, we reveal how the most effective professionals lead from below — by reducing uncertainty, showing initiative, and demonstrating leadership long before it’s officially recognized. You’ll learn how small
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