Episode 10: Leadership Reflections with Jennifer Lang
“I think it comes back to curiosity for me, just be really interested and curious about where you are, the difference that you make and the environment that you're in. So learn as much as you can from what you're doing. So to me, it's all about curiosity.”
Jennifer Lang,
Actuarial Leader
Jennifer Lang is an independent director and actuary, and is currently on the Boards of Pacific Life Re, Propel Funeral Partners, Medical Insurance Australia, Auto & General Insurance and Bicycle Network. Earlier in her career she was the CFO and Chief Actuary of CommInsure, and a Partner of Deloitte and KPMG. Jennifer was the Actuary of the Year in 2020, is a regular presenter at conferences on leadership, insurance and risk management, and is often requested to commentate on all things actuarial.
She holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University, is a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute of Australia and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
In her spare time, she writes a blog, Actuarialeye, where she casts her eye over the world from an actuarial perspective, which for the last three years has been overwhelmingly about Covid-19 from a variety of angles. She also loves to travel, having taken a year out of the workforce in 2011 to travel the world with her family.
In this interview I asked Jennifer about:
What it was like transitioning from executive roles to board positions,
Her reflections as a leader, including articulating your team's purpose, understanding the strengths of your team members, why 1:1 catchups are a good investment of time and how she manages her time,
Some of her key lessons as an actuarial commentator, and
Her top tips for actuaries stepping into their first management roles.
Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn.
Read her ActuarialEye blog.
