PROCEEDINGS May 15, 16, 17, 18, 2005 - Casualty Actuarial Society

ADDRESS TO NEW MEMBERS 151ateship and Fellowship graduations, which go back to the early1970s.Still, that search highlights the fact that there is a high thresholdif I expect either you or me to remember this speech. Foryou, this is a unique day, so you’ll remember the day if not thespeech. For me, I choose to talk about something familiar so Ican remember what I said, if not when I said it.My career has been about training actuaries–from student toAssociate and Fellow and beyond. I’ll use this time to share withyou ten rules that help me and which I have used to advise myyounger colleagues. You’ll need to decide if they apply to you.Rule #1:80 Percent of Life is Showing UpSomething close to this is attributed to Woody Allen. The keypoint is deciding to show up. I’m an introvert, and I feel muchmore comfortable thinking about it than doing it. I draw comfortfrom this rule. If I agree to show up, and I’m sure I can, thatgives me eighty points. So “let’s do it,” I say to myself.Having decided to show up, I inevitably prepare so that I canscore additional points. I have discovered that others do the same.A corollary to this is that “If a project is stalled, call a meeting.”Usually, if forced to “show up,” everyone will prepare.Other corollaries are:² No one has ever passed an exam without showing up. (NewAssociates take note.)² In the consulting world I live in, getting out to see your clientsis central. You communicate just by taking the effort to showup.² For the highly analytical among you, make sure that you “showup” and talk to the rest of the world, even if you think theanalysis was not yet done.