We Are Actuaries

Hosted by Julia Lessing

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Aug 2026

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EN-AU

About the show

Welcome to the We Are Actuaries Podcast, where you’ll meet leaders who use their actuarial powers to solve a range of problems and make a real difference.

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September 8, 2026Episode 9234 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Michael Lin

Tell us what you thought of this episode! When Michael Lin was promoted from senior pricing manager to the Head of Pricing, his instinct was to stay deeply involved in the work as a Pricing Actuary alongside his new leadership role. Over time, he learned effective leadership is more about creating clarity, empowering others and focusing on strategic impact. In this episode, Michael takes us through the leadership lessons he's picked up over ten years at TAL – not the polished, highlight-reel version, but the ones that came from the gap between what a role needed and where he actually was at the time. We talk about why staying quiet as a senior leader isn't neutral (it reads as agreement), why feedback that ticks every box in the leadership textbook can still land badly, and how a piece of direct feedback from his own team – that he'd become "the messenger, not the strategic leader" – changed how often he talks to his team and how much he chooses to share. What does this mean for anyone stepping into a leadership role for the first time? Michael's stories suggest it's less about mastering new technical skills and more about communication: listening more than you speak, repeating the why long after you think people have got it, and being genuinely comfortable being the bridge between strategy and execution. Key takeaways: · Help your team prioritise activities by focusing on the “big rocks”, · Speak up on strategy even when you think you've only got a 10% chance of shifting the outcome, but then back the final decision 100%, · Hire for capability, not for who's easiest to get along with, · Timely feedback doesn't mean immediate feedback, and remember to ask permission before you give feedback, and · Overcommunicate the why , not just the what , especially when a team is used to setting its own strategy and suddenly needs to execute someone else's. What would change for your team if you overcommunicated the why, just once this week? Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

August 25, 2026Episode 9127 min

The Journey of Becoming with Liting Chen

Tell us what you thought of this episode! What's next? It's a question that can sit quietly in the back of your mind for years. For Liting Chen, it was the question that ended one chapter and started another. After 17 years building a successful actuarial career across AXA, AMP and AIA Australia, Liting walked away, not because anything had gone wrong, but because she couldn't stop asking herself "what's next?" In this episode, she talks candidly about starting a business from scratch, the loneliness of entrepreneurship nobody warns you about, and how training for her first marathon taught her more about limiting beliefs than about running. It's an honest, generous conversation about identity, uncertainty and what Liting calls "Becoming", the idea that while we might be made from the same clay, our shape doesn't have to stay the same. Key takeaways: - Recognise that actuarial skills travel with you. Liting's superpower was more than her technical knowledge, it was the problem-solving, risk-thinking and discipline that transfer to almost any path. - Expect the loss of expertise to sting. Going from answering everyone's questions to needing the answers herself was, in Liting's words, like going from the smartest person in the room to the dumbest. - Be prepared for the loneliness. Entrepreneurship is sold as freedom, but Liting found the everyday human connection of corporate life - the coffees, the gossip - was what she missed most. - Reframe "impossible" as "unfamiliar." Every new running distance felt impossible until Liting did it, and this is a lesson she now applies well beyond the pavement. - Hold onto "different shapes, same clay." However your work roles and identity might change, Liting argues the person underneath stays the same. If you've ever wondered what else might be possible for you, inside your career or well outside it, what shape might you be curious to try on? Liting Chen is an actuary and entrepreneur with 17 years of actuarial experience across life insurance and wealth management. During her actuarial career, Liting held roles across AXA, AMP and AIA Australia, progressing from actuarial analyst to management and leadership roles, with a specialty in pricing life insurance and wealth management products. In 2023, Liting decided to leave her actuarial career and explore a different path. Today, she is the founder of Plenitude Financial, working in mortgage broking with a focus on developing partnerships with organisations and communities that share an aligned value of enhancing wellbeing. Over the three years since leaving her actuarial career, Liting has continued to explore what else might be possible. She began writing and sharing more openly about her experiences, took up running despite never seeing herself as a runner and, within a year of starting, completed her first half marathon and began training for her first marathon. These experiences have shaped an idea she calls “Becoming”, remaining curious about who we are, what we are capable of, and the versions of ourselves we may not have discovered yet. Connect with Liting on LinkedIn. Visit Plenitude Financial . Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

July 21, 2026Episode 9036 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Claire Greenwell

Tell us what you thought of this episode! Imagine finding out you're having twins — no history of them in the family, completely out of the blue — and deciding, right there in the ultrasound room, that your family needs to move states. That's exactly what happened to Claire Greenwell, and it kicked off a stretch of her life that would completely reshape how she leads. In this episode, Claire Greenwell joins me to talk honestly about work/life balance, burnout, and what parenthood has taught her about being a better leader. She shares the story of stepping into an acting branch manager role too soon after returning from parental leave, the burnout that followed, and the boundaries she had to set to come back from it. We also dig into how letting go of perfectionism — with her kids and with her team — made her a more trusting, more effective leader. This is a conversation for anyone who's wondered whether "having it all" is really the right question to be asking. Claire shares how she: - Treats flexibility as essential, not a nice-to-have — remote work and a nine-day fortnight aren't just what makes her job possible; they're what keeps her present as a leader and a parent. - Learned boundaries the hard way — after burning out in an acting role, Claire had to call her manager and ask to step back, and rebuild her confidence from there. - Redefined success around her team, not her own output — shifting the spotlight to her people's growth instead of her own visibility. - Let go of perfectionism with her kids first — and found that trusting her own intuition transferred directly into trusting her judgement as a leader. - Leans on outside perspective for people issues — a partner with an organisational psychology background helps her reframe problems objectively instead of reactively. What would change for you — as a leader, or as a parent — if you let go of needing to have all the answers? Claire Greenwell is a portfolio director at the National Disability Insurance Agency, leading a team of 16 people (including actuaries and non-actuaries) that specialise in providing critical analysis and advice on Scheme sustainability and reform outcomes to senior leadership, Board and government departments. Claire has worked at the NDIA for eight years and previously worked in life insurance pricing for six years. She holds a Master of Public Health specialising in research methods, as well as her actuarial fellowship. Claire is based in Brisbane where she has three young children, working part-time and primarily from home to balance her work and family commitments. Claire’s passion is building relationships and collaborating with cross-functional teams, such as frontline services, policy and other operational areas, to ensure that actuarial insights at the NDIA are meaningful and can be put into action. Connect with Claire on LinkedIn. Connect with Julia on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

July 7, 2026Episode 8931 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Melinda Howes

Tell us what you thought of this episode! What if the most valuable thing you could do for your team today was to stop doing things for them? In this episode, I sit down with Melinda Howes, Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, former CEO of the Actuaries Institute, and current Group Executive, Superannuation & Investments at AMP, to talk about what three decades in the industry has really taught her about leadership. Melinda is someone who has led through some of the most complex environments in Australian financial services, and she's refreshingly honest about what she got wrong along the way, and what finally changed. We cover three leadership lessons that will resonate with any actuary navigating the shift from technical expert to senior leader. Key takeaways: · Step off the dance floor and onto the balcony. Your job as a senior leader is to see the whole picture, not to be the best dancer in the room. · Allocate a third of your time to leading your people. Coaching, developing and clearing the way for your team isn't a nice-to-have, it's the job. · Colour-code your diary. If you're honest about how much time is genuinely dead time, the picture might be sobering. · Invest in external relationships before you need them. Melinda's CEO had to give her a direct goal to get out there, and it changed everything. · Don't wait until you're ready to lead. Nobody has all the boxes ticked before they step up. Go for it anyway. Thirty years in, still being coached, still learning. What would it look like to take your own leadership development as seriously as you once took your actuarial exams? Connect with Melinda on LinkedIn. Connect with Julia on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

June 23, 2026Episode 8823 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Kriti Khullar

Tell us what you thought of this episode! What if the biggest obstacle standing between your team and great work isn't the work itself, it's uncertainty? Kriti Khullar shares this view and more leadership gems in this interview. Kriti is the Risk Intelligence Insights Lead at IAG, a recent graduate of the Guardian Actuarial Senior Leadership Program, and a working mum navigating all the complexity that comes with that. In this episode, we get into what genuinely effective actuarial leadership looks like - not the theoretical kind, but the kind you build through real mistakes and hard-won lessons. We cover trust and delegation, stakeholder management, removing obstacles for your team, and why providing context might be the most underrated leadership skill there is. Kriti is warm, honest, and specific, as she shares moments she's actually lived through. Key takeaways: Reframe delegation. Your team will deliver 80% of what you'd do plus their own X factor, and that combination is often better than what you'd have produced alone. Slow down before sharing work in progress. Be deliberate about who comes along the journey and when, because context sits in your head unless you deliberately share it. Plan more. Build a year-ahead planner to map governance milestones and create buffers, so your team spends less time firefighting and more time doing quality work. Share context. Shift from having the right answer to explaining the "why". Once people understand the broader objective and constraints, they make better decisions independently. Over-communicate. Especially when rebuilding a relationship after a period of change, because alignment gaps are almost always context gaps. Here's the question I'd leave you with: where in your work right now is someone doing a task without really understanding why it matters, and what would change if they did? - Connect with Kriti on LinkedIn. Connect with Julia on LinkedIn. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

June 9, 2026Episode 8731 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Cosimo Maiolo

Tell us what you thought of this episode! What does it take to step into your first leadership role when the safety net disappears almost immediately? In this episode, I'm joined by Cosimo Maiolo, a qualified actuary whose career has taken him from Sydney to London to Dublin, and through just about every leadership challenge you can imagine along the way. Cos was nominated as one of our greatest actuarial leaders of 2026, and it's easy to see why. He's someone who's thought deeply about what it means to lead people well, and he's generous enough to share the moments that tested him most. We cover a lot of ground. Cos shares what it was like to step into his first management role, only to have his own manager leave two weeks later. He talks about what moving overseas taught him about humility and influence, including how building a simple tool for a client in Ireland became the foundation for real credibility. And he opens up about a performance management experience that reshaped the way he gives feedback, including a lesson that many of us in the profession need to hear. Key takeaways: - Say yes, even when you're not ready. Leadership opportunities don't come around often, and feeling uncomfortable is usually a sign you're about to grow. - - Your success as a leader is tied to the success of your team. Getting to know what motivates your people isn't a nice-to-have, it's the job. - Humility is a leadership skill. The willingness to step back, listen, and earn credibility from scratch (especially in unfamiliar territory) can separate good leaders from great ones. - Direct feedback is a kindness. The "compliment sandwich" sounds nice but often means the message gets lost. Clear, unequivocal feedback (delivered with care) is what actually helps people grow. - Unaddressed performance issues affect the whole team, because your other direct reports are watching! Kicking the conversation down the road is rarely the neutral choice it feels like. What's the feedback conversation you've been putting off, and what's it actually costing your team? Cosimo is the Chief Actuary & Product Officer at Teachers Health, an Australian-based not-for-profit private health insurer. His team oversees Actuarial, Pricing, Business Intelligence, Product, and emerging member health initiatives, with a focus on delivering meaningful, sustainable value for Teachers Health members. A Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, Cosimo brings over 15 years of experience across life insurance, superannuation, and health insurance. He has more than a decade of leadership experience, having led diverse teams across Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Connect with Cos on LinkedIn. Connect with Julia on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

May 26, 2026Episode 8629 min

High Performance, Human Leadership with Jessica Lilley

Tell us what you thought of this episode! Experienced actuary and senior leader Jessica Lilley shares her leadership lessons. Jessica Lilley is a Senior Actuary at the National Disability Insurance Agency, where she leads a team of more than 75 actuaries and analysts providing advice to the NDIA Board, senior leaders and government. She has almost 20 years’ experience across general insurance and the disability sector, and has been involved with the National Disability Insurance Scheme since its establishment — first at PwC, and then at the NDIA, where she’s worked since 2014. In her current role, her focus is on understanding how reform is shaping the long‑term sustainability of the Scheme. In this interview, Jessica shares: - Why genuine recognition, modelled by the great leaders she's worked for, became a cornerstone of the culture she's built with her own team, - How an unconventional communication experiment during a period of organisational change became a permanent and central part of how her team connects, and - What it really takes to build a culture where people feel safe to fail, and how she measures whether it's actually working. - Connect with Jess on LinkedIn. - Connect with Julia on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

May 12, 2026Episode 8538 min

Presidential Perspectives with Andrew Gale

Tell us what you thought of this episode! Martin Mulcare asks Andrew Gale to share reflections from his senior leadership experience, including his role as President of the Actuaries Institute in 2005. In this interview, Andrew shares: - Why he gravitated towards the Actuaries Institute and ultimately the Presidency, - How a career defined by stepping outside comfort zones shaped his leadership approach, - What made his Presidential year unexpectedly demanding, - His overriding leadership philosophy, and - His top tip for actuaries aspiring to leadership roles. Andrew Gale BA, FIAA, MBA, FAICD, has over 45 years’ experience in the financial services sector in executive, consulting, and non-executive director (NED) capacities – especially in the wealth management, financial advice, superannuation, insurance, and mortgage broking sectors. Andrew is a Past President of the Actuaries Institute (2005), was a NED and Chairman for the SMSF Association, and was a trustee director (NED) for one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. Andrew has had strong involvement in the NFP sector over the last 25 years, especially through various Global Access Partners (GAP) initiatives. He is Chair of Top Blokes Foundation, a NFP dedicated to the personal development of well-balanced young males, with positive values. Andrew has had extensive involvement in public policy issues in the above capacities. He has authored many papers and articles, especially relating to superannuation and retirement matters, including co-authoring (with Stephen Huppert) the Actuaries Institute’s Dialogue Paper ‘Retirement Matters’ (Dec ‘23) and chaired the Institute’s ‘Help, Guidance and Advice Working Group’, with its final Discussion Paper ‘Financial Advice Reform and Help, Guidance and Advice’ released October 2025. Our guest host, Martin Mulcare, is a qualified actuary, experienced senior leader and a talented facilitator. He enjoys working with different types of people and he loves sharing ideas. Formerly the facilitator of the Professionalism Course, Martin is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Ethics Centre and is the Chairman of the Board of The Growth Project. Connect with Andrew and Martin on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

April 28, 2026Episode 8427 min

Presidential Perspectives with Dr David Knox AM

Tell us what you thought of this episode! This interview is part of the “Presidential Perspectives” mini-series with guest host Martin Mulcare. You can also listen to the interview on the We Are Actuaries podcast episode number 84. Martin Mulcare asks David Knox to share some reflections from his senior leadership experience, including his role as the 2000 President of the Actuaries Institute. In this interview, David shares: - Why he was motivated to serve as President of the Actuaries Institute, - How a career spanning academia, consulting and public policy shaped his approach to leadership, - Why integrity and trust are the foundation of everything, - The importance of the President thinking in decades, not years, and - His top tip for actuaries aspiring to leadership roles. Dr David Knox AM, was a Senior Partner at Mercer and Senior Actuary for Australia until his retirement in 2024. He was the National Leader for Research and Policy and was the lead author of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index for 16 years. Before joining Mercer in 2005, David was at PricewaterhouseCoopers and prior to that was the Foundation Professor of Actuarial Studies at The University of Melbourne. David was an independent Board member of APRA from 1998 to 2003 and President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia in 2000. In 2023 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the finance industry. Our guest host, Martin Mulcare, is a qualified actuary, experienced senior leader and a talented facilitator. He enjoys working with different types of people and he loves sharing ideas. Formerly the facilitator of the Professionalism Course, Martin is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Ethics Centre and is the Chairman of the Board of The Growth Project. Connect with David on LinkedIn. Connect with Martin on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .

April 14, 2026Episode 8334 min

Presidential Perspectives with Bozenna Hinton

Tell us what you thought of this episode! This interview is part of the “Presidential Perspectives” mini-series with guest host Martin Mulcare. Martin Mulcare asks Bozenna Hinton to share some reflections from her senior leadership experience, including her role as the 2010 President of the Actuaries Institute. In this interview, Bozenna shares: - Why she put her hand up to serve as President of the Actuaries Institute, - How a career built on volunteering (rather than a conventional corporate ladder) shaped her path to the Presidency, - What the role of President really requires and why a clear, unifying vision is key, - Her remarkable pathway to leading the International Actuarial Association, and - Her top tip for actuaries aspiring to leadership roles. Bozenna Hinton, FIAA, GAICD is the Immediate Past President of the International Actuarial Association, which represents more than 90,000 actuaries across 115 countries and 74 full member associations. She served as President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia in 2010. Her 30-year career in financial services has included senior executive and consulting roles, with leadership positions as General Manager of Product & Pricing at MLC Life and senior roles at EY and TAL. Her expertise spans product development, pricing, valuation, risk management, and portfolio management across life insurance markets. She has also worked in general insurance, superannuation, reinsurance and non-traditional areas such as energy pricing. Our guest host, Martin Mulcare, is a qualified actuary, experienced senior leader and a talented facilitator. He enjoys working with different types of people and he loves sharing ideas. Formerly the facilitator of the Professionalism Course, Martin is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Ethics Centre and is the Chairman of the Board of The Growth Project. - Connect with Bozenna on LinkedIn. - Connect with Martin on LinkedIn. Click here to learn more about the Guardian Actuarial Leadership Program. Read Julia’s leadership development books written especially for actuaries: For new and aspiring managers: " Aspiring Actuarial Leaders: The Modern Manager’s Toolkit " For new and aspiring senior leaders: "Senior Leadership: An Essential Guide for Actuaries" We are featured in the Top 21 Actuary Podcasts on Feedspot. Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favourite podcasts, blogs, and news in one place. Thank you for listening to the We Are Actuaries podcast. Connect with Julia and Guardian Actuarial on LinkedIn. For more interviews and articles, visit our website .