On
the final stop of a string of flights around the country, the head actuary of a
leading firm in the industry prepares to meet with the last of his clients. It
is the end of the fiscal year and customers are eager to see where their money
is going, and the value that actuarial risk management is bringing to their business.
The actuary has been preparing for this end of year
meeting all year long, each day of the year perfecting his communicatory style.
His style will be important as he sits down and discusses business with his
clients. The reports he has written all year and the work he has done with
other actuaries has helped to prepare him to now orally deliver a confident and
stylistic report. The actuaries’ stylistic goal is to please the client. This
middle type of style – one set at delighting the hearers – is a skill that a
head or lead actuary must have mastered by the time he meets with his clients
at the end of the year.
The first chance the actuary has to attempt to please his
client happens before either of them opens their mouths. How he decides to
dress will put an idea into the clients mind almost immediately on how much
they can trust the work that his actuary is doing. A red tie can resemble
intellect, but also can resemble dominance. Appropriate business dress for a
consulting actuary should give off the message of confidence, but avoid going
too far into the realm of arrogance and god-like prowess. Allowing his
appearance to become too expensive, flashy, or “mighty” will negate much or
what can be achieved through a powerful middle style in pleasing his clients.
Once conversation is flowing and the bulk of the
conversation is in the actuaries court that is the time he has to pounce,
making sure to do all he can to please and retain the business of the customer.
Providing evidence and clarity in his style helps to put the client at ease,
minimizing the amount of questions of doubt that may arise in the clients mind
as the conversation goes on. Tone and delivery must be friendly, timely, and
confident. As the actuary focuses on these aspects of his style he will undoubtedly
leave this last meeting with a firm handshake and an assurance for continued business
with the client through the upcoming year.
It is extremely interesting that actuaries must look, act, and talk as authoritative without being too authoritative. I feel that almost all rhetoric in jobs must walk a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Lots of professionals either lack confidence or are extremely arrogant. The best professionals, and rhetoricians, are confident without being arrogant. Check out my post about how English Teachers also have to walk a fine line between being clear to their students but not condescending!
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to me how it seems like a lot of professionals have to seem like they know what they are doing without coming off as know-it-all's. Like Katie commented above, the same is true of teachers. We want respect, so we have to give enough evidence that we are knowledgeable but we want a relationship of trust and relatability so we can't appear too aloft or people will be disinclined to listen.
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