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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"

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