NSB Logo Dr. Rumeet Billan Dr. Rumeet Billan

Dr. Rumeet Billan

Speaker Exclusive

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Leadership, Emotional Resilience, and Mental Health Expert

Leadership Performance & Productivity Education Business & Workplace

In the News

Dr. Rumeet Billan in the media January 1, 2023

Keynote Speeches

The Science of Belonging

Research has consistently shown that when employees feel that they belong, they will perform better and experience higher levels of commitment, engagement, and well-being.

An absence of belonging increases risk of isolation, underperformance, and burnout.

This session will examine what it means to belong at work, the harmful effects of exclusion, and the challenges that leaders face in creating a sense of belonging.

Practical and evidence-based tools and strategies that support building, fostering, and nurturing a culture of belonging will be presented.

Redefining Resilience

Resilience is a powerful skill that can be developed.

It is the ability to bounce back from obstacles and setbacks to achieve higher levels of performance. It requires developing positive adaptation processes to help overcome the challenges that we face, and the use of positive experiences to build confidence in our strengths and abilities. It also involves interventions that support and develop self-trust, objective reasoning, perseverance, and possibility thinking. 

Research shows that these capabilities can be learned, and this session focuses on how we can develop strategies to build our resilience by examining the capabilities of psychological capital, improve the experiences that we have to navigate the change we experience, and reach our full potential. 

The Science of Trust

Trust is in a state of crisis, and earning trust has never been more imperative for leaders than it is today. Trust helps to solve problems of risk, and is needed for collaboration and innovation. Embracing risk during this time can be challenging, especially when there is greater exposure to uncertainty with potential loss that truly matters. This session will examine the neuroscience of trust, misperceptions, and navigating distrust. The connections between transparency, vulnerability, and trust will be explored. Tools and strategies to lead and manage for trust will be presented.

Optional Add-On: Simulation – Creating a Culture of Trust

 

Tall Poppy Syndrome

A recent survey, led by Dr. Rumeet Billan, in partnership with Thomson Reuters and Women of Influence, found an overwhelming number of women in Canada have experienced Tall Poppy Syndrome in the workplace.

A term popularized in Australia, Tall Poppy Syndrome occurs when people are attacked, resented, disliked, criticized or cut down because of their achievements or success. This has a direct impact on everything from engagement to productivity to retention. It also has a direct impact on the emotional and psychological well-being of women. An immediate change is needed to support women in the workplace, to encourage their accomplishments and shift the culture of toxic workplaces.

This session will examine the results of The Tallest Poppy, and discuss how psychological health and workplace performance has been affected by this silent systemic syndrome.

Psychological Health and Safety

Psychological safety is the belief that one can speak up and share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings without risk of negative consequences. High performing teams require psychological safety for optimal creativity, risk-taking, vulnerability, and collaboration. As the boundaries between work and life continue to blur due to the ongoing pandemic, new forms of work are affecting the psychological safety that employees experience, making it both fragile and essential.

This session will examine the 13 factors of psychological health and safety and explore its misconceptions, including unearned autonomy and a shield from accountability.

Strategies and steps for leaders to create, boost, and nurture psychological safety among those that they lead will be presented.

Gender-Based Analysis Plus Training

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) can be used in any sector to guide the systematic consideration of gender and other identity factors throughout the development initiatives, policies and programs. There are differences in how people experience aspects of life from education to employment. GBA+ encourages us to examine how a situation can be experienced differently and is affected by identity factors. One of the key competencies developed in GBA+ training is the capacity to challenge the assumptions we make as individuals, while considering how they may unintentionally create unequal outcomes for others. Incorrect assumptions can lead to unexpected or unintended consequences for a particular group. This session aims to recognize and move beyond our assumptions and find ways to address needs using the analytical process.

Virtual Keynotes & Webinars | Trust

Examples of virtual sessions include:

Redefining Resilience with Rumeet Billan & Astronaut Dave Williams

Earning Trust Webinar

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop | Emotionally Resilient Leadership
Dr. Billan has helped thousands of people develop their emotional intelligence through this interactive and engaging workshop. This workshop focuses on understanding and developing the competencies of emotional intelligence from the perspective of a leader. How leaders process emotions impact self-perception and how they express themselves to others. It also impacts relationships, decision-making, and stress management. Being emotionally intelligent is about using emotions in the most effective way in day-to-day interactions. Dr. Billan provides practical strategies that can be implemented in the workplace. This workshop is HRPA approved for CPD hours.
Workshop | Bias Awareness & Anti-Racism
Our behaviour is impacted by the assumptions, biases, and stereotypes (positive and negative) that exist in our subconscious. We tend to believe that we are seeing everything in its complete form, however, it’s not possible for each of us to see the world as it is. Instead, we see the world through the lens of our experiences, biases, and various identity factors. As a result, the assumptions we hold shape the decisions that we make, but these decisions may be creating unequal outcomes for our employees. Steps can be taken to minimize the impact of bias in the workplace. This includes approaching our work in an informed way, specific training and interventions, empathy-driven dialogue and heightened self-awareness. This session will present an introduction to bias and strategies that challenge our assumptions and create a workplace that is inclusive will be explored.

Audience reviews:

  • I decided to have Ms. Billan moderate a distinguished panel of some of Canada’s top female executives at our Top 100 Awards celebration, prior to a keynote by Margaret Atwood. A few in my organization were somewhat skeptical at having someone so young moderate a discussion with a group of industry titans. However, Rumeet led the conversation seamlessly, showing confidence and knowledge throughout. Clearly she was prepared for the event and added her own research and insights to the conversation. Her performance was so engaging and eloquent in fact, that our Vice President remarked that, with no disrespect meant to the panel, “Rumeet was the standout speaker at the discussion.” We are all proud of Rumeet and as a two-time Top 100 Award Winner, she continuously surpasses the high bar set by our remarkable community of outstanding achievers.

    - Speaker Relations Advisor, The Women’s Executive Network
  • Rumeet exceeded our lofty expectations by delivering a top quality presentation that could benefit each audience member. We share common challenges and through her talk, we have a better understanding of how to form resiliency and flexibility. We highly recommend Dr. Billan!
    - Board Chair, PSEWEB (Canada's Post-Secondary Education Web Conference)
  • We have been fortunate to have Rumeet as a facilitator for our UNESCO Chair European Regional Forum which aims to empower young leaders to be agents of positive change. Rumeet was chosen for her commitment to education and her leadership style which provides a platform that encourages youth, women, and communities to envision what could be possible. Her ability to connect with young global leaders and make a lasting impression across cultures, communities, and countries is unique. Rumeet’s influence, impact, and presence is felt by those around her and we continue to be amazed at her ongoing initiatives and dedication to social action and the education sector.

    - UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights
  • What I liked most about her was this powerful drive she possessed, wrapped up within a kind and thoughtful humility that welcomes you into her messages, gently encouraging you to challenge yourself to do better. Because you can, you know, because you want to, now that she’s helped you see. She at once conveys both urgency and calmness, as she introduces the idea of Psychological Capital. When she shares how we can be more resilient to be able to bounce back from the challenges life throws us, you want to nod your head and shout, yes I can!
    - Attendee, OAAP Conference
  • Rumeet was absolutely stellar. As a person and a speaker she is smart, professional, friendly and engaging. She was also accessible and accommodating, making time to speak with myself as well as our city manager to ensure she understood our needs. Her keynote was the PERFECT fit for our event and she was even willing to make any adjustments after we heard her first address.

    - Stakeholder and Community Engagement Co-ordinator, City of Vaughan

Speaker Books

Who Do I Want To Become?

Speaker Biography

Dr. Rumeet Billan is an award-winning, internationally recognized entrepreneur, learning architect, speaker, author and humanitarian. Her mission is to transform workplace cultures through research, training, and experiences that foster trust, belonging, and resilience.

She is the CEO of Women of Influence+, a leading organization offering solutions for workplace gender equality and women’s advancement.

Dr. Billan also served as the CEO and Founder of Viewpoint Leadership and an expert on Psychological Capital. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and has designed and facilitated programs, courses, and training sessions across industries and sectors. 

She has twice led the groundbreaking research study on Tall Poppy Syndrome which reveals the impact of the silent systemic syndrome on women in the workplace. The survey of 1,500 professionals across Canada found that a shocking 87 per cent of respondents were cut down, attacked, and/or resented by co-workers for their success.

In 2020, she co-led the Canadian Happiness at Work study, in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association, and was the inaugural National Ambassador for the Not Myself Today® campaign with CMHA. In 2022, she sold her first company, Jobs in Education, and it was successfully acquired on June 1, 2022.

Dr. Billan has been named among Canada’s Top 10 Power Women and has been twice named to Top 100 Most Powerful Women. She has been featured in Forbes, The Globe and Mail, Breakfast Television, and CTV Morning Live. Her talk on The Future of Education at TEDx was highly lauded and later adapted into a workshop for students across Canada. In 2018, she authored her first award-winning and bestselling book, Who Do I Want To Become?, designed for anyone, of any age, who has been stumped by the question of what they’re going to be when they grow up. Dr. Billan currently sits on the Board of Directors for First Book Canada, is the former Chair of the Board for Fora: Network for Change, and served her term on the Board of Directors for CODE, Canada’s leading international development agency uniquely focused on advancing literacy and education. 

Through her work, Dr. Billan provides a platform that encourages youth, women, communities and organizations to envision what could be possible. She recognizes the value of giving back – she has contributed to social impact initiatives that improve the access and quality of education in North America, South America, and Africa. In Addition to building schools, supporting scholarships, breakfast programs, and soccer tournaments, her vision led to the creation and development of a teacher’s college in rural Kenya. In 2019, Dr. Billan made a donation of over 280,000 brand-new books from various publishers and authors to be distributed to children and youth in need across the Niagara region in Ontario, Canada. She continues to support causes and lead initiatives that promote human welfare.

Dr. Billan continues to receive national and international coverage for the work that she is engaged in related to leadership, psychological capital, mental health, workplace culture, and emotional resilience.

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