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Rumeet Billan

Leadership & Emotional Resilience Advisor

Dr. Rumeet Billan is on a mission to increase human achievement by helping people build resilience and emotional intelligence. In her presentations, Rumeet shows how companies and organizations can unlock the potential of their employees, leading to greater productivity and profitability. She holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Toronto and is an award-winning learning architect and humanitarian. Rumeet is the co-author of the study The Tallest Poppy, a survey of 1,500 professionals (primarily women) across Canada, which found that a shocking 87 percent of respondents were cut down by co-workers for their success. In addition, she is the author of Who Do I Want to Become, a guide to prepare students for the workplace of the future by giving them the skills they need to succeed. Rumeet is in high demand as a speaker for educators, corporate leaders and HR professionals.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Presentations

The PsyCap Mindset™ for Resilience
Resilience can be developed, measured and managed. For organizations, investing in the positive psychological capital of employees can lead to higher performance and profitability. Using the PsyCap Mindset,™ participants develop self-trust, objective reasoning, perseverance and possibility thinking. These promote overall well-being and mental health for both the individual and the organization. In this presentation, Dr. Rumeet will share the four components of psychological capital that lead to resilience and explore strategies to enhance it on a personal and professional level in order to create a competitive advantage.

Emotional Resilience for Professionals
In this presentation, Dr. Rumeet helps professionals develop their emotional intelligence by examining the five composite scales and 15 subscales of EI. She explores the three U’s, (understanding self, understanding others and understanding context), and focuses on the impact of our emotions on how we act, react and interact. Dr. Rumeet explains how each competency impacts your role as a professional and shares workplace strategies to improve mental health, foster emotional intelligence and strengthen resiliency.

Future-Ready Skills Development
“What do you want to be when you grow up” is the age-old question posed to children. However, the future is uncertain and the world is ever-changing. As a result, we must start asking: “Who do you want to become?” Dell Technologies recently predicted that 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2030 have not yet been invented. This presentation focuses on how we can prepare students for the future and the skills they will need to succeed. A picture book titled Who Do I Want To Become? is available as supplementary material for this talk.

The Tallest Poppy: Solving the Silent Systemic Syndrome
A 2018 survey 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. In this presentation, Dr. Rumeet explains how the syndrome impacts the workplace and explores strategies to prevent it, eliminate distrust and strengthen organizational culture.

Platform Plus

Workshop | Emotionally Resilient Leadership
Dr. Rumeet 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. Rumeet provides practical strategies that can be implemented in the workplace. This workshop is HRPA approved for CPD hours.
Workshop | Unconscious Bias: Challenging Assumptions to Refine Strategic Decision-Making
For leaders, it is important to be aware of how our experiences, influenced by intersecting factors, can influence the way in which we communicate, how we approach and resolve conflict and ultimately how we lead. Our behaviour towards others is influenced by hidden biases which can impact how we act, react and interact. Left unmanaged, certain employees may be disadvantaged and we may be marginalizing contributions from specific groups. Steps can be taken to minimize the impact of unconscious bias in the workplace. This includes approaching policies in an informed way, specific training and intervention, empathy-driven dialogue and heightened self-awareness. This workshop will present an introduction to unconscious bias and identify ways in which empathy can be used as a tool to better understand and effectively lead others. Strategies that challenge our assumptions, improve our policies and create a workplace that is inclusive will be explored.

Awards

2018
McMaster University | Instructor Award of Excellence

2016
Leaders and Legends Award, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

2015
Arbor Award, University of Toronto

2014
Desmond Parker Outstanding Young Alumni Award, University of Toronto Mississauga

2012
Honouree, Sikh Centennial Foundation

2011
Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award, Women’s Executive Network

2010
Canadian Ambassador, FIFA World Cup

2008
Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award, Women’s Executive Network

Performance & Productivity
Business & Workplace
Education
Leadership
  • 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 of 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

Summary Profile

Rumeet provides a platform that encourages youth, women, communities and organizations to envision what could be possible. As a speaker, Rumeet continues to leave a lasting impression by engaging her audiences and encouraging them to develop their full potential. Her mission is: Reimagining education. Uncovering potential. Making an impact. Expanding perspectives. Enriching lives. Teaching resilience.  

As President and Chief Learning Architect of Viewpoint Leadership, Rumeet focuses her efforts on enabling opportunities in education, learning and development. Rumeet has led a ground-breaking study on the Tall Poppy Syndrome which reveals the impact of this silent systemic syndrome on organizations. Further, her children’s book, Who Do I Want To Become? challenges the relevance of the age-old question, defies gender stereotypes, and promotes a mentally healthy self-awareness.

It’s no secret that Rumeet loves what she does because she knows building resilience, emotional intelligence and psychological capital is critical to success in all aspects of life. She is also committed to promoting human welfare and has contributed to initiatives that improve access to quality education in Africa, North America and South America including the development of a teacher’s college in rural Kenya.

Based on her inspiring work, Rumeet was selected to represent Canada at the 6th Annual UNESCO International Leadership Programme and the European Regional Forum in Italy. She was the Canadian Ambassador for FIFA World Cup and is currently the National Ambassador for Not Myself Today®, an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association that aims to transform workplace cultures. She addressed the graduating class at the University of Toronto with a convocation speech and continues to nurture our next generation of leaders.

Links

Globe & Mail | For Gen Y, being your own boss keeps doors open Huffpost | Social Entrepreneurship Education: Helping Our Students Make a Difference City Life | THE PRIVILEGE OF CHOICE
RT @HumberAlumni: Walking through the @humbercollege Bookstore we came across #WhoDoIWantToBecome authored by #HumberAlumni @RumeetBillan… (2019-07-19 06:01:11)
Session with @JenniferMeka on Productive Failure! Focus on process... #edcog2019 https://t.co/O3pMIEpG0s (2019-07-18 03:15:20)
SO excited... @ProfJoeKim #edcog2019 https://t.co/oxLdeWgtHL (2019-07-18 01:18:21)

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