NSB Logo Dr. Rumeet Billan Dr. Rumeet Billan

Dr. Rumeet Billan

Speaker Exclusive

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Leadership, Emotional Resilience and Mental Health Expert

Dr. Rumeet Billan helps people to optimize their potential by building resilience and emotional intelligence. She provides strategies on how to manage mental health challenges in the workplace and at home. She’s led 3 major studies on the workplace including the 2022 Workplace Belonging Study,  The Tallest Poppy study on women in the workplace & the Happiness at Work study in partnership with the Mental Health Association. She’s the CEO of Women of Influence, one of North America’s leading organizations offering solutions for workplace gender equality and women’s advancement. Through her interactive, engaging, and informative presentations, Dr. Billan effectively illustrates how companies and organizations can unlock the potential of their teams. The result? Increased productivity and profitability and healthier workplace and organizational cultures. 

Performance & Productivity Business & Workplace Education Youth & Campus Leadership

In the News

Dr. Rumeet Billan in the media January 1, 2022
Best Health Magazine Canada | The Best Ways to Respond to Everyone During the Pandemic April 28, 2020
National Post | Mental health strategies and tools to help cope with the lockdown April 24, 2020

Keynote Speeches

The Science of Belonging-new for 2022

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

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

Redefining Resilience & The Science of Trust

Resilience and trust go hand in hand.  Resilience is a powerful skill that can be developed and trust can be earned.

Trust is in a state of crisis, and earning trust has never been more imperative.

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. As leaders, creating vulnerability loops can aid in earning trust among those we interact with, and those we lead. 

Resilience 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 that trust can be earned.

This session focuses on how we can develop strategies to build our resilience by examining the capabilities of psychological capital, and will examine tools and strategies to manage and lead for trust.

Psychological Capital: Today’s Competitive Advantage

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, and improve the experiences that we have to navigate the change we experience, and reach our full potential.

Emotional Resilience for Professionals

In this presentation, Dr. Billan helps professionals develop their emotional intelligence by examining the 5 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. Billan 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. Billan explains how the syndrome impacts the workplace and explores strategies to prevent it, eliminate distrust and strengthen organizational culture.

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: 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.

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 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

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 raise potential, and transform workplace cultures, by designing experiences that build resilience.

She was recently appointed as CEO of Women of Influence, one of North America’s leading organizations offering solutions for workplace gender equality and women’s advancement.

Dr. Billan also served as the President and CEO 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. In 2022, she led the Workplace Belonging Survey with US working adults. 

She also previously led the groundbreaking national 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.

Dr. Billan’s been named a Top 10 Power Women and has been twice named to Top 100 Most Powerful Women, both in Canada. 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. She recently 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. She also serves on the Board of Directors for G(irls)20, a renowned global non-profit that aims to mobilize girls and young women for economic advancement locally and worldwide, and 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. Since 2004, she has contributed to social impact initiatives that improve access to and the 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 a 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.

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