Dr. Bill Howatt Speaking Topics

• No More Languishing

  Workers’ and leaders’ emotional well-being is determined by the amount of time they spend in pleasant emotions (e.g., flourishing) and unpleasant emotions (e.g., languishing). Languishing is not a mental illness. It is a negative mental state that drains emotional well-being. When stress, uncertainty, or fear occupy the mind, this increases the risk of living in a constant state of languishing (i.e., feeling ‘blah’). An estimated 60% of the workforce is stuck in a chronic state of languishing that negatively impacts their employee experience, productivity, and mental health. The longer a person is stuck in languishing, the greater their risk of sick time, disability, and resignation.

  Mental health (e.g., behavioral health) is not intuitive; it is a trainable skill. The majority of employees have never been trained or supported to mature intrapersonal self-care knowledge and skills required to flourish. Dr. Bill, a leading expert in workplace mental health, provides participants with practical steps to discover and maintain a flourishing mindset. He leverages his clinical, corporate, and personal experiences to offer learners insights into why people languish in the workplace, barriers to moving forward, and how mental fitness can transform how they feel and think. Like with physical health, there are no magic solutions or shortcuts. But with the knowledge and skills, a personalized mental fitness plan, and repetition, new habits can transform how employees think and feel.

• Protecting Mental Health through Coping Skills

  Are we in a mental health or coping crisis? Why are some people happier than others? Life is filled with challenges. How we cope with the stress of those challenges directly and profoundly affects our happiness and mental health, particularly in the workplace. Half a million Canadians miss work daily due to mental health issues. The effects of stress on workers’ and leaders’ mental health can negatively impact their overall quality of life and potential at home and work. Gaining insight into how daily micro-decisions impact resiliency and developing coping skills benefit employees’ and leaders’ experience and organizations’ capacity to achieve their full potential.

Unlocking the Habit of Mental Fitness: How behavioral health shapes emotional well-being

One constant in all workplaces is stress, and there is no chance employers will eliminate all unwanted stress. However, employers can mitigate mental harm and promote mental health. One action is not to assume workers and leaders have the knowledge and skill to regulate their emotional well-being. On any given day, five in five employees have mental health (e.g., emotional regulation) that benefits from intentions like physical health (e.g., diet, exercise). Mental health (i.e., behavioral health) is not intuitive and is a trainable skill. Dr. Bill provides employees clarity on what they can do to positively influence their mental health by unlocking mental fitness habits. Mental fitness determines the percent of time employees feel they are flourishing (e.g., thriving) versus languishing (e.g., feeling “blah”).

Mental fitness assists employees in maturing their resiliency, which provides additional personal psychological protection (PPP) that is the last line of defence for employees from workplace mental harm. Every employee owns their mental health. However, employers must acknowledge that it is important for them to engage in behaviors like creating a psychologically safe workplace that contribute to employees’ mental health.

This short program will provide employees and employers insight into behaviors that promote emotional well-being.

A hack for becoming a psychological safe leader

Since the pandemic, workplace mental health has been top-of-mind for more boards, CEOs, and senior leaders. This is happening because of the growing understanding that workers’ mental (behavioral) health is related to retention, attraction, disability costs, productivity, sustainability, and quality of life.

80% of the employee experience can be directly attributed to the leader-employee relationship. The future of work suggests a critical success factor for employers’ sustainability will be people management. Leaders must discover it is not always WHAT they are doing that matter the most it is HOW they are doing it.

The goal of this talk is to provide leaders with a short cut for HOW to become a psychological safe leader. This presentation will provide leaders with four core competencies must be in place to be successful as a psychological safe leader, and with coaching tool for the kind of key performance behaviours that when mastered will create the habits required to facilitate a psychological safe and inclusive workplace.

Dr. Howatt is a leading international expert in workplace mental health with an extensive background in leadership development and executive and team coaching for leaders to create psychologically safe workplaces.

Becoming a Positive, Psychologically Safe Leader: Maximizing employees’ experience one interaction at a time

Organizational leaders must meet the demands of their employers as they deal with the many challenges and uncertainties in the work world. They must be flexible, ready to pivot and adapt to change, and accountable for their workers’ experience, productivity, and well-being. The future of work requires leaders to be aware of workers’ experience and emotional well-being. Workers who spend more time in positive than negative emotions are more creative, engaged, and productive, have better attendance, and are less likely to leave or experience mental harm or mental illness.

This program focuses on opportunities. Leaders who are aware that every interaction with their workers matter, are more likely to create positive emotions. The by-product is leaders are perceived as approachable, trustworthy, and caring. This only happens when leaders can build TRUST and increase workers’ confidence that their workplace is psychologically safe, free of fear and silence, and where they feel welcomed, valued, and included.

This presentation introduces leaders’ key performance behaviors (KPBs) and habits for becoming trusted and psychologically safe leaders. Dr. Howatt is a leading international expert in workplace mental health with an extensive background in leadership development and executive and team coaching for leaders to create psychologically safe workplaces.

Self-care: The Number One Protective Factor

The most important thing a leader can do for themselves, their organization, and reports is to regulate their emotions and maintain their emotional well-being. Stigma can be a barrier to asking for help. It also can be a barrier to engaging in self-care. Forbes reported that nearly 60% of leaders feel used up at the end of the workday. Eighty-four percent of workers say poorly trained leaders create unnecessary work and stress. Leaders experiencing unpleasant emotions and stress are more prone to be reactive, short, and irritable. Leaders who are stressed and feel overwhelmed often are not in tune with how their emotional wake can impact others. Mental health (i.e., behavioral health) is a pillar of self-care. It is not intuitive; it is a trainable skill. Self-care is leaders’ ability to mitigate their risk of mental harm and promote mental health. The environment can contribute to or take away from a leader’s overall well-being. The last line of defence for a leader is their personal psychological protection (PPP).

Dr. Bill provides leaders with a framework for leadership self-care that includes practical guidance for improving and maintaining their emotional well-being.

Leaders who discover how to flourish are more prepared to cope with constant challenges, stress, and change than leaders who are languishing. Leaders who learn how to self-regulate their emotions and cope with stress by adopting self-care daily practices that promote their mental health are more likely to show up ready to meet the day’s demands.