MEET DEBORAH

Deborah speaks internationally in the workplace and at conferences, both in-person and online. She is a captivating speaker, storyteller and workplace coach. From starting Canada’s first annual conference (The Better Workplace Conference) to authoring “A Better Place To Work: Daily Practices That Transform Culture”, she has distilled the knowledge of hundreds of thought-leaders, combining it with her own leadership experience to provide practical advice on organizational and team practices to create environments that allow for more creativity, innovation, engagement and fun. Deborah teaches leaders to radically shift workplace culture so that people can flourish.

Keynote Sessions

Below are a number of her Keynote Sessions, but Deborah can work with you to tailor a topic to fit your specific request.

Deb speaking on Positive Deviance at Work at the DisruptHR 2018 Conference in Victoria, BC.

Be Positively Deviant!
Daily Practices to Transform Culture

Do people flourish in your workplace? Is your culture one that supports them to be creative, innovative, engaged, and to contribute all they have to offer? What if you could apply some simple daily practices to build this type of culture at work?

Positive deviance is necessary to be a transformational leader. This keynote will inspire you to develop leadership and team practices that create a culture of possibility where people thrive!

Through this keynote you will:

  • Understand positive deviance and learn how to deviate daily from the norm to create a culture where people can flourish.
  • Learn how increasing positive emotion and positive interactions at work can increase engagement and resilience.
  • Experience personal practices that can shift positivity and resilience, such as gratitude.
  • Learn how to have more constructive conversations at work, through simple practices such as the use of generative questions.
  • Find out how to create upward spirals in your own life and within your teams.
  • Discover how to lead an effective team debrief to improve team effectiveness.
  • Learn about the most highly recommended tools and advice from leading organizational health experts.

Learn More: Be Positively Deviant! Daily Practices To Transform Culture

Transforming Your Workplace Through One Simple Question

 

This keynote is ideal for a conference opening or closing speech.  As an opener, it will prime your audience to find the transformational question that will help them get the most out of your conference.  As a closing keynote, it will send them away with the knowledge of how to use transformational questions to tackle huge challenges or engage people in a vision.

 

Learn More: Transforming Your Workplace Through One Simple Question

Workshops

Create Your Best Year: A Visioning Workshop for 2026

$49

What tools are you using to navigate 2026? How do you see this year unfolding, and what possibilities are calling to you? In this inspiring, research-backed workshop, we’ll explore the powerful role of visualization and intention setting in shaping a meaningful year. High performance athletes visualize. It’s used effectively in healing too. And you can use it as well!

We’ll spend a bit of time on the research behind it, but most of our time will be spent hands-on, sleeves rolled up, creating our own vision boards for the year.

If you have a team of three people who want to sign up together, we have a 3-for-2 offer, that brings your price per person down for $33/each. We often develop organizational vision, and even team vision, but don’t always bring our personal vision into our team planning. Bring your team to this workshop to do just that!

Join me online on January 8th 1-3 p.m Pacific time for this 2 hour workshop. See full workshop description here.

Register Here

Shift Yourself First

We live in a culture where being overextended and exhausted has become the norm, but if I buy into this as a leader, whom am I serving? Being in this cycle on a consistent basis can lead to burnout.

In this workshop,

  • We engage in evidence-based practices that help us to maintain the energy, balance, wellness and resilience needed to deal with day-to-day and long-term challenges so we can succeed as leaders.
  • We’ll discuss the latest research on how to use breaks to maintain energy, what it means to be email intelligent and how to move from vicious cycles to resilient ones.
  • Stack the deck in our favour and manage your own well-being, balance, resilience and positivity as a leader, and then learn how to translate this to your team.

Where do you want to be a year from now? Learn how to build the practices you need to get there.

See Workshop Descriptions

Email us now about booking an online workshop for your team.

THE 4 R’s FOR TODAY’S WORKPLACE: REINTEGRATION, REINVENTION, REFLEXIVITY & RESILIENCE

The workplace has changed dramatically in recent years. Many organizations now operate in fully remote environments, others are returning to shared physical spaces, and many are experimenting with hybrid or flexible models. Teams are navigating new expectations, new rhythms, and new ways of connecting and collaborating.

In the midst of this ongoing evolution, leaders are asking:

  • How do we support our teams through continual transition?
  • How do we create clarity, direction, and a positive culture when the terrain keeps shifting?

This half-day workshop provides evidence-based practices and practical tools to help you lead and work more effectively in this era of change. Built around Deborah’s 4-R Framework—Reintegration, Reinvention, Reflexivity, and Resilience—the session explores how teams and leaders can adapt skillfully while staying grounded in wellbeing and connection.

Deborah will guide you through strategies to:

  • Reintegration: support smooth transitions between work environments, roles, and team dynamics
  • Reinvention: re-imagine processes, structures, and ways of working that align with today’s realities
  • Reflexivity: use self-awareness and reflective practice to navigate complexity with intention
  • Resilience: strengthen the individual and collective capacity to flourish through uncertainty

This interactive workshop will help you cultivate a workplace where people can thrive—no matter how the landscape continues to evolve.

See Workshop Descriptions

Email us now about booking an online workshop for your team.

POSITIVE DEVIANCE: CREATING YOUR BETTER NORMAL

Two-day Strategic Framework

Your team or organization has most likely reinvented how you do your work since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Have you also reinvented how you work together? As we move forward with new models of work, it is important to reinvest in our workplace culture.

In this two-day experience, we will regroup, explore ways of supporting each other for success, and develop positive practices to create a “better” normal, not just a new one.

This hands-on, interactive two day event will include a full day employee retreat called “Stepping Into A Better Normal,” followed by a full day leadership planning day called “Lead Your Way to A Better Normal.”

Prepare to be inspired to rethink the future of your teams and work toward a culture where everyone can flourish. You will be invited to S.O.A.R. (assess your Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and the Results you want to see!)

SOME OF THE PLACES DEBORAH HAS SPOKEN

The City of Grande Prairie * The University of Toronto * Great-West Life * Ignite Leadership Summits * SASWH * CSSEA * University of British Columbia * PRIME * The Conference Board of Canada * Vancouver Island University * Morneau Shepell * Health Canada * The Heart & Stroke Foundation * Dietitians of Canada * Ivanhoe Cambridge * Public Services Health & Safety Association * Island Optimal Health & Performance * DisruptHR Victoria * North Island College * Worksafe BC * CETABC * Campbell River School District * Cowichan Valley School District * CASS * Canada Post * Jasper Employment Centre * City of Parksville * Langley School District * Burnaby Teachers * Ontario Government * Crisis Centre of Northern BC * Deep Bay Marine Field Station * Vancouver Island Crisis Society * Wellness Works Canada * Burman University * McMan Central

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