Speaking Engagements

Dr. Birch delivers compelling keynotes that challenge outdated leadership models and introduce a fresh, empathetic approach to leadership. Her dynamic, research-backed presentations inspire audiences to rethink leadership and embrace connection as a core competency.

Popular Keynotes

Compassionate Leadership: The Secret to Creating Competitive Advantage

Master the 7 Practices of Relational Leadership to gain not just a compassionate but a competitive advantage. This new system of leading fuses purpose with performance by helping leaders learn how to develop greater self-awareness and channel the compassion of others. Jill will share stories that make the case for this new way to lead. She’ll walk you through cases that show you how it’s done. You’ll develop new leadership muscles to see through the eyes of others, empower innovation and nurture a more trusting culture. You’ll also learn how to recognize the seven deadly derailers that negatively impact even the best performers. By harnessing compassion, you’ll quickly learn how to make a signature contribution that not only helps you grow as a leader, but helps your organization become more agile and resilient.

Walk away with:

  • 7 relational practices that turbo-charge leadership performance
  • Greater self-awareness in how you lead that unlocks new behaviour
  • A sense of higher purpose leadership that ignites commitment, trust and accountability
Leading Change to Nurture a Culture of Trust

Culture is an organization’s single most powerful competitive advantage. While most leaders say they could improve their culture, fewer than 20% actually do it. Teams are demanding not only a trusting culture; they need to see themselves directly shaping and contributing to it. Leaders are demanding agility and greater problem solving. In this keynote, you’ll see how both sides come together to nurture a healthier culture. You’ll learn how to instill team confidence and help the team become more innovative, strategic and curious. And by fostering a sense of belonging you’ll support your team to capitalize on the very problems that may be pulling them apart.

Walk away with:

  • Leadership practices that will help you create psychological safety and smash siloes
  • Inspiration to increase agility as you foster a greater sense of belonging
  • Develop your storytelling skills to strengthen your team and nurture a healthy culture
The Power of Compassionate Leadership: Driving Innovation and Growth

Leaders have an unprecedented opportunity today to harness the potential of innovation in a landscape of changing workplace dynamics. But there’s a problem here: few leaders actually have an innovation process that accelerates performance and productivity. This keynote will provide you with the tools to foster innovation, strengthen business models and improve work practices. It will help leaders become more adept by focusing on the five core areas that drive innovation: strategic foresighting, navigating complexity, decision-making, problem solving and visual thinking.

Walk away with:

  • Key insights from big idea stories ripped from the headlines
  • Scanning skills to see the world differently and apply these to on-going strategy development
  • An innovation process to support greater team innovation and creativity
Leading in the Age of AI: Human Touch in a Digital World
The pressure is on. Leaders are split down the middle on how to unlock human potential by integrating AI into the workday. As quickly as AI is driving efficiency in organizations, it’s demanding a re-think of the kind of leadership needed to nurture a culture that is as productive as it is compassionate. This keynote will outline AI’s transformative effects in organizations around the world. It will push and pull on the new balancing act required of leaders as they harness operational efficiency while driving more sophisticated decision making, problem solving and a more strategic mindset. We’ll look at practices leaders are using to develop more collaborative and effective teamwork and how AI helped them develop this new “human touch”.

Walk away with:

  • Best practices showcasing how AI can promote greater collaboration, less siloing, and flatter decision making
  • How to embrace – and practice – the heightened responsibility to mentor and coach while appreciating multiple perspectives faster
  • Enhanced skills in the AI era including adaptability, continuous learning, and the ability to inspire and motivate and prepare their teams for future challenges

    Audience Stories

    “From the opening sentence, I couldn’t put The Compassion Advantage down! I felt like Jill wrote an autobiography of my personal and professional life—our stories as “veteran” female leaders are mirror images. You can’t live your life with regrets, but I sure do wish The Compassion Advantage was available to me as a young professional—that the window(s) had been opened to me earlier. Now I can sure start
    putting into practice the lessons learned and become more self-reflective and relational for the last chapter of my career. These lessons will also be invaluable in my personal life.”

    5
    Johanne Bélanger

    “The Compassion Advantage stands out in business books. It offers a fresh lens on leadership, balancing big-picture challenges with practical, implementable strategies. A must-have for leaders looking to make a real difference.”

    5
    Dr. Vince Molinaro

    “The Compassion Advantage is a captivating read filled with illuminating stories and practice advice about the pursuit of authentic and compassionate leadership. Birch makes the case for the importance of relational leadership and provides guidance to ‘enlightened’ leadership practitioners.”

    5
    Paul Heinrich

    It’s time to rewrite the narrative of leadership. Transform your leadership, today.

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