Introducing Dr. Bill Howatt
Dr. Bill Howatt has a goal to improve the lives of people and to improve the productivity of their employers. Dr. Bill works with our host, Dave Veale, as a coach at Vision Coaching Inc., along with being an author of over 60 books, a columnist with the Globe and Mail, and a number of other things with his bag of tricks. He has done all of this and achieved a PhD, despite not being able to read or write proficiently until the age of 19.
Dr. Bill credits his success to a number of mentors that have helped him through the years. Firstly, there was Bill’s mother. Then there was Mrs. Stewart, his grade five teacher, who knew Bill was having difficulties and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Being a “Smart Alec”, Bill said he wanted to be a writer, and that was exactly what Mrs. Stewart made him try. There was also Dr. Bill’s tenth grade teacher who exposed him to the legal world, which led to a fascination for Bill during graduate school. These people didn’t need to be mentors for Bill, but they were, and so now Dr. Bill pays it forward.
Dr. Bill is now trying to find an all-inclusive equation to reducing stress and increasing wellness for employees, while aiding in productivity and quality for employers. He is doing this through collaboration with the University of New Brunswick to teach leadership skills, and through a survey being conducted by him and the Globe and Mail called, Your Life at Work. Stress in the workplace accounts for a $50 billion loss of productivity in Canada today and an expected $300 billion by 2040. It is estimated that stress causes a $2 trillion loss in productivity worldwide.
In general, employers expect their employees to come to work and work at 80 – 85% of their maximum capability on a daily basis. However, 27% of the population comes to work and puts forward 30 – 75% of their best effort. These same employees have higher levels of stress, lower coping skills, higher health issues, lower engagement, and less job fulfillment. Through his research, Dr. Bill hopes to develop a corporate wellness solution for employees and employers, and allow a happier and more productive work environment.
In this episode
We learn about Dr. Bill’s survey and how it could change the way workplaces function. Greg is inspired by Dr. Bill’s story of perseverance and his desire to give back to the community. Dr. Bill gives us his vision statement and tells us the secret that failure in life and business is part of forward progress.
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