Summit on mental health in workplace hosts leaders in science, industry
Leaders from Calgary and across the country will gather for the Leadership at the Speed of Science Summit — a full-day exploration on how stress, performance and mental health intersect in the modern workplace.
Organized by Cortical Consulting & Coaching in partnership with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the summit — being held at the BMO Centre on Oct. 1 — aims to help executives, entrepreneurs and decision-makers better understand how they think, decide and perform under pressure.
“In the business world, pressures are beginning to shift — I would say it’s unprecedented. And we’re hearing more about stress and burnout . . . But what can we learn from it?” said Tammy Arseneau, founder of Cortical Consulting & Coaching and host of the summit.
Arseneau, who has nearly 30 years of experience in human resources, strategy and leadership, said her inspiration came from decades of experience in business and from her personal life.
“My son was going through some mental-health challenges, and I was doing a lot more research into just understanding us as humans — our brains and our operating systems,” said Arseneau. “And I kept thinking, ‘Wow, had I known this when I was working in human resources or change management, etc., it really would have helped me understand maybe why people resist change, or how leaders react under stress.’ ”
The partnership between Cortical Consulting and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute was a natural fit, Arseneau said, with the event reflecting a bridge between academic research and corporate practice.
“Therein lies a lot of the inspiration for the summit — how do we bring this conversation to corporate Calgary?” said Arseneau.
Broadcaster and writer Jay Ingram will co-host one of the sessions.
What’s on the agenda
The event will feature a mix of keynote presentations, interactive workshops and live discussions with an impressive lineup of speakers, including former astronaut Chris Hadfield, author and broadcaster Jay Ingram and Olympic gold medalist Duff Gibson, among many others.
Arseneau assembled the broad spectrum of speakers in hopes of highlighting ways in which high-performing professionals — from Olympic athletes and astronauts to business executives and scientists — stay resilient in the face of increasing stress.
“Getting over failures, anticipating them, understanding your physiology . . . that’s what we really want to talk about at the summit. Hearing their stories, hearing what they’ve learned. We’re all human at the end of the day, right? So, what did they apply as humans in these roles, and what can we learn and take away from it?”
One highlight is Leadership Unscripted, a live talk-show-style session hosted by Ingram and featuring Hadfield, along with Kenneth Irving and Matthew Hill. Irving is best known for his tenure as CEO of Irving Oil and has since become an advocate for mental-health awareness. Hill leads the Mental Health Initiative for Stress and Trauma (MIST) at Hotchkiss Institute. MIST explores how stress and trauma affect the brain and what can be done to create healthier outcomes.
The event also features three workshops: The Edge of Performance explores performing under pressure, pairing elite athletes such as Crystal Phillips and Gibson with psychiatrist and former national rugby player Araba Chintoh. Beneath the Surface: Leading Through Change and Uncertainty offers practical strategies for guiding teams through risk and resilience, with insights from Sarah Hewitt, Craig Latimer and Jason Rakochy. And The Science of Mental Health: A CEO’s Journey to Restore Creativity features Leah Mayo and Greg Hemmings, and explores scientific approaches to stress, motivation and wellness practices.
Rounding out the day will be a keynote from Hadfield, a TED Talk-style Speaker Spotlight and a networking lunch.
Arseneau said one of the overarching goals is to normalize discussions about stress and mental health in business, and to discuss ways to stay resilient in the face of adversity.
“I hope people take away that we are normalizing the conversation, and that we are all human,” she said. “We’re all under pressure in different aspects, so understanding the work that we’re doing is as important as understanding what’s happening underneath.”
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