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Thomas Duncan Bell is a highly respected and inspiring mental health expert who has made a significant impact on the lives of many individuals.
Despite facing challenges such as living on the bipolar spectrum, dyslexia, dyspraxia, PTSD, and ADHD, Thomas has managed to turn his own life around and dedicate himself to helping others in need.
Known internationally as The Bipolar Businessman, Thomas has already reached millions of people with his writing, keynote speaking, and through various media. He frequently works with global brands, as well as small and medium organisations, to develop their mental health initiatives.
He is the UK’s most decorated mental health speaker with over 500 engagements to his name, and more than a decade of experience in the wellbeing space. Specialising in neurodiversity, he recently launched his book Spectrum of Success, where he helps educate individuals and business leaders as to how embracing neurodiversity can revolutionise your business.
Contact Great British Speakers today to book Mental Health, Disability and Leadership Speaker Thomas Duncan Bell for your next event.
Growing up with a destructive father in a volatile environment, with two gay parents, Thomas Duncan Bell was subject to a lot of adversities over the years; not least competing in world championship endurance events for Team UK, running rescue missions evacuating refugees from the warzone in Ukraine as part of the International Legion, and surviving a brutal housefire that would have killed his whole family if not for his actions.
Despite his raw talent on the stage, Thomas was thrown out of a prominent theatre school because of his mental ill health, and has fought with drugs and alcohol. Yet, he still managed to successfully turn his life around to become a positive force for good, while educating people as to how to do the same for themselves.
He knows how to transform company values through leadership and implement sustainable mental health programmes within any organisation, while still remaining human along the way. Consistently found endearing to all whom he works with through his candid and empathetic approach to change, Thomas utilises his lived experience and business experience as a FTSE 500 & SME Commercial Consultant for over 20 years, to truly understand the needs of a business and its people.
Following the hugely successful launch of his book Spectrum of Success which talks about how embracing neurodiversity can revolutionise your business, he has worked with brands such as Amazon, BBC, HSBC, and IKEA.
Thomas is a highly energetic speaker with boundless energy. His passionate and powerful speaking and presenting style captivates all audiences, as he works to break down barriers and implement cutting-edge change programmes that help people to find themselves and become more productive.
Thomas is a prominent mental health speaker, resilience speaker, and corporate wellness speaker. As well as sharing his story, Thomas trains global leaders to be more authentic, adaptable, and compassionate:
Authentic: Leaders need to be authentic with their staff if they are going to engage them. An honest and vulnerable leader is more likely to get effective results sustainably.
Adaptable: Leaders who are adaptable, dynamic and creative are more likely to develop teams with similar traits and values, ensuring staff longevity and higher output.
Compassionate: Leaders who are compassionate will inevitably attract followers. Caring about your staff doesn’t make you weak, it cultivates a stronger team dynamic.
– Neurodiversity
– Mental Health
– Depression
– Bipolar Disorder
– ADHD
– Wellbeing
– Addiction
– LGBTQ+
What are the outcomes off the back of this clinically validated training?
Lead With Authenticity: Leaders will be supported to find their authentic voice/values. This will be in a context that’s appropriate for the workplace. Thomas will work with the individuals to enable them to evolve how they approach their internal relationships and to better lead by example, while role modelling mentally healthy culture.
Lead with Adaptability: The training will uniquely focus on managing change, both in the workplace and externally, mapping out steps to cultivate adaptability and choose healthy discomfort to underpin this methodology. This will help the attendees to breed that mindset into their teams, improve talent retention, reduce absenteeism, and promote mentally healthy and sustainable productivity.
Lead with Compassion: There’s a wealth of science to back up the fact that compassionate people are happier, have better physical health, evolve deeper relationships, increase their prosocial behaviour and are more traditionally successful as leaders because they are seen as more trustworthy by their teams. The focus here is to help leaders prevent burnout and empower them to improve more personal solutions to problems they face in the business day to day.
In summary, Thomas Duncan Bell is a remarkable mental health expert, keynote speaker, and advocate for change. Through his personal journey and professional expertise, he has transformed his own life and helped countless individuals navigate their mental health challenges. His ability to connect with audiences, implement effective programs, and inspire change makes him a highly sought-after speaker and consultant in the field of mental health and well-being.
I’ve had the immense pleasure of watching Thomas Duncan Bell speak at various events in person. He is inspiring, motivating and consistently engages the audience in a thought-provoking way that gets them reflecting on all the substantive points of his speech. Any event is better for having Thomas as one of its speakers.
Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, BBC Diversity Correspondent
Thomas has been one of the UK’s boldest and most energetic mental health campaigners for many years. His dedication to helping improve people’s lives is inspiring. He is a charismatic and entertaining speaker and one I wholeheartedly recommend.
Brian Heyworth, ex-Global Director HSBC, Chair of the City Mental Health Alliance
I would highly recommend Thomas for any organisation, business, establishment, corporation or even individual that is taking mental health and employee wellbeing seriously. Thomas has a naturally warming and inviting personality, which means he is able to build a unique rapport and resonate with all people due to his experiences, his style appeals to all people of all ages and background. Thomas’ approach to addressing mental resilience and wellbeing is special and breaks industry norms, meaning it feels more human and relatable than generic corporate training, as he is able to relate to real life experiences that he has personally lived through. Thomas is the modern day gateway between business and employees, being a bridge between the two parties, ensuring employee needs are understood and championed. Thomas’ USP is his life story and if he is able to navigate through his life journey and a number of setbacks to champion mental health then his teaching can inspire any business or employee to do the same.
Edward Odofin, Project Manager at BBC
Thomas’ lived experiences and ability to understand human context makes him uniquely positioned to do good work building resilient people and workplaces.
Karen Rivoire, Global Equality Director at IKEA, formerly Global HR Director at Unilever, Chief HR Officer at Kantar Group, also holding senior roles at Microsoft & SONY
I’ve worked with Thomas at multiple events and sat with him on a number of panels over the last 3 years, I’ve also been pleased to have Thomas as part of my Minds@Work movement since our inception. Thomas has spoken for us at events during that time, including Unilever, HSBC & Barclays and he gives a very vulnerable and authentic illustration of his own mental health challenges. He also has the ability to bring some humour to a very serious subject. I would recommend Thomas to any organisation who wants to encourage others to tell their stories and in so doing address the stigma of mental ill health in workplaces.
Geoff McDonald, ex-Global VP of HR & Marketing at Unilever, Global Mental Health Speaker & Consultant, Co-Founder of Minds@Work