August 2, 2023 • 35 mins
You won't believe the journey that Bruce Edgelow, an esteemed banking leader with over four decades of experience under his belt, has traveled. From struggling with alcoholism in his teenage years to successfully building a successful banking career, Bruce's story is one of unwavering resilience and unshakeable faith. Get ready to be inspired by his incredible transformation and the turning points that shaped his journey.
Bruce's story is a testament to the transformative power of faith. He opens up about a pivotal point in his life when rather than resisting this sudden change, Bruce leaned into his faith and trust in God, leading him to start a new business venture. Bruce shares his principles of success, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and staying true to oneself.
Overcoming adversity is a major theme in Bruce's life. He discusses how he learned not to let his past define him and the importance of seeing potential in people, regardless of their credentials or backgrounds. So, get ready to be motivated by Bruce's journey of resilience, identity, and faith in the face of adversity. Tune in and let his story inspire you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa Peters (00:05):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast We are a
community of leaders with anetwork in over 350 cities
around the world dedicated tooptimizing our personal,
professional, and spiritual lifeto have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethe show even better, please
(00:27):
let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at Leader Impact.
ca or on social media @leaderimpact.
If you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leader impact.
com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today's Bruce Edgelow
.
Bruce has 45 years of bankingexperience with a focus on
lending to the oil and gasindustry.
(00:48):
After having spent 31 yearswith the Royal Bank of Canada,
Bruce joined ATB in July 2003and took on the responsibility
to help build ATB Financial's,energy's business and
capabilities.
In early 2015 fifteen, heheaded up their turnaround
assistance group providingleadership to ATB's sales teams,
(01:09):
whose clients were experiencingfinancial difficulties through
the downturn.
He retired from theorganization in March 2017 at
which point he and his businessassociate formed EDGE Mark
Capital and Advisory ServicesLimited.
They specialize in advisingentities related to their
capital needs and sourcingeither debt or equity on a
fee-for-service basis.
(01:30):
Bruce continues to be a veryactive participant in his
community and church activitiesand is the past chair of Trellis
Society and served as a boardmember on the Calgary Health
Foundation for eight years.
He joined the Mount RoyalUniversity Foundation board and
assumed the board chair role ofiCAN for kids in 2021.
Bruce is also a board member ofBumblebee's venture capital.
(01:53):
He has traveled the globe withLeaderI mpact and is
well-recognized for his speakingplatform of business and faith.
A powerful combination.
Welcome to the show, Bruce.
Bruce Edgelow (02:05):
Thank you, Lisa.
Delighted to be here.
Lisa Peters (02:07):
Good.
Thank you.
So, you know, first off, when Iwas reading your bio, and one
thing I wanna talk to you about,because I sort of I edit the
bios, but you have in here thatyou have your ICD dot d
designation.
Does that sound right?
Is that how we say it?
Yep.
What is that?
Bruce Edgelow (02:27):
So you have an opportunity through the
University of Toronto, to get aprofessional designation that's
recognized.
It's Institute of CorporateDirectors.
So it's a formal program.
It's as I encapsulate it, itwas some of the best curriculum
with amazing individuals andbest- in- class teachers.
(02:51):
That the whole program iscorporate governance.
So if I want to become adirector of a company or at the
time when I was actively workingat ATB.
Two or three of the executiveteam and this is a selection
basis, not everybody who wantsto do it is chosen to do it.
(03:11):
But three or four of us at theexecutive table with ATB all
over a period of, say, threeyears took their institute of
corporate directors and gottheir association.
And Lisa, we know as a teamthat we governed our own
business differently as we'vetaken the program.
So good governance, how do youmake tough decisions, financial
(03:32):
controls, all the practicesaround what normally would be if
you were in a profit ornot-for-profit board role.
The designation was created tohelp those board members or
boards, either public orprivate, doesn't matter, know
that there's this cadre ofindividuals that have gotten
gone and got accredited thatwould be credible within the
(03:56):
board role that they may aspireto.
So
Lisa Peters (03:59):
-- Yeah.
--
e a better board member, andoften in some of those harder
tough discussions around andit's often around this whole
notion of you know, governance,earnings controls.
And it is good governance andhow can you be respectful and
how do you make the toughdecisions?
Things like that.
(04:19):
Oh, I'm glad I asked because I think well, I
know for myself, I've taken on arole in our rural municipality
as a counselor.
And I've only been there sixmonths, and I haven't done this.
And I think of women, you know,we're trying to increase more
women on boards.
We're trying to get more wheninvolved, this would be a great
opportunity to learn more aboutgovernance.
(04:40):
Okay?
Bruce Edgelow (04:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lisa Peters (04:42):
I appreciate you answering that question.
So for anyone listening, thisis a special podcast.
We're interviewing our LeaderImpact leaders, and we're asking
them four main questions.
We did it last week with Jason,but we really want to talk
about, you know, pivotal turningpoints, principles of success,
failures, mistakes.
So I'm excited that Bruce hasjoined us, and we're just gonna
jump right in.
Are you ready?
(05:03):
Alright.
So obviously, we wanna hearabout your professional story,
Bruce, and how you got to whereyou are today.
So the question is or notreally a question, but just give
us a couple snapshots that werepivotal moments to the pivotal
turning point lost my mouth.
Pivotal turning points in yourjourney.
Bruce Edgelow (05:24):
Yeah, you bet.
So which has been a long time.
I'm an old fart.
So there's a long journey here.
And I'm gonna be I'm gonna tryto be really tight with it.
So here's my Reader's Digestversion.
I was an adolescent alcoholic.
I started smoking at ten,started drinking probably eleven
(05:44):
or twelve.
And by thirteen, I was prettymuch immersed into that
environment.
And as a consequence, I didn'tdo well in school because I was
off pursuing other pursuits.
So when it came time tograduate grade 12 twelve, it was
like, oh my lord, what am Igonna do?
All my buddies, you know, theywere all going to university and
I barely graduated.
(06:04):
I had to work in the libraryand get three extra credits, so
I had a diploma.
But it was really interestingbecause a good buddy of mine
said look at RBC was the largestemployer in Canada in the
banking side and they had atraining program.
And Hugh, who was a dear friendof mine, he said, you know, you
should apply for that.
(06:25):
And so two weeks out of highschool, I found myself joining
the World Bank Royal Canada onthe branch administration
officer training program.
And it was really cool becauseI was the last grade 12 grad
that actually was taken intothat program.
At that point in time, people,the universities and the
colleges were creating such agrand swell of candidates coming
(06:47):
out of there is that they wentactually to those that had
advanced education, but I havethe distinct honor of being the
last grade 12 grad, hired forthat program.
So that started for me a 31year career with Royal Bank.
I did 17, let's see 14 years inadministration.
Principally all throughAlberta, but, you know, often in
(07:10):
the early days, didn't renew alease because I was moving from
job to job.
It wasn't that I couldn't keepa job.
It was just they were reallyadvancing people and ability to
move through things.
And then I should have made thechoice to at that point in
time, I was married with twokids.
I was in Red Deer and had anopportunity to go into credit,
which was often if you had, youknow, 14 years in the
(07:32):
administrative side, managingbranches, managing the client's
needs on the administration side.
So, you know, move swung intocredit and was able to move my
family to Calgary in 1985, kindof the dog days of the energy
business to be fair.
Royal Bank was one of thelargest energy lenders at the
time.
And so moved to Calgary, and Ibecame a part of a workout team
(07:58):
post National Energy Program,which was really the dog days in
the industry, hyperinflation,you know, we were interest rates
were, believe it or not, 17 anda half percent, right, just
very tough times in the business.
So it was great for me becausein Calgary, I've been here twice
before, so kinda notnecessarily back home, but I I
(08:20):
knew the city and introduced myfamily to it.
And then started a 14- yearcareer, no a 17-year career in
the oil and gas group.
And you know, oil and gasCalgary is kinda one and the
same.
And it had this really coolopportunity to be in sales and
then managing people.
And my last role within the oiland gas group within the Royal
(08:41):
Bank was I was a manager of theoil and gas group.
And then I had an opportunityto pursue a chance to go in as
an executive officer AlbertaTreasury Branch or ATB.
And it was at that point intime, my faith journey had
gotten strong enough that I waskinda listening for God's voice
(09:02):
related to opportunities.
And when this opportunity cameup to join ATB as that VP of
Energy.
Kind of in my quiet time I was,alright, Lord, so what am I
gonna do with this?
And he just kinda really matterof factly, he said to me, So
who was I gonna trust more?
RBC or him related to anopportunity.
(09:23):
And it was really clear.
It like, it was really clear,alright, Lord.
Okay.
Because if you think of mybackground a kind of a ne'er do
well out of high school whojoined into Royal, it was like,
I if I muck this up, I gotnothing because I didn't have a
degree.
Right?
I didn't have anything.
I only have my time with theRoyal.
(09:44):
But it was like, okay.
Well, yeah.
But where do you like, really,you're gonna park with the Royal
?
Like, if there's other thingsto do, then let's go and do them
.
So I did.
I joined ATB, and it was reallyinteresting, Lisa, because six
months after I left Royal, thegroup that I had been part of
(10:07):
for 17-years and managed for mylast three years that I was
there, was totally reorganizedand didn't exist anymore.
People got laid off, lost theirjobs, reorganized into a
situation that they were nothappy with and yet I had no clue
.
Somebody else had a clue.
And so it was reallyinteresting now all right Lord
thank you for that and I trustedhim and join ATB, and then that
(10:29):
was a great 14-year run withATB.
We were doing stuff that youcouldn't do in anywhere else.
It was like, we built thefranchise, hired amazing
teammates.
It was pretty magical.
And then six years ago, I washeading to a meeting because
(10:52):
we're reorganizing within theorganization and they needed
they wanted me to do somethingdifferent, and so I was heading
to a meeting about doingsomething different.
And in the stairwell, I wasgoing to the meeting, and in the
stairwell, God just comes to meand he says, You're about to be
laid off or about to be retired.
And it was like, whoa.
Well, oh, we didn't see thatcoming.
(11:14):
And he just said Just keepgoing.
Like, just keep going.
So I kept walking down thestairs.
And I walked into this room,and one guy that was supposed to
be there was actually two ofthem, a co-led executive team.
And I just walk in and I closedthe door and I said, hey, guys,
I gotta share with you whatjust happened in the stairwell.
God just told me I was gonna bepackaged, and he's encouraging
(11:34):
me to tell you that.
And so Time looks at John, andJohn and looks at Tim.
And Tim says, well, actually,you are being packaged and you
probably need to sit down.
And I said, Nah, I'm good, guys.
Like, if you've got paper forme, I'll take it.
But from what just happened,for me and this is what is
(11:57):
happening, then I'm good.
I'm good, guys.
And the really cool part aboutthat Lisa, I'll try to be quick
with it, was that John and Iwere co- executives only at,
like, six months prior.
And one of the otherindividuals that was in the room
I had actually hired.
So this could have been a verydifficult thing for them to do
(12:17):
was to package me that day.
And interestingly enough toothat they were both men of faith
.
And so when I said to them, youknow, I just got this message
in the stairwell, I'm supposedto tell you, and it just totally
diffused it.
And what could have been a halfhour or 45 minutes ended up
being no more than two to threeminutes.
Said, thanks, guys.
(12:38):
I'm good.
You got a paper for me, andI'll go.
And so that started then anopportunity for me to because I
got lots of energy and lots ofthings to do.
I started up with a buddy thatI'd known and within three
months EdgeMark was formed, andwe wrote in the market doing
(12:59):
capital advisory work, andthat's what I'm still doing six
years later.
Lisa Peters (13:04):
I love listening to pivotal points.
Those are great stories and Ithink sometimes we don't see
them as good you know, you couldhave went into that meeting.
You got your package.
If you wouldn't have, you know,like you said, it was two to
three minutes.
It could have been 45, andeverybody beat around the bush.
But I'm sure a sense ofcalmness.
(13:25):
Right?
Bruce Edgelow (13:27):
Well, Lisa, I could fill an hour of stories
about hearing God's voice in mylife.
And what I've really learned todo is I've learned to trust it.
And have no doubts aboutlistening to it.
Because for me, my journey, youknow, adolescent alcoholic, I
had a car crash once and Ishould have died in it.
(13:48):
And the circumstances were justabsolutely it was all on me.
All on me.
And two weeks post theaccident, I totaled a brand- new
car.
It was really quite something.
But anyway, about two weeksafter the accident, I was kinda
sitting there going because Iwasn't I'd been brought up with
a faith background, but I reallywasn't active in my faith.
(14:08):
And I just, okay Lord, what'sgoing on here?
Like, where are you in this?
And he just very matter offactly, but he said to me, Lisa,
I said, like, the Lord, thepoliceman said I should have
died and here I am crying out toyou, like, what the heck is
going on?
And he just said to me, said, Isaid, why am I still here?
And he just said, I am not donewith you yet.
(14:30):
So every day, I get to wake up,and I'm still here, and I know
he's not done with me.
And it's been a storyboard forme related to that relationship
that I've been blessed with isthat I just have learned to
implicitly trust a bit differentthings.
And have had that journey.
So when the things pivot, andif I've been kind of, alright,
(14:53):
listening for what's reallygoing on, then I should not live
in fear.
Lisa Peters (14:58):
Yeah.
I wonder if some peoplelistening.
They hear this voice.
They they can feel it.
They don't know what it is.
But it's like they they call itmaybe they can call it
something else, but it's likethat inner voice.
And I know exactly what you'retalking about.
It's there's something tellingme to do this.
I called it God.
Bruce Edgelow (15:20):
I have seventy five at least of those that .
Make no sense to me at the time.
Lisa Peters (15:25):
Yep.
Bruce Edgelow (15:26):
Yet I listen to it.
And then, you know, this carthat's greater than me, but I
get to take part of.
It's just it's been so real forme.
And it and it to be fair, itactually helped me get sober.
Because I continued to drink,you know, through I started
started royal at seventy two AndI didn't quit drinking until
(15:49):
eighty five.
So thirteen years into the bankside until I actually quit
drinking.
And what happened for me was myjourney in AA, which was come
to believe that a power higherthan me could relieve me of my
insanity.
I eat the drinking.
Is okay.
Alright.
So, Laura, are you really partof this?
Yeah.
Because this is this been youall this time, and I can
(16:11):
actually trust I need to getsober?
And so the long and short of myfirst couple of years in AA was
this journey of exploring mydisease, understanding it, And
then my identity changed from aguy who was an alcoholic and
identifying as alcoholic.
Oh, by the way, I also havefaith.
Is I get I was able to do awhole bunch of work related to
(16:33):
both AA alcoholism and faith AndI ultimately pivoted my
identity to be an a child of God.
Oh, by the way, I also am analcoholic.
And it was a real pivot for merelated to where my basic
strength needed to come from.
Lisa Peters (16:48):
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing.
It was a great conversation.
Great moments.
To the second question, give usyour best principle of success
and tell us a story thatillustrates this.
Bruce Edgelow (17:03):
My best principle of success is be true to myself
as to who I am, and to haveonly one voice and be no one for
that respectful one voice.
So that the way I managed atall cases, but more towards the
(17:24):
end as I was stepping into moreexecutive roles, And it was that
I became one that people couldcome into my office and have a
conversation with me, and theyknew there was no double talk
there was I would I would only Ionly had one voice.
I wasn't kinda okay.
I gotta see this story here andthis over there.
It was I was known for honestconversations, respectful
(17:48):
conversations, and moreimportantly was really just the
truth.
Like, you wanna hear you wannareally know what's going on?
You can go in and sit withBruce and have a conversation
with him.
And if I was dealing with meatyissues, I also could go into
other people's office and treatthem with respect and have one
conversation.
And that was really that kindof a a lesson for me for a
(18:09):
variety of activities and thingsthat I did, but it was It was
at the end of the day, Lisa, itwas is to be true to myself.
Who was I?
Was I doing those things that Iwas empowered to do and gifted
to do, and then have confidenceand just do it.
Right?
And do the right things.
Be no one for a guy who treatedpeople respectfully.
(18:31):
But at the end of the day, oncekinda because some stuff is
never really clear.
Right?
Because it isn't always clearthe first first pass.
But ultimately, when the dustsettle, they're the smoke
cleared, whatever you wannaframe it as.
All of a sudden, it was like,wow, we get treated fairly,
respectfully, honestly, we'retold the truth, and I could
count on that conversation.
And that and that's really beenmy DNA.
(18:53):
For it.
And to be fair, alcoholism hasa basic tenant of not being
trustworthy.
Because the disease conceptwithin alcoholism is a disease
of denial.
So as you're coming out of thatprocess, which is why there's a
twelve step process to help oneto get sober, is there's a lot
(19:17):
of principles that you need towork through and come out of to
actually get to the very top.
So how do I sustain sobriety?
And it was not about being indenial.
It was accepting that I had a Ihad a a chromosome that was
different than the non alcoholic.
And that there was no pityparty going on here.
I needed to get sober and Ineeded to stay sober and I
(19:37):
needed to quit drinking.
And it was magical.
It's a whole other story, butit was, again, that whole tenet
and principle of, it's not easy,but you gotta find a way
through it.
Right?
Lisa Peters (19:47):
Yeah.
Need to speak true to yourself.
I I have a friend that she'shigh up in the in our
government, and she has alwayssaid that be the best version of
herself.
And at the end of the day, shehas to know that she did the
best she could today because somuch can come at you.
And but today I did the best Icould.
(20:09):
You know?
So I appreciate that answer.
So the next question is aboutfailures and mistakes.
So Obviously, I think we allbelieve we learn more from our
failures and mistakes than oursuccesses.
So would you be able to shareone of your greatest failures or
mistakes and what you havelearned from it?
Bruce Edgelow (20:28):
Well, I think it's a basic start to my life
that you know, I think Iactually started smoking at
eight and drinking at ten to befair.
But at the end of the day, thethe compliment, my great twelve
biology teacher paid me, and hehad endured me through bio ten
twenty and thirty.
Was that in grade twelve, I wasnot as much of a disruptive, an
(20:52):
an an anebriated disruptive asI was in grade ten.
Like, really, that's mygraduation testimony.
Right?
Of my and I love misterAgronidesse.
I can still remember theconversation with it.
But the greatest lesson that Ilearned my it through that whole
process of coming out the otherside of it many years later, to
be fair, like, many yearslater, thirteen years later, is
that I didn't let it define me.
(21:14):
And that in a moment of doubtand distress, I can I can I can
put on the hat as what would youexpect your grade twelve drum?
Right?
But that's not my identity.
That was a circumstance I foundmyself in, but I did not let it
ultimately define me.
And the other cool part was Ialways had I always had a soft
(21:36):
spot for people who may not havein the banking world you're not
nothing if you don't have anMBA or an undergrad or your CFA
etcetera.
And I always had a soft spotfor those that had the had the
attributes and the things thatthe passion and the and the
heart for something, and theymay not have the designation.
(21:57):
And we often hired people whomay not have had all the perfect
degrees and initials aftertheir name, but we saw the
passion and we saw the abilityto do it.
And I was so blessed becauseRoyal Bank was an amazing
teaching school of teaching bank.
So, I mean, I I got anequivalency of of a bit of a
degree.
I I got a designation throughthe banking community.
(22:18):
So I and and I, you know, I'vetaken unbelievable number of
courses, including ICD, etcetera.
So I've been able to learnalong the way and that to me was
don't let the past define melearn from it and move through
it and move forward.
Right?
Mhmm.
Lisa Peters (22:34):
You made a great point.
I'm gonna highlight this isjust we cannot underestimate the
experience we get.
You, you know, you said the youthe underdog.
Right?
The person that doesn't havetheir NBA, the person that
doesn't have their just pastgrade twelve.
They could be great leaders.
They could be great bankers, beyou know, don't underestimate
(22:55):
them, so I appreciate that.
You made one other comment.
You said the biology teacherpaid you a compliment.
You you pause there and you usethe word paid you a compliment
versus gave me a compliment orwhy did you use the word paid?
Is that just something you do?
Bruce Edgelow (23:14):
Yeah.
I maybe -- Yeah.
Lisa Peters (23:16):
--
Bruce Edgelow (23:16):
maybe it was and and and yeah.
And it was, like, the mostbackhanded comment ever.
Right?
I wasn't as disruptive as greatas follows.
It wasn't great ten.
But it was but it butnevertheless, it's not the first
time I've used that phrase.
It's not the first time I'vetalked about mister Hackman in
my life.
Right?
And and, you know, I I barelyyou know, it doesn't matter.
(23:37):
It doesn't matter.
But but it was interesting isthat that was what my pursuit
was in high school was otherthan academics.
Right?
Yet, when I look at the thingsI've done, like, wow, I've been
so blessed.
Lisa Peters (23:49):
Yep.
Great.
Thanks for sharing that.
Good news.
That was good.
So at leader impact, we want togrow professionally,
personally, and spiritually.
For increasing impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example of how the
spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
leader?
Bruce Edgelow (24:06):
No.
Absolutely.
So as I was coming out theother side of my alcoholism and
really exploring my faith, I dida one on one recycling program
with a neighbor.
His name was Jim, and it wasunbelievable time for me because
I was I was growing in my faith.
(24:28):
I was I was give you a sense ofmy alcoholism.
I went and saw a counselor oneday to tell him, I needed to go
to a counselor based on somereally rotten Christmas, I'd put
my family through because I hadbeen drinking with my game my
family game.
So anyway, I went inside DennisJanuary eighteenth nineteen
eighty five.
(24:48):
And I spent an hour of claritywith him and I came out of that
meeting and Dennis has said,well, here's some things need to
do and look at.
But until you figure some ofthe stuff out, you probably
shouldn't have another drink.
And I've not had another drinksince that day.
I've not had another drink.
And I wasn't a guy that wasdrinking all the time, but I
knew ultimately that alcohol wascontrolling me and me not yet.
(25:09):
And as I continued to explorethat, and then started to go
forward in my faith.
This one on one recyclingprogram, ten weeks, Jim and I
took nine months to do it.
But we were neighbors, and so Iwas fine every whatever night
of the week I was overdue aswasted.
And we were talking about thisawareness of god in our lives.
And he had talked about so hewas a sales guy, and he had six
(25:34):
kids.
And he talked about we're justtalking on on a on a one of the
lessons we're doing, and he'snot giving you an example.
He said, I went to sales calltoday, and I prayed in the
elevator in a way to on the wayto the sales call.
I kinda looked at himquizzically.
I said, you did what?
He kinda looks back at me.
He said, what do you mean I didwhat?
He said, I got six miles aroundhere to feed.
In fact, I got eight miles, Igot a feed.
(25:55):
I wasn't praying for success.
I was praying to be the bestthat I could be.
Iced ice to see, ears to hear,a mouth to only interact when I
needed to.
But I was just praying to bethe going back to your comment,
the best version of me that Icould be because I've got
responsibilities.
And then he paused because,hold just just hold on a minute.
(26:15):
I see you walk by my door atsix thirty in the morning,
catching probably the first busout of the neighborhood.
And not coming back to, like,five thirty six at night, where
are you at with yourspirituality?
And I was nowhere related tothat active faith.
Right?
That active faith.
And my dad had a number ofyears ago number of years early
(26:38):
into my banking career andbecause it was his mantra.
He kinda sent to me.
He said, you gotta be carefulas a banker about mixing
business and religion because itmay not mix.
So you need to be careful.
So I love my dad to my dad todeath and I thought, okay, well,
it's a good listener.
Well, in the end.
And pops knows this now.
But he was dead.
That's wrong.
(26:58):
Pardon me, but he was totallywrong.
Because what Jim taught me washis notion of incorporating
like, if I was just simply thisSunday Christian or this hour on
Sunday Christian, And, oh, I goto church and I'm good.
If I wasn't allowing thatpotential relationship to be
(27:18):
more of who I was, I was reallymissing out.
I was really missing out.
And so through that wholeprogram of nights and months
with Jim and in life of of doinglife, what I've found is I have
openly displayed my face withpeople.
I've done it in a way that'sbeen just this is my story, and
(27:41):
this is what goes on for me.
And it's been a platform for menow that Like, again, in my
profile, I've traveled with withleader impact in four countries
.
It's been really cool.
And when I do my talk, even inCalgary, my talk is business and
faith, a powerful combination.
Because what I've been able todo, Lisa, is incorporate it day
to day.
(28:01):
It's been day to day for me.
And so that people have gottenused to, yeah, Bruce's amount of
faith, like, I I I do lots ofcoffees because business
whatever.
So it's not uncommon to be mein Starbucks that Eight Avenue
Place in Calgary.
In the line waiting to getcoffee with this individual that
(28:21):
I'm with.
And they go, so how are things?
They say, well, I'm a hugefaith, and every day is a God
day because it's really hard.
Yeah.
But every day is a God day.
And that's how I and thatthat's that's just how I start
my conversations.
And it's not uncommon throughthe course of the coffee to look
over at our table and to seehands class heads bowed and
(28:45):
praying about what it is that wewere meeting about.
Because if I'm being promptedto bring my face to bear related
to my talents and my time andmy treasure.
To do the things I need to do,I need to be honest and real
with it.
And what I families over timeis that my heavenly father is a
big part of that.
And so he's really taught mehow to frame that and how to be
(29:07):
real with it.
I I had a team today and I'mjust I just I met a new client
today at ten o'clock about anopportunity for me to help them.
And I wait to be promptedbefore I do this because I need
to know it's not my words, butsomebody else's words, you know
who that somebody else's.
But anyway, at eleven o'clock,the meeting's over and I said,
(29:30):
you guys bear with me for oneminute.
I have a really faith basedpractice.
And I try to really do thingsand God's strength not my own.
And I've really enjoyed thismeeting and I think I can help
you.
But what I'd like to do ifyou're okay with it is I'd like
a closer meeting in prayer.
And they're kinda like, oh, noworries asked us to do that
before.
(29:50):
And yet, I did.
I just I thank God for whatthese three people were amazing.
So talented, amazingopportunities.
I just prayed his provision ontheir on their company and what
they're doing.
And then I just said if I canhelp them, I would love that
privilege to be able to helpwith them.
And it was like a minute andand ended And I look over and
(30:11):
the the one lady who's there wasa husband and wife team and
then the guy who's got his PhDand, oh, is he smart?
But just an amazing team andshe's in tears.
She said no one has done thatfor us before.
And I just said, I said, Well,thank you for giving me the
privilege to be able to do that.
Lisa Peters (30:30):
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (30:30):
Because that's what we're trying to do.
Right?
Lisa Peters (30:33):
Mhmm.
I remember the first personthat ever prayed over me and I
was in tears.
I can feel that.
Yeah.
Thanks for sharing.
That great story.
So those are the four questionsthat we have had for you.
I always end my podcast withtwo final questions because I I
love to know what what peopleare up to or what they think.
(30:55):
As you know, leader impacts,dedicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
So as you continue to movethrough your own journey and
life, Have you considered whatyou want your faith legacy to be
when you leave this world?
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (31:12):
Thank you for the ask.
And it came quickly, is that Ithink I am known for now and
that my journey will be never tolose my way with this is to be
no one as a man who walkedclosely with God and always
listened for his voice.
Is that I and, you know, andand, hey, let's I'll just be
(31:35):
really clear.
Life has not been great for me.
I've actually been divorcedtwice.
I've had two marriages not workfor me.
And I'm not happy about that.
And there's all kinds ofcircumstances around that.
And it's not been a cakewalk.
I'm sixty eight, and I'm stillworking.
Right?
But I love what I do, and sothat's okay.
But at the end of the day, whenwhen God chooses to take me
(31:57):
home, he told me, like, innineteen eighty five, he wasn't
done with me yet.
So every day I wake up and he'snot done with me, is I I think
I will continue my my my effortseach and every day is to be
known as a guy of faith andactively walking with God and
not afraid to share that withothers.
(32:17):
So, like, you know, I was at atlunch, I left my eleven
o'clock, and I went for lunchwith a ex coworker that I'd
loved her to deaf.
She's just an amazing youngexecutive absolutely doing well.
I had the privilege of hiringher and we prayed together over
lunch because that's what we getto do.
Right?
Is to bring our spirituality,make it real, and be remembered
(32:42):
for that.
Right?
And so go back to my byspeaking is that what do I wanna
be remembered for?
Is business and faith apowerful combination?
Lisa Peters (32:54):
Great answer.
And my final question I askyou, everybody, is what brings
you the greatest joy
Bruce Edgelow (33:02):
Two things.
Family, I have an absolutelyamazing thirteen year old
grandson who I just didDaugherty so much fun and a son
and daughter-in-law are doingsuch a great job with my
grandson.
So families were really close.
We golf together.
We go to hockey games together.
On the ball diamond togetherjust so family is critical for
(33:24):
me.
And then this other thing, thegreatest joy is being active in
my face.
Being at that meeting today,not knowing whether I was gonna
get prompted or not, but whenthe prompt came to closing
prayer, that brings me joy.
Because I'm I have anopportunity if I'm prompted to
do it to do that, and I neverknow the outcome.
(33:45):
But if I'm being prompted forit, then somebody else knows the
outcome and it was magic.
Lisa Peters (33:51):
We never know the outcome.
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (33:54):
And yet there's joy in that.
Lisa Peters (33:56):
Right?
That's awesome.
Bruce, I wanna thank you fortaking the last just over thirty
minutes to share with us.
It has been a pleasure to getto know you.
I love meeting leaders aroundthe world and hearing their
stories because they are alldifferent.
I come in thinking, I think Iknow what I'm dealing with and
then your stories are are just Ilove asking the questions, and
(34:19):
I love hearing the stories.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Bruce Edgelow (34:21):
Well, thank you for what you do and many
blessings.
Lisa Peters (34:24):
Alright.
Now if anyone is listening inthe I wanna talk to Bruce.
What is the best way that theycan find you or engage with you?
Bruce Edgelow (34:31):
Yeah.
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
That's that's absolutely thebest.
Just find me on LinkedIn andsend me a note and say, hey,
heard your podcast, whatever.
And I'm I'm active in that inthat platform, so it's a great
way to get connected.
Lisa Peters (34:45):
Awesome.
Moa, thank you again forjoining
Bruce Edgelow (34:46):
us.
Alright.
Lisa Peters (34:48):
Alright.
Well, I wanna thank everyoneelse everyone else for joining
us.
If you're part of leaderimpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you were not yet part ofa leader impact and would like
to find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact dot c a and check
out our free leadershipassessment.
You will also find on our webpage chapter one of Braden
(35:11):
Douglas' book becoming a leaderof impact.
It is an awesome leadership bar.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
leaderimpact dot c a or ifyou're listening from anywhere
else in the world, check outleader impact dot com.
Or get in touch with us byemail info leaderimpact.
Ca, and we will connect you.
If you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
(35:32):
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact startswith you.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast We are a
community of leaders with anetwork in over 350 cities
around the world dedicated tooptimizing our personal,
professional, and spiritual lifeto have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethe show even better, please
(00:27):
let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at Leader Impact.
ca or on social media @leaderimpact.
If you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leader impact.
com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today's Bruce Edgelow
.
Bruce has 45 years of bankingexperience with a focus on
lending to the oil and gasindustry.
(00:48):
After having spent 31 yearswith the Royal Bank of Canada,
Bruce joined ATB in July 2003and took on the responsibility
to help build ATB Financial's,energy's business and
capabilities.
In early 2015 fifteen, heheaded up their turnaround
assistance group providingleadership to ATB's sales teams,
(01:09):
whose clients were experiencingfinancial difficulties through
the downturn.
He retired from theorganization in March 2017 at
which point he and his businessassociate formed EDGE Mark
Capital and Advisory ServicesLimited.
They specialize in advisingentities related to their
capital needs and sourcingeither debt or equity on a
fee-for-service basis.
(01:30):
Bruce continues to be a veryactive participant in his
community and church activitiesand is the past chair of Trellis
Society and served as a boardmember on the Calgary Health
Foundation for eight years.
He joined the Mount RoyalUniversity Foundation board and
assumed the board chair role ofiCAN for kids in 2021.
Bruce is also a board member ofBumblebee's venture capital.
(01:53):
He has traveled the globe withLeaderI mpact and is
well-recognized for his speakingplatform of business and faith.
A powerful combination.
Welcome to the show, Bruce.
Bruce Edgelow (02:05):
Thank you, Lisa.
Delighted to be here.
Lisa Peters (02:07):
Good.
Thank you.
So, you know, first off, when Iwas reading your bio, and one
thing I wanna talk to you about,because I sort of I edit the
bios, but you have in here thatyou have your ICD dot d
designation.
Does that sound right?
Is that how we say it?
Yep.
What is that?
Bruce Edgelow (02:27):
So you have an opportunity through the
University of Toronto, to get aprofessional designation that's
recognized.
It's Institute of CorporateDirectors.
So it's a formal program.
It's as I encapsulate it, itwas some of the best curriculum
with amazing individuals andbest- in- class teachers.
(02:51):
That the whole program iscorporate governance.
So if I want to become adirector of a company or at the
time when I was actively workingat ATB.
Two or three of the executiveteam and this is a selection
basis, not everybody who wantsto do it is chosen to do it.
(03:11):
But three or four of us at theexecutive table with ATB all
over a period of, say, threeyears took their institute of
corporate directors and gottheir association.
And Lisa, we know as a teamthat we governed our own
business differently as we'vetaken the program.
So good governance, how do youmake tough decisions, financial
(03:32):
controls, all the practicesaround what normally would be if
you were in a profit ornot-for-profit board role.
The designation was created tohelp those board members or
boards, either public orprivate, doesn't matter, know
that there's this cadre ofindividuals that have gotten
gone and got accredited thatwould be credible within the
(03:56):
board role that they may aspireto.
So
Lisa Peters (03:59):
-- Yeah.
--
e a better board member, andoften in some of those harder
tough discussions around andit's often around this whole
notion of you know, governance,earnings controls.
And it is good governance andhow can you be respectful and
how do you make the toughdecisions?
Things like that.
(04:19):
Oh, I'm glad I asked because I think well, I
know for myself, I've taken on arole in our rural municipality
as a counselor.
And I've only been there sixmonths, and I haven't done this.
And I think of women, you know,we're trying to increase more
women on boards.
We're trying to get more wheninvolved, this would be a great
opportunity to learn more aboutgovernance.
(04:40):
Okay?
Bruce Edgelow (04:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lisa Peters (04:42):
I appreciate you answering that question.
So for anyone listening, thisis a special podcast.
We're interviewing our LeaderImpact leaders, and we're asking
them four main questions.
We did it last week with Jason,but we really want to talk
about, you know, pivotal turningpoints, principles of success,
failures, mistakes.
So I'm excited that Bruce hasjoined us, and we're just gonna
jump right in.
Are you ready?
(05:03):
Alright.
So obviously, we wanna hearabout your professional story,
Bruce, and how you got to whereyou are today.
So the question is or notreally a question, but just give
us a couple snapshots that werepivotal moments to the pivotal
turning point lost my mouth.
Pivotal turning points in yourjourney.
Bruce Edgelow (05:24):
Yeah, you bet.
So which has been a long time.
I'm an old fart.
So there's a long journey here.
And I'm gonna be I'm gonna tryto be really tight with it.
So here's my Reader's Digestversion.
I was an adolescent alcoholic.
I started smoking at ten,started drinking probably eleven
(05:44):
or twelve.
And by thirteen, I was prettymuch immersed into that
environment.
And as a consequence, I didn'tdo well in school because I was
off pursuing other pursuits.
So when it came time tograduate grade 12 twelve, it was
like, oh my lord, what am Igonna do?
All my buddies, you know, theywere all going to university and
I barely graduated.
(06:04):
I had to work in the libraryand get three extra credits, so
I had a diploma.
But it was really interestingbecause a good buddy of mine
said look at RBC was the largestemployer in Canada in the
banking side and they had atraining program.
And Hugh, who was a dear friendof mine, he said, you know, you
should apply for that.
(06:25):
And so two weeks out of highschool, I found myself joining
the World Bank Royal Canada onthe branch administration
officer training program.
And it was really cool becauseI was the last grade 12 grad
that actually was taken intothat program.
At that point in time, people,the universities and the
colleges were creating such agrand swell of candidates coming
(06:47):
out of there is that they wentactually to those that had
advanced education, but I havethe distinct honor of being the
last grade 12 grad, hired forthat program.
So that started for me a 31year career with Royal Bank.
I did 17, let's see 14 years inadministration.
Principally all throughAlberta, but, you know, often in
(07:10):
the early days, didn't renew alease because I was moving from
job to job.
It wasn't that I couldn't keepa job.
It was just they were reallyadvancing people and ability to
move through things.
And then I should have made thechoice to at that point in
time, I was married with twokids.
I was in Red Deer and had anopportunity to go into credit,
which was often if you had, youknow, 14 years in the
(07:32):
administrative side, managingbranches, managing the client's
needs on the administration side.
So, you know, move swung intocredit and was able to move my
family to Calgary in 1985, kindof the dog days of the energy
business to be fair.
Royal Bank was one of thelargest energy lenders at the
time.
And so moved to Calgary, and Ibecame a part of a workout team
(07:58):
post National Energy Program,which was really the dog days in
the industry, hyperinflation,you know, we were interest rates
were, believe it or not, 17 anda half percent, right, just
very tough times in the business.
So it was great for me becausein Calgary, I've been here twice
before, so kinda notnecessarily back home, but I I
(08:20):
knew the city and introduced myfamily to it.
And then started a 14- yearcareer, no a 17-year career in
the oil and gas group.
And you know, oil and gasCalgary is kinda one and the
same.
And it had this really coolopportunity to be in sales and
then managing people.
And my last role within the oiland gas group within the Royal
(08:41):
Bank was I was a manager of theoil and gas group.
And then I had an opportunityto pursue a chance to go in as
an executive officer AlbertaTreasury Branch or ATB.
And it was at that point intime, my faith journey had
gotten strong enough that I waskinda listening for God's voice
(09:02):
related to opportunities.
And when this opportunity cameup to join ATB as that VP of
Energy.
Kind of in my quiet time I was,alright, Lord, so what am I
gonna do with this?
And he just kinda really matterof factly, he said to me, So
who was I gonna trust more?
RBC or him related to anopportunity.
(09:23):
And it was really clear.
It like, it was really clear,alright, Lord.
Okay.
Because if you think of mybackground a kind of a ne'er do
well out of high school whojoined into Royal, it was like,
I if I muck this up, I gotnothing because I didn't have a
degree.
Right?
I didn't have anything.
I only have my time with theRoyal.
(09:44):
But it was like, okay.
Well, yeah.
But where do you like, really,you're gonna park with the Royal
?
Like, if there's other thingsto do, then let's go and do them
.
So I did.
I joined ATB, and it was reallyinteresting, Lisa, because six
months after I left Royal, thegroup that I had been part of
(10:07):
for 17-years and managed for mylast three years that I was
there, was totally reorganizedand didn't exist anymore.
People got laid off, lost theirjobs, reorganized into a
situation that they were nothappy with and yet I had no clue
.
Somebody else had a clue.
And so it was reallyinteresting now all right Lord
thank you for that and I trustedhim and join ATB, and then that
(10:29):
was a great 14-year run withATB.
We were doing stuff that youcouldn't do in anywhere else.
It was like, we built thefranchise, hired amazing
teammates.
It was pretty magical.
And then six years ago, I washeading to a meeting because
(10:52):
we're reorganizing within theorganization and they needed
they wanted me to do somethingdifferent, and so I was heading
to a meeting about doingsomething different.
And in the stairwell, I wasgoing to the meeting, and in the
stairwell, God just comes to meand he says, You're about to be
laid off or about to be retired.
And it was like, whoa.
Well, oh, we didn't see thatcoming.
(11:14):
And he just said Just keepgoing.
Like, just keep going.
So I kept walking down thestairs.
And I walked into this room,and one guy that was supposed to
be there was actually two ofthem, a co-led executive team.
And I just walk in and I closedthe door and I said, hey, guys,
I gotta share with you whatjust happened in the stairwell.
God just told me I was gonna bepackaged, and he's encouraging
(11:34):
me to tell you that.
And so Time looks at John, andJohn and looks at Tim.
And Tim says, well, actually,you are being packaged and you
probably need to sit down.
And I said, Nah, I'm good, guys.
Like, if you've got paper forme, I'll take it.
But from what just happened,for me and this is what is
(11:57):
happening, then I'm good.
I'm good, guys.
And the really cool part aboutthat Lisa, I'll try to be quick
with it, was that John and Iwere co- executives only at,
like, six months prior.
And one of the otherindividuals that was in the room
I had actually hired.
So this could have been a verydifficult thing for them to do
(12:17):
was to package me that day.
And interestingly enough toothat they were both men of faith
.
And so when I said to them, youknow, I just got this message
in the stairwell, I'm supposedto tell you, and it just totally
diffused it.
And what could have been a halfhour or 45 minutes ended up
being no more than two to threeminutes.
Said, thanks, guys.
(12:38):
I'm good.
You got a paper for me, andI'll go.
And so that started then anopportunity for me to because I
got lots of energy and lots ofthings to do.
I started up with a buddy thatI'd known and within three
months EdgeMark was formed, andwe wrote in the market doing
(12:59):
capital advisory work, andthat's what I'm still doing six
years later.
Lisa Peters (13:04):
I love listening to pivotal points.
Those are great stories and Ithink sometimes we don't see
them as good you know, you couldhave went into that meeting.
You got your package.
If you wouldn't have, you know,like you said, it was two to
three minutes.
It could have been 45, andeverybody beat around the bush.
But I'm sure a sense ofcalmness.
(13:25):
Right?
Bruce Edgelow (13:27):
Well, Lisa, I could fill an hour of stories
about hearing God's voice in mylife.
And what I've really learned todo is I've learned to trust it.
And have no doubts aboutlistening to it.
Because for me, my journey, youknow, adolescent alcoholic, I
had a car crash once and Ishould have died in it.
(13:48):
And the circumstances were justabsolutely it was all on me.
All on me.
And two weeks post theaccident, I totaled a brand- new
car.
It was really quite something.
But anyway, about two weeksafter the accident, I was kinda
sitting there going because Iwasn't I'd been brought up with
a faith background, but I reallywasn't active in my faith.
(14:08):
And I just, okay Lord, what'sgoing on here?
Like, where are you in this?
And he just very matter offactly, but he said to me, Lisa,
I said, like, the Lord, thepoliceman said I should have
died and here I am crying out toyou, like, what the heck is
going on?
And he just said to me, said, Isaid, why am I still here?
And he just said, I am not donewith you yet.
(14:30):
So every day, I get to wake up,and I'm still here, and I know
he's not done with me.
And it's been a storyboard forme related to that relationship
that I've been blessed with isthat I just have learned to
implicitly trust a bit differentthings.
And have had that journey.
So when the things pivot, andif I've been kind of, alright,
(14:53):
listening for what's reallygoing on, then I should not live
in fear.
Lisa Peters (14:58):
Yeah.
I wonder if some peoplelistening.
They hear this voice.
They they can feel it.
They don't know what it is.
But it's like they they call itmaybe they can call it
something else, but it's likethat inner voice.
And I know exactly what you'retalking about.
It's there's something tellingme to do this.
I called it God.
Bruce Edgelow (15:20):
I have seventy five at least of those that .
Make no sense to me at the time.
Lisa Peters (15:25):
Yep.
Bruce Edgelow (15:26):
Yet I listen to it.
And then, you know, this carthat's greater than me, but I
get to take part of.
It's just it's been so real forme.
And it and it to be fair, itactually helped me get sober.
Because I continued to drink,you know, through I started
started royal at seventy two AndI didn't quit drinking until
(15:49):
eighty five.
So thirteen years into the bankside until I actually quit
drinking.
And what happened for me was myjourney in AA, which was come
to believe that a power higherthan me could relieve me of my
insanity.
I eat the drinking.
Is okay.
Alright.
So, Laura, are you really partof this?
Yeah.
Because this is this been youall this time, and I can
(16:11):
actually trust I need to getsober?
And so the long and short of myfirst couple of years in AA was
this journey of exploring mydisease, understanding it, And
then my identity changed from aguy who was an alcoholic and
identifying as alcoholic.
Oh, by the way, I also havefaith.
Is I get I was able to do awhole bunch of work related to
(16:33):
both AA alcoholism and faith AndI ultimately pivoted my
identity to be an a child of God.
Oh, by the way, I also am analcoholic.
And it was a real pivot for merelated to where my basic
strength needed to come from.
Lisa Peters (16:48):
Yeah.
Thank you for sharing.
It was a great conversation.
Great moments.
To the second question, give usyour best principle of success
and tell us a story thatillustrates this.
Bruce Edgelow (17:03):
My best principle of success is be true to myself
as to who I am, and to haveonly one voice and be no one for
that respectful one voice.
So that the way I managed atall cases, but more towards the
(17:24):
end as I was stepping into moreexecutive roles, And it was that
I became one that people couldcome into my office and have a
conversation with me, and theyknew there was no double talk
there was I would I would only Ionly had one voice.
I wasn't kinda okay.
I gotta see this story here andthis over there.
It was I was known for honestconversations, respectful
(17:48):
conversations, and moreimportantly was really just the
truth.
Like, you wanna hear you wannareally know what's going on?
You can go in and sit withBruce and have a conversation
with him.
And if I was dealing with meatyissues, I also could go into
other people's office and treatthem with respect and have one
conversation.
And that was really that kindof a a lesson for me for a
(18:09):
variety of activities and thingsthat I did, but it was It was
at the end of the day, Lisa, itwas is to be true to myself.
Who was I?
Was I doing those things that Iwas empowered to do and gifted
to do, and then have confidenceand just do it.
Right?
And do the right things.
Be no one for a guy who treatedpeople respectfully.
(18:31):
But at the end of the day, oncekinda because some stuff is
never really clear.
Right?
Because it isn't always clearthe first first pass.
But ultimately, when the dustsettle, they're the smoke
cleared, whatever you wannaframe it as.
All of a sudden, it was like,wow, we get treated fairly,
respectfully, honestly, we'retold the truth, and I could
count on that conversation.
And that and that's really beenmy DNA.
(18:53):
For it.
And to be fair, alcoholism hasa basic tenant of not being
trustworthy.
Because the disease conceptwithin alcoholism is a disease
of denial.
So as you're coming out of thatprocess, which is why there's a
twelve step process to help oneto get sober, is there's a lot
(19:17):
of principles that you need towork through and come out of to
actually get to the very top.
So how do I sustain sobriety?
And it was not about being indenial.
It was accepting that I had a Ihad a a chromosome that was
different than the non alcoholic.
And that there was no pityparty going on here.
I needed to get sober and Ineeded to stay sober and I
(19:37):
needed to quit drinking.
And it was magical.
It's a whole other story, butit was, again, that whole tenet
and principle of, it's not easy,but you gotta find a way
through it.
Right?
Lisa Peters (19:47):
Yeah.
Need to speak true to yourself.
I I have a friend that she'shigh up in the in our
government, and she has alwayssaid that be the best version of
herself.
And at the end of the day, shehas to know that she did the
best she could today because somuch can come at you.
And but today I did the best Icould.
(20:09):
You know?
So I appreciate that answer.
So the next question is aboutfailures and mistakes.
So Obviously, I think we allbelieve we learn more from our
failures and mistakes than oursuccesses.
So would you be able to shareone of your greatest failures or
mistakes and what you havelearned from it?
Bruce Edgelow (20:28):
Well, I think it's a basic start to my life
that you know, I think Iactually started smoking at
eight and drinking at ten to befair.
But at the end of the day, thethe compliment, my great twelve
biology teacher paid me, and hehad endured me through bio ten
twenty and thirty.
Was that in grade twelve, I wasnot as much of a disruptive, an
(20:52):
an an anebriated disruptive asI was in grade ten.
Like, really, that's mygraduation testimony.
Right?
Of my and I love misterAgronidesse.
I can still remember theconversation with it.
But the greatest lesson that Ilearned my it through that whole
process of coming out the otherside of it many years later, to
be fair, like, many yearslater, thirteen years later, is
that I didn't let it define me.
(21:14):
And that in a moment of doubtand distress, I can I can I can
put on the hat as what would youexpect your grade twelve drum?
Right?
But that's not my identity.
That was a circumstance I foundmyself in, but I did not let it
ultimately define me.
And the other cool part was Ialways had I always had a soft
(21:36):
spot for people who may not havein the banking world you're not
nothing if you don't have anMBA or an undergrad or your CFA
etcetera.
And I always had a soft spotfor those that had the had the
attributes and the things thatthe passion and the and the
heart for something, and theymay not have the designation.
(21:57):
And we often hired people whomay not have had all the perfect
degrees and initials aftertheir name, but we saw the
passion and we saw the abilityto do it.
And I was so blessed becauseRoyal Bank was an amazing
teaching school of teaching bank.
So, I mean, I I got anequivalency of of a bit of a
degree.
I I got a designation throughthe banking community.
(22:18):
So I and and I, you know, I'vetaken unbelievable number of
courses, including ICD, etcetera.
So I've been able to learnalong the way and that to me was
don't let the past define melearn from it and move through
it and move forward.
Right?
Mhmm.
Lisa Peters (22:34):
You made a great point.
I'm gonna highlight this isjust we cannot underestimate the
experience we get.
You, you know, you said the youthe underdog.
Right?
The person that doesn't havetheir NBA, the person that
doesn't have their just pastgrade twelve.
They could be great leaders.
They could be great bankers, beyou know, don't underestimate
(22:55):
them, so I appreciate that.
You made one other comment.
You said the biology teacherpaid you a compliment.
You you pause there and you usethe word paid you a compliment
versus gave me a compliment orwhy did you use the word paid?
Is that just something you do?
Bruce Edgelow (23:14):
Yeah.
I maybe -- Yeah.
Lisa Peters (23:16):
--
Bruce Edgelow (23:16):
maybe it was and and and yeah.
And it was, like, the mostbackhanded comment ever.
Right?
I wasn't as disruptive as greatas follows.
It wasn't great ten.
But it was but it butnevertheless, it's not the first
time I've used that phrase.
It's not the first time I'vetalked about mister Hackman in
my life.
Right?
And and, you know, I I barelyyou know, it doesn't matter.
(23:37):
It doesn't matter.
But but it was interesting isthat that was what my pursuit
was in high school was otherthan academics.
Right?
Yet, when I look at the thingsI've done, like, wow, I've been
so blessed.
Lisa Peters (23:49):
Yep.
Great.
Thanks for sharing that.
Good news.
That was good.
So at leader impact, we want togrow professionally,
personally, and spiritually.
For increasing impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example of how the
spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
leader?
Bruce Edgelow (24:06):
No.
Absolutely.
So as I was coming out theother side of my alcoholism and
really exploring my faith, I dida one on one recycling program
with a neighbor.
His name was Jim, and it wasunbelievable time for me because
I was I was growing in my faith.
(24:28):
I was I was give you a sense ofmy alcoholism.
I went and saw a counselor oneday to tell him, I needed to go
to a counselor based on somereally rotten Christmas, I'd put
my family through because I hadbeen drinking with my game my
family game.
So anyway, I went inside DennisJanuary eighteenth nineteen
eighty five.
(24:48):
And I spent an hour of claritywith him and I came out of that
meeting and Dennis has said,well, here's some things need to
do and look at.
But until you figure some ofthe stuff out, you probably
shouldn't have another drink.
And I've not had another drinksince that day.
I've not had another drink.
And I wasn't a guy that wasdrinking all the time, but I
knew ultimately that alcohol wascontrolling me and me not yet.
(25:09):
And as I continued to explorethat, and then started to go
forward in my faith.
This one on one recyclingprogram, ten weeks, Jim and I
took nine months to do it.
But we were neighbors, and so Iwas fine every whatever night
of the week I was overdue aswasted.
And we were talking about thisawareness of god in our lives.
And he had talked about so hewas a sales guy, and he had six
(25:34):
kids.
And he talked about we're justtalking on on a on a one of the
lessons we're doing, and he'snot giving you an example.
He said, I went to sales calltoday, and I prayed in the
elevator in a way to on the wayto the sales call.
I kinda looked at himquizzically.
I said, you did what?
He kinda looks back at me.
He said, what do you mean I didwhat?
He said, I got six miles aroundhere to feed.
In fact, I got eight miles, Igot a feed.
(25:55):
I wasn't praying for success.
I was praying to be the bestthat I could be.
Iced ice to see, ears to hear,a mouth to only interact when I
needed to.
But I was just praying to bethe going back to your comment,
the best version of me that Icould be because I've got
responsibilities.
And then he paused because,hold just just hold on a minute.
(26:15):
I see you walk by my door atsix thirty in the morning,
catching probably the first busout of the neighborhood.
And not coming back to, like,five thirty six at night, where
are you at with yourspirituality?
And I was nowhere related tothat active faith.
Right?
That active faith.
And my dad had a number ofyears ago number of years early
(26:38):
into my banking career andbecause it was his mantra.
He kinda sent to me.
He said, you gotta be carefulas a banker about mixing
business and religion because itmay not mix.
So you need to be careful.
So I love my dad to my dad todeath and I thought, okay, well,
it's a good listener.
Well, in the end.
And pops knows this now.
But he was dead.
That's wrong.
(26:58):
Pardon me, but he was totallywrong.
Because what Jim taught me washis notion of incorporating
like, if I was just simply thisSunday Christian or this hour on
Sunday Christian, And, oh, I goto church and I'm good.
If I wasn't allowing thatpotential relationship to be
(27:18):
more of who I was, I was reallymissing out.
I was really missing out.
And so through that wholeprogram of nights and months
with Jim and in life of of doinglife, what I've found is I have
openly displayed my face withpeople.
I've done it in a way that'sbeen just this is my story, and
(27:41):
this is what goes on for me.
And it's been a platform for menow that Like, again, in my
profile, I've traveled with withleader impact in four countries
.
It's been really cool.
And when I do my talk, even inCalgary, my talk is business and
faith, a powerful combination.
Because what I've been able todo, Lisa, is incorporate it day
to day.
(28:01):
It's been day to day for me.
And so that people have gottenused to, yeah, Bruce's amount of
faith, like, I I I do lots ofcoffees because business
whatever.
So it's not uncommon to be mein Starbucks that Eight Avenue
Place in Calgary.
In the line waiting to getcoffee with this individual that
(28:21):
I'm with.
And they go, so how are things?
They say, well, I'm a hugefaith, and every day is a God
day because it's really hard.
Yeah.
But every day is a God day.
And that's how I and thatthat's that's just how I start
my conversations.
And it's not uncommon throughthe course of the coffee to look
over at our table and to seehands class heads bowed and
(28:45):
praying about what it is that wewere meeting about.
Because if I'm being promptedto bring my face to bear related
to my talents and my time andmy treasure.
To do the things I need to do,I need to be honest and real
with it.
And what I families over timeis that my heavenly father is a
big part of that.
And so he's really taught mehow to frame that and how to be
(29:07):
real with it.
I I had a team today and I'mjust I just I met a new client
today at ten o'clock about anopportunity for me to help them.
And I wait to be promptedbefore I do this because I need
to know it's not my words, butsomebody else's words, you know
who that somebody else's.
But anyway, at eleven o'clock,the meeting's over and I said,
(29:30):
you guys bear with me for oneminute.
I have a really faith basedpractice.
And I try to really do thingsand God's strength not my own.
And I've really enjoyed thismeeting and I think I can help
you.
But what I'd like to do ifyou're okay with it is I'd like
a closer meeting in prayer.
And they're kinda like, oh, noworries asked us to do that
before.
(29:50):
And yet, I did.
I just I thank God for whatthese three people were amazing.
So talented, amazingopportunities.
I just prayed his provision ontheir on their company and what
they're doing.
And then I just said if I canhelp them, I would love that
privilege to be able to helpwith them.
And it was like a minute andand ended And I look over and
(30:11):
the the one lady who's there wasa husband and wife team and
then the guy who's got his PhDand, oh, is he smart?
But just an amazing team andshe's in tears.
She said no one has done thatfor us before.
And I just said, I said, Well,thank you for giving me the
privilege to be able to do that.
Lisa Peters (30:30):
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (30:30):
Because that's what we're trying to do.
Right?
Lisa Peters (30:33):
Mhmm.
I remember the first personthat ever prayed over me and I
was in tears.
I can feel that.
Yeah.
Thanks for sharing.
That great story.
So those are the four questionsthat we have had for you.
I always end my podcast withtwo final questions because I I
love to know what what peopleare up to or what they think.
(30:55):
As you know, leader impacts,dedicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
So as you continue to movethrough your own journey and
life, Have you considered whatyou want your faith legacy to be
when you leave this world?
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (31:12):
Thank you for the ask.
And it came quickly, is that Ithink I am known for now and
that my journey will be never tolose my way with this is to be
no one as a man who walkedclosely with God and always
listened for his voice.
Is that I and, you know, andand, hey, let's I'll just be
(31:35):
really clear.
Life has not been great for me.
I've actually been divorcedtwice.
I've had two marriages not workfor me.
And I'm not happy about that.
And there's all kinds ofcircumstances around that.
And it's not been a cakewalk.
I'm sixty eight, and I'm stillworking.
Right?
But I love what I do, and sothat's okay.
But at the end of the day, whenwhen God chooses to take me
(31:57):
home, he told me, like, innineteen eighty five, he wasn't
done with me yet.
So every day I wake up and he'snot done with me, is I I think
I will continue my my my effortseach and every day is to be
known as a guy of faith andactively walking with God and
not afraid to share that withothers.
(32:17):
So, like, you know, I was at atlunch, I left my eleven
o'clock, and I went for lunchwith a ex coworker that I'd
loved her to deaf.
She's just an amazing youngexecutive absolutely doing well.
I had the privilege of hiringher and we prayed together over
lunch because that's what we getto do.
Right?
Is to bring our spirituality,make it real, and be remembered
(32:42):
for that.
Right?
And so go back to my byspeaking is that what do I wanna
be remembered for?
Is business and faith apowerful combination?
Lisa Peters (32:54):
Great answer.
And my final question I askyou, everybody, is what brings
you the greatest joy
Bruce Edgelow (33:02):
Two things.
Family, I have an absolutelyamazing thirteen year old
grandson who I just didDaugherty so much fun and a son
and daughter-in-law are doingsuch a great job with my
grandson.
So families were really close.
We golf together.
We go to hockey games together.
On the ball diamond togetherjust so family is critical for
(33:24):
me.
And then this other thing, thegreatest joy is being active in
my face.
Being at that meeting today,not knowing whether I was gonna
get prompted or not, but whenthe prompt came to closing
prayer, that brings me joy.
Because I'm I have anopportunity if I'm prompted to
do it to do that, and I neverknow the outcome.
(33:45):
But if I'm being prompted forit, then somebody else knows the
outcome and it was magic.
Lisa Peters (33:51):
We never know the outcome.
Yeah.
Bruce Edgelow (33:54):
And yet there's joy in that.
Lisa Peters (33:56):
Right?
That's awesome.
Bruce, I wanna thank you fortaking the last just over thirty
minutes to share with us.
It has been a pleasure to getto know you.
I love meeting leaders aroundthe world and hearing their
stories because they are alldifferent.
I come in thinking, I think Iknow what I'm dealing with and
then your stories are are just Ilove asking the questions, and
(34:19):
I love hearing the stories.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Bruce Edgelow (34:21):
Well, thank you for what you do and many
blessings.
Lisa Peters (34:24):
Alright.
Now if anyone is listening inthe I wanna talk to Bruce.
What is the best way that theycan find you or engage with you?
Bruce Edgelow (34:31):
Yeah.
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
That's that's absolutely thebest.
Just find me on LinkedIn andsend me a note and say, hey,
heard your podcast, whatever.
And I'm I'm active in that inthat platform, so it's a great
way to get connected.
Lisa Peters (34:45):
Awesome.
Moa, thank you again forjoining
Bruce Edgelow (34:46):
us.
Alright.
Lisa Peters (34:48):
Alright.
Well, I wanna thank everyoneelse everyone else for joining
us.
If you're part of leaderimpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you were not yet part ofa leader impact and would like
to find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact dot c a and check
out our free leadershipassessment.
You will also find on our webpage chapter one of Braden
(35:11):
Douglas' book becoming a leaderof impact.
It is an awesome leadership bar.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
leaderimpact dot c a or ifyou're listening from anywhere
else in the world, check outleader impact dot com.
Or get in touch with us byemail info leaderimpact.
Ca, and we will connect you.
If you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
(35:32):
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact startswith you.
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