“Right Relationship in Leadership: Courage, Curiosity, & the Four-Legged Stool” with Julie Barker-Merz

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we welcome the extraordinary Julie Barker-Merz, Regional President of BMO Bank of Montreal for Greater Toronto. A visionary leader with a bold heart, Julie is known for breaking new ground in corporate leadership and uplifting women across business, sport, and community. Julie shares deeply personal insights on how to lead with heart while holding big responsibility. From her signature “four-legged stool” principle of balance to her unwavering belief that difference is power, Julie brings inspiration, wisdom, and courage to the conversation.

In This Episode:

• What it means to be in right relationship with yourself, in your leadership, your health, your home, and your heart
• The power of leading from authenticity, clarity, and shared values, and how that shifts culture from the inside out
• Small “c” vs. Big “C” coaching, and why that distinction matters for creating real transformation in people and teams
• How choosing curiosity over control opens doors to growth, connection, and possibility
• Why difference is power, and how Julie leans into discomfort with openness, not resistance
• The role of failure, feedback, and fortitude in shaping resilient, conscious leadership
• Julie’s guiding principle of the “four-legged stool,” and how she uses it to stay grounded across every area of life.
• From marathon training to scrapbooking retreats, how she protects her energy and recharges with intention.
• Integration over isolation, why weaving together fitness, friendship, and family creates more sustainable success
• Curiosity in conflict, how asking instead of assuming can turn tension into trust
• The power of finding your people, and why women thrive in communities built on support, not competition

Bio:

Julie Barker-Merz is the Regional President, BMO Bank of Montreal, for Greater Toronto, where she leads a team of personal banking professionals across 9 markets and 170 branches. She is a board member of Tree Canada, past-Chair of the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, and the former Director and Treasurer of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. She is a long-standing and strong supporter of women in business, sport, and the community and a 2015 recipient of The International Alliance of Women’s (TIAW) Top 100 World of Difference awards, as well as one of Canada’s Top 50 to watch in Wealth Management in 2016 during her time as President of BMO InvestorLine. And in 2018, she was awarded Ontario’s Leading Women, Building Communities Award of Excellence, and in 2023, the WXN DEI Award for her role on Corporate Boards.

Throughout her 25+ year career with BMO Financial Group, Julie has earned the reputation of being a leader who executes with pace, courage, and excellence, inspiring multi-disciplinary teams to come together towards a common vision. Julie received her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, her Fellow from the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and her MBA from Dalhousie University.  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-barker-merz-9206a418/

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