Exciting news: The Humphrey Group has been acquired by Humance!
In this special episode of The Inspire Podcast, Bart Egnal speaks with Bernard Letendre, Managing Partner, Ontario and Western Canada at Humance, about the story behind this decision and the journey that led him there.
Bernard shares his remarkable career path from practicing law to leading major divisions in Canada’s financial services industry, to joining Humance and becoming the architect behind its acquisition of The Humphrey Group. Along the way, he reflects on lessons learned about taking risks, creating opportunities rather than waiting for them, and pursuing growth with purpose.
He also draws powerful parallels between leadership and his lifelong practice of judo, where discipline, humility, and mutual benefit are essential to success.
Bart and Bernard close with an inside look at how the merger came to be after a year of conversation and a shared vision for growth, and how it will set both organizations up to continue serving their clients in existing and new ways.
Whether you’re navigating your own career transitions or leading through change, this conversation offers powerful insights on creating your own opportunities, embracing non-linear growth, and finding strength in partnership.
Show Notes:
00:14 Show intro
00:48 Welcoming Bernard
01:14 Special announcement
02:05 "Humance" meaning
02:29 Judo and its importance
04:40 How Bernard began his career
05:01 Law and the law of electronic surveillance
05:34 Wife: "law made you less fun to be around"
06:47 Joined IG
07:06 Taking a 100% commission job
07:53 Making cold-calls to the bar phonebook
08:35 Finding opportunities in the new job
08:40 Officer training in the military
09:05 Good at management
10:19 Changing career paths regularly
10:36 Switching to Standard Life
11:21 Standard life
12:05 2009 Financial crisis - lost job
12:14 Landing at Manulife
12:36 Should you take a step down in your career?
13:01 Building a biz plan for private wealth at Manulife
13:44 Manulife tapped him to run his business plan
14:54 Advice for people who are ambitious with their careers
15:08 Don't wait for opportunity, come up with ways of creating value
15:36 Congrats, you have employment now figure out your job
16:50 How the Pandemic transformed his life
17:53 cert in organizational coaching
20:59 Why he made the leap to Humance
22:38 Long-term thinking
22:45 Doing is big "act" before it was too late
24:16 Advice: A career does not have to be linear
25:13 Not having a rigid mind
25:36 The final act: Humance
27:05 His Biz plan for expanding Humance outside the Quebec market
28:48 How Bernard reached out to Bart
31:17 Mutual benefit in Judo
33:41 Thank yous and wrap up
34:02 Outro
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Exciting news: The Humphrey Group has been acquired by Humance!
In this special episode of The Inspire Podcast, Bart Egnal speaks with Bernard Letendre, Managing Partner, Ontario and Western Canada at Humance, about the story behind this decision and the journey that led him there.
Bernard shares his remarkable career path from practicing law to leading major divisions in Canada’s financial services industry, to joining Humance and becoming the architect behind its acquisition of The Humphrey Group. Along the way, he reflects on lessons learned about taking risks, creating opportunities rather than waiting for them, and pursuing growth with purpose.
He also draws powerful parallels between leadership and his lifelong practice of judo, where discipline, humility, and mutual benefit are essential to success.
Bart and Bernard close with an inside look at how the merger came to be after a year of conversation and a shared vision for growth, and how it will set both organizations up to continue serving their clients in existing and new ways.
Whether you’re navigating your own career transitions or leading through change, this conversation offers powerful insights on creating your own opportunities, embracing non-linear growth, and finding strength in partnership.
Show Notes:
00:14 Show intro
00:48 Welcoming Bernard
01:14 Special announcement
02:05 "Humance" meaning
02:29 Judo and its importance
04:40 How Bernard began his career
05:01 Law and the law of electronic surveillance
05:34 Wife: "law made you less fun to be around"
06:47 Joined IG
07:06 Taking a 100% commission job
07:53 Making cold-calls to the bar phonebook
08:35 Finding opportunities in the new job
08:40 Officer training in the military
09:05 Good at management
10:19 Changing career paths regularly
10:36 Switching to Standard Life
11:21 Standard life
12:05 2009 Financial crisis - lost job
12:14 Landing at Manulife
12:36 Should you take a step down in your career?
13:01 Building a biz plan for private wealth at Manulife
13:44 Manulife tapped him to run his business plan
14:54 Advice for people who are ambitious with their careers
15:08 Don't wait for opportunity, come up with ways of creating value
15:36 Congrats, you have employment now figure out your job
16:50 How the Pandemic transformed his life
17:53 cert in organizational coaching
20:59 Why he made the leap to Humance
22:38 Long-term thinking
22:45 Doing is big "act" before it was too late
24:16 Advice: A career does not have to be linear
25:13 Not having a rigid mind
25:36 The final act: Humance
27:05 His Biz plan for expanding Humance outside the Quebec market
28:48 How Bernard reached out to Bart
31:17 Mutual benefit in Judo
33:41 Thank yous and wrap up
34:02 Outro
S7 E4: Why Leaders Need to Tap into the Power of Stories with Patricio Larrea and Athulya Pulimood
The Inspire Podcast
43 minutes 22 seconds
6 months ago
S7 E4: Why Leaders Need to Tap into the Power of Stories with Patricio Larrea and Athulya Pulimood
In this episode, Bart welcomes two members of The Humphrey Group to talk about the rise of storytelling as a leadership imperative and why great stories exist inside you.
Patricio opens the conversation by sharing why storytelling has become an increasingly critical skill for leaders in this day and age. A trend that the rise of AI has only accelerated. Athulya builds on this by explaining why storytelling has always been something that is more memorable and impactful than just sharing information and data. Together, they introduce the STORY framework, a new tool developed by THG at the heart of The Power of Stories program, and break down how both Star Wars and real-life business stories can follow the same powerful structure. They show how even those who feel like they don’t have stories can tap into meaningful experiences and turn them into powerful narratives.
Whether you're a seasoned executive or just starting your leadership journey, this episode will make you a more effective and confident storyteller no matter what role you hold or what industry you are in.
Learn more about The Power of Stories program here: https://www.thehumphreygroup.com/storytelling-for-leaders
Show Notes
1:17 Welcoming guests to the show
3:10 When did you first realize how important storytelling was?
7:23 Why stories are powerful
7:27 Our brains are wired for stories
7:42 The research behind it
8:47 Why is storytelling more relevant now than ever before
9:03 Social media has changed the way we connect
9:32 15% of social media posts — influenced by AI
10:07 When you tell a story, you connect
11:00 Building trust as a leader
11:21 Showing vulnerability
12:07 Stories stick
12:27 People remember stories, not data
15:16 A framework for building storytelling skills
15:45 A lot of stories SUCK!
16:38 S: Situation
16:58 T: Tension
17:21 O: Opportunity
18:07 R: Result
18:23 Y: Your Learning
18:43 Take a movie plot and break it down
21:37 Business story
22:06 The Steve Jobs story
25:19 An executive says, "I have no stories"
26:20 Is it appropriate to share stories?
27:39 Stories you probably shouldn't be telling
28:40 How to find your stories?
28:41 You don't have to have gone through James Bond scenarios to have good stories
31:07 The 'why' determines whether a story is useful or not
31:25 Tips for finding your own stories
32:32 The four plots that every leader needs
32:51 The hero's journey plot
32:59 Overcoming obstacles plot
33:08 Discovery plot
33:20 The rise and fall and rise again plot
34:09 Doesn't working at your stories kill the authenticity?
34:31 Making sure you're present in the moment
34:48 Do you practice stories?
39:45 How telling a personal story created connection
41:36 Thank yous
The Inspire Podcast
Exciting news: The Humphrey Group has been acquired by Humance!
In this special episode of The Inspire Podcast, Bart Egnal speaks with Bernard Letendre, Managing Partner, Ontario and Western Canada at Humance, about the story behind this decision and the journey that led him there.
Bernard shares his remarkable career path from practicing law to leading major divisions in Canada’s financial services industry, to joining Humance and becoming the architect behind its acquisition of The Humphrey Group. Along the way, he reflects on lessons learned about taking risks, creating opportunities rather than waiting for them, and pursuing growth with purpose.
He also draws powerful parallels between leadership and his lifelong practice of judo, where discipline, humility, and mutual benefit are essential to success.
Bart and Bernard close with an inside look at how the merger came to be after a year of conversation and a shared vision for growth, and how it will set both organizations up to continue serving their clients in existing and new ways.
Whether you’re navigating your own career transitions or leading through change, this conversation offers powerful insights on creating your own opportunities, embracing non-linear growth, and finding strength in partnership.
Show Notes:
00:14 Show intro
00:48 Welcoming Bernard
01:14 Special announcement
02:05 "Humance" meaning
02:29 Judo and its importance
04:40 How Bernard began his career
05:01 Law and the law of electronic surveillance
05:34 Wife: "law made you less fun to be around"
06:47 Joined IG
07:06 Taking a 100% commission job
07:53 Making cold-calls to the bar phonebook
08:35 Finding opportunities in the new job
08:40 Officer training in the military
09:05 Good at management
10:19 Changing career paths regularly
10:36 Switching to Standard Life
11:21 Standard life
12:05 2009 Financial crisis - lost job
12:14 Landing at Manulife
12:36 Should you take a step down in your career?
13:01 Building a biz plan for private wealth at Manulife
13:44 Manulife tapped him to run his business plan
14:54 Advice for people who are ambitious with their careers
15:08 Don't wait for opportunity, come up with ways of creating value
15:36 Congrats, you have employment now figure out your job
16:50 How the Pandemic transformed his life
17:53 cert in organizational coaching
20:59 Why he made the leap to Humance
22:38 Long-term thinking
22:45 Doing is big "act" before it was too late
24:16 Advice: A career does not have to be linear
25:13 Not having a rigid mind
25:36 The final act: Humance
27:05 His Biz plan for expanding Humance outside the Quebec market
28:48 How Bernard reached out to Bart
31:17 Mutual benefit in Judo
33:41 Thank yous and wrap up
34:02 Outro
