Haskayne's Adam Legge writes blueprint, assembly manual for organizational change

When Adam Legge, MEDes’99, was headhunted to be the CEO of the Calgary Chamber at the age of 35, he knew he was in for a challenge. The organization was floundering and he was new to this top leadership role. What he didn’t expect was the lack of resources — books, courses or coaching — available on the market to support new leaders.

“There was nothing that told me or showed me what the ideal looked like and how to get there,” says Legge, now the director of the Global Business Futures Initiative at Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL) at the Haskayne School of Business. “I found bits and pieces of what I needed — a book about governance here and other elements there. But nothing existed that was a comprehensive blueprint for the modern, dynamic organization.”

Fast forward eight years — the Calgary Chamber is now a national and international award-winning organization, Legge is a seasoned leader who aptly showed his mettle (particularly during the Calgary flood of 2013) and he has now published the book he wanted as a first-time CEO.

Making Remarkable was officially launched on Amazon on Aug. 8, 2018 and promptly hit the number one spot in the non-profit leadership category that day.

“My hope is that leaders will find something in the book to take their organization to the next level — a remarkable level. Average or mediocre cannot survive in rapid change,” emphasizes Legge. “This book aims to be a blueprint and an assembly manual in one.” He wants to reach leaders who are new to the executive suite and experienced professionals who can gain insight into the changing face of leadership in today’s world.

The human side of leadership

“I found there was a gap in the market for books that are genuine and transparent that talk about what it feels like to be a leader for the first time,” says Legge. Many leadership tomes are written by those who are retired or late in their career — where they can speak about volumes of deals but can scarcely remember what it was like in their early days in that top spot.

“The role of leadership can be incredibly emotional. From the highs of accomplishment to the pits of failure, it is that and everything in between,” Legge explains in the book. He says that you will likely have touched on aspects of the top role in the rise to it but having the top job will be different than anything you have experienced before.

The pace of change is altering leadership practice

Leadership is now far more visible and transparent than any time in the past — and Legge gets frank with the positives and the negatives of this reality. “Leaders today must perform at the highest ethical standard and make it clear that they will not tolerate inappropriate or unethical behaviour in their organization. And they must model that every day.” The flip side of all decisions being in the spotlight is that there are very few shadows remaining for unethical leaders to hide behind, which Legge feels is better for leadership and organizations overall.

Knowledge and practice are changing daily. Information can spread instantaneously through digital networks. Artificial intelligence and robotics are set to change many industries. In the past, the CEO of an organization was expected to be an expert. Now, a CEO provides more impact by being a connector, facilitator and visionary. “A key feature of the work I am doing now with CCAL is how to navigate disruptive times as a leader and how to stay focused on the long term when the here and now is so disruptive.”

Remodelling to remarkable

Legge outlines three pillars of remarkability — purpose, people and platform — and has an online diagnostic tool to see where your organization measures up. “You must deal with all three pillars to be remarkable. It is purpose first for a reason. You must have this before the other elements can come into place.”