What is Making Remarkable?

When I took the President and CEO role at the Calgary Chamber in 2010, I didn’t know where to start. I was tasked with turning an aging, outdated, and declining organization around. It was 119 years old and was in need of a dire transformation. But I truly didn’t know where to start. It’s true. I spent a lot of time looking, reading, watching and listening for a plan or a roadmap of what to do to transform an organization into one of the modern, dynamic variety and what it should be like in its ideal state.

It didn’t exist. So I created one. It’s my new book.

Making Remarkable: How to Deliver Purpose, Inspire People and Build a Platform for Exceptional Results is that roadmap; the playbook that amidst all the change and disruption will help you transform your struggling, or even fairly good but traditional, organization into something that will blow people away. My goal was to create a book that laid out a framework for what the modern, dynamic high-performing organization looks like, and how to get it there. It is part blueprint and part assembly manual. It is a rendering of what your organization needs to be and have in place—it is about creating the foundations for long-term remarkable performance. It will help turn your organization into one that is remarkable—one that will attract the best talent, that will create raving and loyal fans, will generate repeat business and will have impacts greater than you would traditionally expect.

What is remarkability? It is a state of being exceptional in your performance, relevance and value. It is being in a state that enables your organization to do its finest work and to therefore make an unparalleled impact on your customers, members, communities and the world.

But how do you achieve remarkability? How do you enable your organization to rise above all competitors or disruptors to become an organization that is noticed? Making Remarkable is about leading the modern organization to a state of remarkable existence and performance in times of change and disruption.

Those two things – change and disruption – are everywhere. You can’t turn around without seeing or hearing about them. Technological change, demographic change, climate change, social and political change. No two days are the same anymore. So organizations need to be prepared for these disruptions, and those of their customers in order to better serve them. Sitting change out is not an option. The status quo is not an option. You need to be adapting and evolving. Always.

The remarkable organization has three foundational pillars—Purpose, People and Platform. Each one has different elements.

The path to remarkability is one that requires hard work, commitment, focus and discipline. You will encounter naysayers and obstacles. You will face challenges. People will not buy-in. The decisions will be hard. But the alternative is not on the table. You know you need to improve and transform your organization. The truth is that all the hard work is worth it. You will achieve remarkability if you follow what is laid out in Making Remarkable. The benefits are immense: Greater impact. Better revenues and growth. Increased relevance. Legacy.  Better staff retention and recruitment. Greater engagement. More satisfied customers and members. Bigger fans. Enhanced profile and reputation. Improved morale and more high-fives around the office. Doesn’t all that seem worth the effort?

Getting to remarkable will require following a process. You will need to assess the state of your organization both at a high level and for each of the three pillars. In Making Remarkable, I give you a host of tools, tips, frameworks and diagnostic questions you can use to figure out where you are at. I then help you go through each of the three pillars—and their eight elements—to achieve remarkability. I show you how to get approval for your proposals. I coach you through getting support and buy-in from your team. I talk about how to overcome the obstacles that you will face. I point you to other helpful resources. In short, in Making Remarkable, I help you transform your organization one step at a time. I have laid it out so you don’t have to go and figure it out for yourself. I have done all the legwork for you and put the plan together in a clear and effective way. This plan is proven and battle tested; from my twenty years of leadership experience, and most recently as the President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber, where I turned a struggling organization into one that has inspired and engaged team members, raving and loyal fans, a healthy sustainability fund for the future, strong financial performance and recipient of numerous awards and accolades.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will share more about Making Remarkable with you in the lead up to its release on August 8. To learn more head to www.makingremarkable.com to find out more about the book, what people are saying about it, and some free “extras.”

Feel free to email me at adam@adamlegge.com or leave a comment. I would love to hear what your journey to remarkability is like. If you are curious to learn more, follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or sign up for my newsletter to get inside tips and tools to transform your organization into one that is remarkable.