The Mission Always Wins: Quit Appeasing Stakeholders

by Tod Bolsinger, Mark Demel (Illustrator), Marty Linsky (Foreword by)

Overview

In a world where change is the only constant, leadership demands courage and clarity.

Every organization faces pivotal moments that can either blur their vision or strengthen their resolve. Through insightful storytelling, engaging illustrations, and practical exercises, Bolsinger helps you cut through the noise to hone in on what truly matters—your mission. The Mission Always Wins isn't just about theory; it's packed with real-life case studies and actionable advice, so you can foster alignment and purpose within your team. The Mission Always Wins is your go-to guide for learning to navigate the choppy waters of organizational change with precision and purpose.

Why The Mission Always Wins Matters

• Clarify Your Purpose: Gain wisdom on articulating your organization's true mission to unite and inspire your team.
• Learn from Experience: Tap into the expertise of Tod Bolsinger, whose guidance steers you through the complexities of leadership.
• Engage with Insight: Enjoy brief, colorful chapters that entertain while they enlighten, making learning both fun and impactful.
• Reflect and Act: Engage with exercises to apply what you've learned, sparking meaningful discussions and strategies within your team.

Are you ready to align your team with a mission that matters? The Mission Always Wins will help you to lead with clarity and conviction in times of change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514008690
Publisher:	IVP
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Series:	Practicing Change Series
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Marty Linsky is a professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and a co-founder with Ronald A. Heifetz of Cambridge Leadership Associates. He has published extensively on leadership, management, politics, and education.

Tod Bolsinger is the founder and principal at AE Sloan Leadership Inc., the executive director of the DePree Center Church Leadership Institute, and associate professor of leadership formation at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience. Tod and his wife, Beth, split their time between Pasadena, California, and Ketchum, Idaho.

Mark Demel brings ideas to life through pictures and creative communication. He has spent more than a decade using his artistic skills in the non-profit sector.

Tod Bolsinger (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a speaker, executive coach, former pastor, and author who serves as associate professor of leadership formation and senior fellow for the De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains, which was named Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in Pastoral Leadership, as well as the Christianity Today Award of Merit recipient It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian. For seventeen years, he was the senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church in San Clemente, California. A frequent speaker and consultant, he serves as an executive coach in transformational leadership.

Mark Demel brings ideas to life through pictures and creative communication. He has spent more than a decade using his artistic skills in the non-profit sector.

Marty Linsky is a professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and a co-founder with Ronald A. Heifetz of Cambridge Leadership Associates. He has published extensively on leadership, management, politics, and education.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Marty Linsky
About the Practicing Change Series
Introduction: Disappointing Leadership
1. A Leadership Story: When a Good Day Goes from Bad to Better
2. Old Mindset: Think Win-Win
3. New Skillset Part 1: Build a First Team
4. New Skillset Part 2: Write an Eight-Word Mission Statement
5. New Skillset Part 3: Face the Reality of Casualties
6. Adaptive Reset: Name and Navigate Competing Values with Missional Clarity
7. The Story Continues: The Meeting Before the Meeting
Acknowledgments
Discussion Guide: Taking Your Team to the Balcony
Notes

Editorial Reviews

"This series is required reading for anyone who wants to lead change. In the very best way, reading these books was like sitting down with a mentor who has done the hard work of leading change himself and wants to help us work through the mistakes, challenges, and dynamics we can't see by ourselves."

Michaela O'Donnell

"This book is a punch in the gut, but a good kind of punch! Tod Bolsinger skillfully conveys the power of being clear about mission—or purpose as I like to say. And he brings to life how often a multitude of other things—our desire for approval, comfort, or safety—actually becomes our focus more than our so-called mission. You can't exercise leadership without passionate clarity around purpose. This book shows you why and how to bring that to life in your life."

Ed O'Malley

"Leaders who know organizational change is needed but don't know how to go about it will find accessible, practical, and wise guidance in Tod Bolsinger's Practicing Change Series. I've found the concepts of adaptive leadership incredibly helpful in thinking through organizational challenges. Bolsinger helps us apply and practice these concepts in a way that will transform our organizations and ourselves as leaders."

Teri McDowell Ott

"The Practicing Change Series is like having Tod Bolsinger as a personal coach. He offers practical and powerful wisdom for anyone who is wrestling with the complex challenges of ministry leadership today."

Mike Bonem

"The Practicing Change Series provides exactly the kind of help that busy leaders need in seeking to bring meaningful change to their organizations in the midst of the ongoing demands of day-to-day leadership. Concisely accessible. Imminently practical. Immediately actionable. And built on solid theory tested in the real world. My own life and leadership have been profoundly impacted by having Tod Bolsinger as a trusted guide in navigating the complexity of leading adaptive change."

Barry D. Jones

"Here's a scary truth: regardless of where you work or what you do for a living, a crisis is coming. In fact multiple crises lie ahead for you because our world is now changing at an unprecedented rate, and those changes will render you and your organization obsolete if you can't find a way to continuously adapt to these coming crises. Leading through these changes will require leaders who aren't afraid to slay some sacred cows, challenge conventional wisdom, and even live outside their own leadership comfort zones. Adaptation will be the single most critical survival skill of the twenty-first century. Tod Bolsinger's four short books in the Practicing Change Series are the 'emergency preparedness drill' that you will be grateful to have read when the next 'tsunami' hits your organization. Read them now before the next wave hits your shore."

Richard Stearns

"Leadership is a lot like twirling a baton: it looks easy until you try it! If you are involved in leadership at any level I would highly recommend Tod Bolsinger's Practicing Change Series. It invites those of us in leadership to reflect on and rethink what it means to be a leader and to build a 'in what really makes a difference—transformation.'"

Daniel Dorsey

"As usual, Tod Bolsinger takes complex concepts and makes them easy to understand and apply, embedding them in engaging stories and practical counsel for any leader wanting to help their organization to change. He meets us at the stairs to the balcony and invites us up to think deeply and creatively about ourselves and our leadership in changing and challenging times."

Trisha Taylor

"The Practicing Change Series is compelling and immediately applicable. Each book weaves us through story, illustration, and discussion to contextualize paradigm-shifting frameworks for thinking. Your leadership, but more importantly the impact through your leadership, will experience a trajectory change through the words penned. Tod is a master storyteller, carefully threading points, principles, and processes with ease and nuance. Today's era of leadership calls for continual, on-the-go growth, and this series offers solutions to today's demands. For the leader whose time is limited and responsibilities toward self and service are complex, these books are for you."

Wendy Nolasco