Introducing the Mission True Workbook

Today, we’re launching the Mission True Workbook. This free resource is designed to help you and the organizations you care about to stay on mission. In light of COVID-19, organizations are re-evaluating programs, approaches, staffing, funding, and governance models. We believe this is a moment requiring change and adaptation with the potential of leading organizations down the well-worn path of mission drift. How do we make adjustments and pivot in ways that do not slowly undermine our mission?

Specifically, how do we differentiate between changes that help accomplish our mission and changes that lead us away from our core purpose? Consider the example of stagecoaches and the one company that managed to survive amid significant environmental changes.

Stagecoaches used to be the lifeblood of the Wild West. During the California Gold Rush and the decades afterward, stagecoach was the most reliable way to travel and transport goods from the East to the West.

By 1859, stagecoach express mail was used to send letters and gold across the vast American deserts and mountains. During this time, a certain stagecoach company grew in popularity as the most reliable company in the West. But their leaders knew they weren’t just a stagecoach company—they weren’t even a transportation company. They existed to connect people and protect and transport their most valuable possessions. That was their mission.

By the end of the century, the railway appeared and ushered in a new era of transportation. As the railways expanded, the stagecoach business lost its preeminent role as the bridge between the East and the West.

Around the country, stagecoach companies began to collapse. But this one company—Wells Fargo & Co.—outlasted the rest. It remained centered on its ability to connect people, money, and goods. Wells Fargo eventually left the transportation industry entirely to become the Fortune 100 banking giant it is today.

As bankrupted stagecoach companies began to dot the western plains, Wells Fargo flourished. It thrived because its leaders knew why the company existed. Today, Wells Fargo still boasts a stagecoach in its company logo, but it would no longer be a service provider if its leaders were confused about their core mission.

Change ≠ Drift

While some would label all change as drift, change is necessary to stay on mission.

In this moment, leaders and organizations have pivoted their priorities to meet the pressing needs left in the wake of the global crisis. Amid rapid changes to strategic plans and dashboards, the pandemic offered an unusual gift: the chance to refocus on what matters most. For HOPE, it provided an opportunity to creatively redesign programs and respond in ways that might better accomplish our purpose. Over the next few months, as we return to our places of work, we have the opportunity to make all decisions in light of the most important asset of our organizations: the mission.

Mission True organizations—those who faithfully advance their mission—know why they exist. Instead of avoiding change, they pursue it when it will help them to become truer to their values and their purpose.

It’s for this reason that we’re excited to introduce the Mission True Workbook. Coauthored by Chris Horst, Becca Spradlin, and Claire Stewart, the Mission True Workbook is an interactive follow up and companion to Mission Drift. It’s designed as an actionable resource for organizations ready to take the next step on their Mission True journey.

In addition to new Mission True case studies, the Workbook includes best practices, discussion questions, and reflection activities that equip leaders and organizations to clarify and refocus on their core mission. It expounds on themes of leadership, clarity, messaging, metrics, governance, people, funding, excellence, culture, and the Church.

The Workbook also offers a self-assessment and action plan that will help leaders and organizations put the right steps in place to become or remain Mission True. If you and your organization are eager to stay on mission, download the Workbook.

Join us as we carry on the important work of remaining Mission True!

2 Comments

  1. Rajan S V
    July 7, 2020

    Hi Peter,
    Thanks again for coming across so beautifully yet so simply with the word for the church and its outreach arms through your book and now this work book. Your book has been the one book I keep going to for the past 5 years, so much so that my sons ask me is there no other for you to read.

    Well, the reason I do that is because as I am part of a large Christian mission organisation and I am concerned about corruption in human heart and how that brings are very ‘slight’ shift/drift. As you mention in the book, that to my mind will take the Institution off course in the long run. Praying that you will equip more watchmen on the walls with word from the throne. May the Lord bless you and Cris and your families.

    Reply
    1. Peter Greer
      July 14, 2020

      Thanks for reading, Rajan! I appreciate your commitment to living and leading on mission. Grateful for you.

      Reply

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