Ebook
Stay True to Your Mission for the Long Haul
How Leaders Lose Their Way is a powerful and reflective exploration of the pitfalls that can send leaders off course—drawing lessons from the life of King Solomon and the timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes. This book serves as a cautionary tale, equipping leaders to recognize personal and spiritual drift while providing actionable steps to maintain their mission-focused leadership.
Authors Peter Greer and Jill Heisey masterfully blend Scripture with modern-day insights and practical case studies, making this book a compelling guide for pastors, ministry leaders, and organizational leaders aiming to avoid distractions, pressures, and temptations that pull them off course.
This book will help you:
How Leaders Lose Their Way positions King Solomon as both a biblical hero and an antihero. By examining Solomon's wisdom and his ultimate failure to live that wisdom out, readers gain deep insights into avoiding similar pitfalls. Each chapter includes actionable reflection tools and modern case studies designed to equip leaders with practical strategies for staying "mission true."
This book is essential for Christian leaders who are ready to pause, reflect, and realign with their spiritual and organizational missions. Pursue a life of integrity, inspire the next generation, and build a legacy rooted in faithfulness. Stay on the path of mission-true leadership with How Leaders Lose Their Way.
Foreword by Chris Horst
Introduction: When Mission Drift Becomes Personal
Part 1: Drift Is the Default
1. The Danger of Drift
2. Meeting Our Mentor
Part 2: Misguided Pursuits
3. The Allure of Achievement
4. The Mastery of Money
5. The Pursuit of Pleasure
6. The Problem with Power
7. The Quest for Control
Part 3: Strong Currents
8. The Need for Speed
9. The Island Effect
10. Self at the Center
Conclusion: Few Finish Well
Acknowledgments
Notes
"We've all heard too many stories of leaders who've lost their way. We long for a different story; this book shows us how to live it. To ensure we finish well, we must face drift head-on, recognizing it and rowing against it. If you're in a season of transition, if your passion is growing stale, if you're pursuing purpose, if you want to finish well, then I'm glad this book is in your hands."
"Peter Greer and Jill Heisey have written a timely and highly relevant book that is a must-read for Christian leaders. In How Leaders Lose Their Way, they illuminate the motivation and intentions of the heart and the never-ending pull on them. This book is a clarion call to wake up, search your heart, repent, and return to the center of God's will for kingdom calling and service. The ongoing challenges remain to start, sustain, scale, and grow the impact of Christ-centered nonprofits. But it is only possible if we faithfully follow God's way to accomplish the task. This book will guide you!"
"Too many leaders drive by braille through life, mistaking inertia and intention for direction and destination. Legacies are lost when not lived. How Leaders Lose Their Way is a lighthouse in the night shining needed lights to prevent unforced errors and disasters on the predictable hazards. It's not if we will struggle with drift but how we will respond. The insights, resources, wisdom and case studies of this can change the win rate of leaders. May it be so!"
"We're all devastated when leaders don't finish well. But how often do we hold up the mirror to see that we're all at risk of drifting and do something about it? Thank you, Peter Greer and Jill Heisey, for revealing the common warning signs of leadership drift and for challenging us with wise strategies rooted in humility to help us finish well."
"This book offers a perfect pairing of timeless wisdom and timely truth, all wonderfully told. It reminds that leadership is not only a matter of strategy and skill but foremost about our longings and loves. Though often unnamed, these deeper currents set our trajectory far more than our claimed values and mission statements. They inevitably shape the organizations we lead and the people we become. So we do well to search out these matters of the heart, as this slender volume helps us do, asking God for the unmatched gladness that comes only as double-mindedness is turned to purity of heart."
"When leaders drift, mission drifts. Grounded in Scripture and case studies of biblical and contemporary leaders, How Leaders Lose Their Way equips leaders to recognize potential areas of drift, while providing practical tools and practices to stay focused on priorities and purpose. This book is a must-read for ministry leaders and organizational leaders who are committed to finishing well!"
"No author outside of Scripture has contributed to the culture of our ministry more than Peter Greer. The lessons in How Leaders Lose Their Way are critical for all Christian leaders who are seeking to create lasting impact for the kingdom. What a wonderful gift to the church!"
"Organizational leadership is a distinct privilege, but it also sets traps for the human heart. In their book How Leaders Lose Their Way, Peter Greer and Jill Heisey do a wonderful job of illuminating these traps and pointing the way toward dealing with them. Their approach invites leaders to reflect on how they are drifting and sets out practical steps toward forward. It's a refreshing and much-needed reminder that leadership isn't just about what we accomplish but who we become in the process."
"I devoured this book. How Leaders Lose Their Way is both a sobering warning and a hopeful guide—an invitation to finish the race of leadership with integrity and joy. Peter Greer and Jill Heisey have given us a masterpiece of clarity, conviction, and grace, showing that drift is subtle, but faithfulness is possible. Page after page left me convicted, encouraged, and—most importantly—anchored to the One who keeps us mission true."
"Cogent, clear, and convicting! How Leaders Lose Their Way is a must-read for leaders in churches and Christian organizations. This is a vital sequel to Mission Drift (by Peter Greer and others), as it probes the personal drift that so easily occurs in positions of power. And significantly, it points not just to the problems but provides spiritual resources for amending our ways."
"Long-term faithfulness in leadership often seems to be the exception rather than the norm. The pressures, temptations, and challenges leaders face can slowly erode our integrity and purpose, often without our realizing it—until it's too late. Personally, How Leaders Lose Their Way proved to be challenging and at times convicting. Ultimately it caused me to pause and evaluate my life and my decisions, all the while asking God to guide and help me realign my path where I have strayed. If you want to finish well, this book is a must-read!"
"A compelling, profound, and powerful word for these days, boldly naming the temptations and courageously giving examples both current and biblical . . . and at the same time, giving examples of hope to avoid the pitfalls. The exercises at the end of each chapter give opportunity for self-reflection and work through Scripture and prayer. This is also "How NOT to Lose Your Way." Absolutely a necessary read for all current leaders and aspiring leaders. A seminal book that is timeless."
Peter Greer is president and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered organization working to alleviate physical and spiritual poverty in more than twenty countries around the world. Peter's favorite part of his role is spending time with the remarkable entrepreneurs HOPE serves. A graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School, Peter has coauthored more than fifteen books, including Lead with Prayer, Mission Drift, and Rooting for Rivals. He lives with his wife, Laurel, and their four children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Jill Heisey is a writer who is passionate about helping leaders and nonprofits share their stories. She has collaborated on the books Lead with Prayer, Rooting for Rivals, and The Gift of Disillusionment; written the children's book Keza Paints a Bright Future; and authored articles featured on Christianity Today's Better Samaritan blog. Jill graduated from Messiah University with degrees in politics and Spanish and resides outside Washington, DC, with her husband, Bryan, and their two daughters.