Tried and True
The Countercultural Virtues of Christian Leadership
- Work, Money & Leadership
- Publisher: IVP Academic (InterVarsity Press)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Recovering Timeless Leadership Vision for Contemporary Challenges Successful leadership needs more than top-down strategic plans and lofty vision statements. Real leadership happens at the intersection of a leader’s inner life with the outer expression of care for their organization and the communities it serves. To find sustainable paths of leadership, we can look to reliable guidance from those whose legacy has stood the test of time. Tried and True offers a unique convergence of the decades of leadership experience and scholarship of authors Margaret Diddams and Shirley Mullen with a historical exploration of John Wesley’s life and leadership. Informed by their personal and professional journeysin both higher education and the corporate world, Diddams and Mullen provide a comprehensive, scholarly, and practical study of John Wesley’s leadership practices that shaped not just the church but the entire society. In Tried and True, Diddams and Mullen speak to today’s leadership fatigue with a focus on sustainable, character-driven leadership; revive John Wesley’s timeless leadership practices for modern challenges; and integrate inner character with outward institutional impact for a vision of sustainable leadership. offer a hope-filled vision for today’s leaders and the institutions they serve. The three attributes of surrender, stewardship,and servanthood provide a dynamic framework for leaders as they navigate the tensions and paradoxes of leadership. As leaders seek to be faithful to their calling, they will find that even as God is inspiring them to lead, he is also using the work itself to form them more closely to the image of Christ. This book doesn’t offer the latest leadership fad or a “silver bullet” solution. It calls leaders back to what has stood the test of time—a sustainable, countercultural path of leadershipthat not only transforms organizations, communities, and cultures, but also opens leaders themselves to the Spirit’s deep work of transformation.
Endorsements (6)
“Though slight in stature physically, John Wesley towers as a leader in church history. His shadow continues to shape the church and its mission centuries after his death. This book thoughtfully unlocks leadership principles from Wesley's life, offering insight for pastors, educators, and more.”
“Tried and True offers a hopeful, accessible, and stirring Wesley-shaped vision of Christian leadership rooted in formation rather than performance. Through their formation trellis of surrender, stewardship, and servanthood, Margaret Diddams and Shirley A. Mullen give leaders a wise, countercultural framework for resisting the cult of charisma and leading with integrity amid the many disruptions challenging leaders today. This is the kind of book that can steady a leader's soul and, overtime, reshape the culture they serve.”
“Tried and True invites us to walk with John Wesley as a guide for today's leaders. Margaret Diddams and Shirley A. Mullen weave together solid scholarship and practical leadership experience, painting a vision of leadership shaped by surrender, stewardship, and servanthood. Rather than offering a formula, they call us to embrace these virtues in healthy tension, reflecting the heart of Christ in how we lead. By drawing from Wesley's life and connecting it to the realities leaders face today, they offer a resource that grounds leadership in both spiritual depth and practical action.”
“A brilliant, fresh word on leadership with spiritual formation practices through the eyes of a triune framework of surrender, stewardship, and servanthood, all leaning on the life and teachings of John Wesley. I was captured by the findings, the first person accounts, and the compelling practices in integrating the teachings of John Wesley and applying them to twenty-first century issues. A book for all, whether a beginning leader or one who has been leading for years. This is a powerful and critical book for twenty-first century leadership.”
“Tried and True offers a countercultural vision of leadership rooted not in charisma but in character—surrender, stewardship, and servanthood. Through John Wesley's story and their own, Margaret Diddams and Shirley A. Mullen invite readers into the paradoxes that form mature leaders: strength in weakness, courage in humility, hope in exhaustion, vision in vulnerability. They show that leadership is not something we perform but something God forms in us. A rare leadership book that speaks to both mind and heart.”
“Margaret Diddams and Shirley A. Mullen are thoughtful, battle-tested leaders who have a heart for helping other leaders fulfill their divine calling to sacrificial service for their communities. In Tried and True, they draw on their shared Wesleyan heritage; their broad expertise in history, psychology, and theology; and their faithful, sometimes costly leadership experience to develop a practical Trinitarian framework for Christian leadership. The dynamic dialogue they carry on across these pages will inspire other leaders to offer God their very best in deep dependence on the Spirit of Christ.”
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