By Pëllumb Çollaku

If there is one book I would encourage every operations leader to read as we enter the new year, it’s Larry Osborne’s Sticky Leaders. It’s short, sharp, and surprisingly funny, but more importantly, it speaks directly to the kind of leadership we practice every day in ministry: building systems, guiding people through change, and trying to innovate without accidentally setting something on fire.

Osborne begins with a truth most leadership books politely avoid: innovation begins with failure. He calls it “the dirty little secret” of innovation. And once you embrace it, something remarkable happens: stability and creativity start working together instead of fighting each other.

The book connects deeply to real ministry realities; traditions that need revisiting, structures that need refreshing, and teams that need clarity. Osborne shows how even our biggest frustrations can become invitations from God to innovate with courage and humility.

Here are four simple but powerful actions the book highlights for every leader:

1. Plan for failure and stay flexible. Innovation grows best when we “plan in pencil.”
2. Lead with clarity. Clear mission and vision accelerate innovation and keep teams aligned.
3. Challenge groupthink. Listen widely, but decide boldly; polls and committees can’t lead us into the future.
4. Hold traditions loosely. Yesterday’s success may block tomorrow’s growth; remove structures that no longer serve the mission.

Osborne lifts our eyes to the real legacy of leadership, not the innovations with our name on them, but the culture we leave behind for those who follow (Chapter 21). That reminder alone is worth the price of the book. As we prepare for 2026, with all its opportunities and unknowns, I encourage you to read Sticky Leaders. Let it stretch you. Let it steady you. And let it remind you that God uses both our failures and our faithfulness to shape something new.

And if nothing else, this little book will make you laugh at the parts of leadership that usually make you cry.