Succession Planning
I believe that how a leader finishes is just as important as how a leader starts. It's been said that people are usually defined by their final chapter, not by their finest chapter. Do you believe that? I do because I've seen it proven true over and over again. Leaving a healthy legacy is critical and we'll be remembered by how we hand off (and receive) the baton of leadership.
Leadership Succession is something that we must get better at if we are to continue to partner with the Holy Spirit to build the church that glorifies Jesus. As always, He is the perfect example of developing and implementing a succession plan after He ascended into heaven. He left His disciples (and eventually the Apostle Paul) a calling, model, and strategy and then He sent His Spirit to enable, empower, and embolden His followers to carry out the purpose for which He came. It is imperative that we seek to intentionally build cultures that are broader and deeper than just one person or a singular personality. These kinds of collaborative organizations and teams will have the best chance to not only survive a transition in leadership - they can thrive if we intentionally prepare for successions and transitions.
My hope is to be helpful and to add value to your leadership journey. So to that end I'm sharing what I came across in the journey of our succession at Riverside Community Church. Some of the content will need to be contextualized or explained to fully make sense. If you're engaging with this material I invite you to contact me to discuss our journey and see what insights you can glean from what we did to ensure that your succession goes well, remains stable, and honors the Lord.
Leadership Succession is something that we must get better at if we are to continue to partner with the Holy Spirit to build the church that glorifies Jesus. As always, He is the perfect example of developing and implementing a succession plan after He ascended into heaven. He left His disciples (and eventually the Apostle Paul) a calling, model, and strategy and then He sent His Spirit to enable, empower, and embolden His followers to carry out the purpose for which He came. It is imperative that we seek to intentionally build cultures that are broader and deeper than just one person or a singular personality. These kinds of collaborative organizations and teams will have the best chance to not only survive a transition in leadership - they can thrive if we intentionally prepare for successions and transitions.
My hope is to be helpful and to add value to your leadership journey. So to that end I'm sharing what I came across in the journey of our succession at Riverside Community Church. Some of the content will need to be contextualized or explained to fully make sense. If you're engaging with this material I invite you to contact me to discuss our journey and see what insights you can glean from what we did to ensure that your succession goes well, remains stable, and honors the Lord.
This is content and a talk that I did to help prepare the congregation for the hire of new team members and to set the tone for transitions in general. My father is a retired Methodist minister and every time we left a church this was his last sermon to help the congregation prepare for the incoming pastor. We moved every 4 fours so I heard it several times and knew when my own transition was coming I wanted to incorporate it into my own version of it for RCC.
The Transition of a Leader
The Transition of a Leader
The link below speaks to our onboarding process that I believe has been tremendously instrumental in keeping continuity (within our staff) from the Founding Pastor to me. It speaks to our DNA and seeks to ensure that the purpose, core values, culture and team dynamics remain our central focus.
Staff On-Boarding Process
Staff On-Boarding Process
This is a series of questions that I used (with our staff at that time) in personal, one-on-one conversations in the months leading up to the succession …
1. What are you most excited about right now?
2. What do you wish you could spend more time doing?
3. What’s challenging or bugging you?
4. In what areas outside of your control could changes be made to help you be more effective?
5. What is a distraction for you?
6. How could I support or lead you better?
7. What about the way I’ve been leading (or might lead in the future) most excites you?
8. What about the way I’ve been leading (or might lead in the future) most concerns you? Where do I have room for improvement? What frustrates (annoys) you about me and my leadership style?
9. What do you hope to see from me (in the future) personally as a leader and for the church?
10. What do you wish I’d have asked you that I didn’t?
1. What are you most excited about right now?
2. What do you wish you could spend more time doing?
3. What’s challenging or bugging you?
4. In what areas outside of your control could changes be made to help you be more effective?
5. What is a distraction for you?
6. How could I support or lead you better?
7. What about the way I’ve been leading (or might lead in the future) most excites you?
8. What about the way I’ve been leading (or might lead in the future) most concerns you? Where do I have room for improvement? What frustrates (annoys) you about me and my leadership style?
9. What do you hope to see from me (in the future) personally as a leader and for the church?
10. What do you wish I’d have asked you that I didn’t?
This exercise is something that was passed on to me by a mentor who had been through his own succession. When he shared it with me it was a game-changing experience. It takes a little bit of explaining but if you've come this far feel free to reach out and I'll explain what it was used for and how I leveraged it for our purposes.
What is the Lead Pastor’s Primary Focus?
• Teaching/Sermons
• Vision Cast
• Lead Leaders/Leadership Development
• Model Evangelism
• Resource Fund Raising/Capitol Campaign
• Create Culture
• Recruit Key Staff
• Gatekeeper of the Mission (Stop Mission Drift)
• Unity
What is the Lead Pastor’s Primary Focus?
• Teaching/Sermons
• Vision Cast
• Lead Leaders/Leadership Development
• Model Evangelism
• Resource Fund Raising/Capitol Campaign
• Create Culture
• Recruit Key Staff
• Gatekeeper of the Mission (Stop Mission Drift)
• Unity
When I interviewed mentors these were my list of questions …
1. How did you structure the transition?
2. Were other resumes/candidates considered? If yes, how did you handle that internally/externally? Was there a search committee? Who comprised the teams that led this process? How were they selected?
3. What was the timeline of the transition?
4. How, when, where did you share with the congregation?
5. How, when, where did you share with the Board/Leadership?
6. Upsides/Downsides of having the former pastor around?
7. What have you learned in working with the existing staff? Challenges? Benefits?
8. How do you handle the other staff transitions? Restructuring?
9. Have there been “rules” about what the former pastor can/can’t do in being around?
10. Insurance/package/final gift for the former pastor?
11. Were there specific changes that you asked the previous pastor to implement with the “change” in his pockets before he left?
12. How much change have you instituted since you’ve been the lead? Pace? Timing?
13. What have you done well (that you would do again)?
14. What do you wish you could do over again?
15. What was the hardest part of the transition/what surprised you?
16. How did you negotiate your new package?
17. How have you guarded your heart (fear, comparison, pride, greed)?
18. How has this impacted your wife? Kids?
19. What should I have asked you that I didn’t?
1. How did you structure the transition?
2. Were other resumes/candidates considered? If yes, how did you handle that internally/externally? Was there a search committee? Who comprised the teams that led this process? How were they selected?
3. What was the timeline of the transition?
4. How, when, where did you share with the congregation?
5. How, when, where did you share with the Board/Leadership?
6. Upsides/Downsides of having the former pastor around?
7. What have you learned in working with the existing staff? Challenges? Benefits?
8. How do you handle the other staff transitions? Restructuring?
9. Have there been “rules” about what the former pastor can/can’t do in being around?
10. Insurance/package/final gift for the former pastor?
11. Were there specific changes that you asked the previous pastor to implement with the “change” in his pockets before he left?
12. How much change have you instituted since you’ve been the lead? Pace? Timing?
13. What have you done well (that you would do again)?
14. What do you wish you could do over again?
15. What was the hardest part of the transition/what surprised you?
16. How did you negotiate your new package?
17. How have you guarded your heart (fear, comparison, pride, greed)?
18. How has this impacted your wife? Kids?
19. What should I have asked you that I didn’t?
This is a list of questions that I had for our Founding Pastor along the way. They are very specific to our situation but could assist in helping you to form your own questions. Keep in mind we had 22+ years of love, respect, trust, and mutual submission going for us as we entered these conversations. I truly believe that any "success" we've had in our transition has been largely based on the genuine desire of the Founding Pastor wanting to see the church move forward in a healthy, God-honoring manner. He and his wife have been our biggest cheerleaders and his desire to see me, my wife, and our team excel form the foundation upon which we now stand. The baton was passed so very well and I'll forever be grateful for the belief, support, prayer, and encouragement I've received from Bill and Teresa Ellis.
• What is most uncomfortable to you about these conversations?
• What will help you the most to feel at ease?
• Who else should be involved in these discussions?
• What constitutional/by-law procedures are we required to follow?
• When do I begin attending board meetings?
• When do I move to 75% Oakmont & 25% Mills?
• Lead Members Night?
• Staff salary reviews?
• Budget Meetings?
• Ministerium?
• Directional Team
• Oakmont Point Leader
• Mills Point Leader
• C-Groups Transfer of Leadership?
• Signing Welcome & Giving Letters?
• Title Change?
• Staff Transitions
• Your announcement?
You might ask, what would we do differently? My clear and concise answers to that question are as follows ... if at all possible avoid a succession during a world-wide pandemic, a polarizing presidential election year, or a deeply painful season of racial tension, unrest, and violence. While we planned for so much during our season of preparation, there have been many heart-breaking moments due to these factors that simply could not have been foreseen. Thankfully, our Heavenly Father knew and has walked with us faithfully through the ups and downs as we have navigated the complexities of leading in 2020-2021. We know He will prove Himself trustworthy in the days ahead too!
• What is most uncomfortable to you about these conversations?
• What will help you the most to feel at ease?
• Who else should be involved in these discussions?
• What constitutional/by-law procedures are we required to follow?
• When do I begin attending board meetings?
• When do I move to 75% Oakmont & 25% Mills?
• Lead Members Night?
• Staff salary reviews?
• Budget Meetings?
• Ministerium?
• Directional Team
• Oakmont Point Leader
• Mills Point Leader
• C-Groups Transfer of Leadership?
• Signing Welcome & Giving Letters?
• Title Change?
• Staff Transitions
• Your announcement?
You might ask, what would we do differently? My clear and concise answers to that question are as follows ... if at all possible avoid a succession during a world-wide pandemic, a polarizing presidential election year, or a deeply painful season of racial tension, unrest, and violence. While we planned for so much during our season of preparation, there have been many heart-breaking moments due to these factors that simply could not have been foreseen. Thankfully, our Heavenly Father knew and has walked with us faithfully through the ups and downs as we have navigated the complexities of leading in 2020-2021. We know He will prove Himself trustworthy in the days ahead too!
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We purposefully foster an ownership mentality in our church family. We use the metaphor of a sandbox to help define our ministry blueprint. And we want "everybody's fingerprint on the blueprint." Pastor Bill passed on the leadership baton on June 24, 2020.
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Resources
How To Lead When Not In Charge, Clay Scroggins
Lead Like A Shepherd, Larry Osborne
Leadership Transitions: How Churches Navigate Pastoral Change and Stay Healthy by Barna
Leading Change Without Losing It, Carey Nieuwhof
Next: Pastoral Succession, William Vanderbloemen & Warren Bird
Passing The Leadership Baton, Tom Mullins
Succession: Seven practices to navigate mission-critical leadership transitions, Peter Greer & Doug Fagerstrom
The Elephant In The Boardroom, Carolyn Weese & J. Russell Crabtree
Transition Plan, Bob Russell & Bryan Bucher
Seamless Pastoral Transition, Lee Kricher
Our succession served as a case study for Lee's book. You can read our case study from his doctoral paper here.
Lead Like A Shepherd, Larry Osborne
Leadership Transitions: How Churches Navigate Pastoral Change and Stay Healthy by Barna
Leading Change Without Losing It, Carey Nieuwhof
Next: Pastoral Succession, William Vanderbloemen & Warren Bird
Passing The Leadership Baton, Tom Mullins
Succession: Seven practices to navigate mission-critical leadership transitions, Peter Greer & Doug Fagerstrom
The Elephant In The Boardroom, Carolyn Weese & J. Russell Crabtree
Transition Plan, Bob Russell & Bryan Bucher
Seamless Pastoral Transition, Lee Kricher
Our succession served as a case study for Lee's book. You can read our case study from his doctoral paper here.
If you are the leader coming into a new role I recommend reading this book by Gavin Adams: Big Shoes to Fill: Stepping into a Leadership Role...Without Stepping in It
To hear Gavin be interviewed by Andy Stanley you can check out the podcast here (download the show notes to follow along): January 2024: Leading Through Leadership Transitions with Gavin Adams
For a further dive into the interview listen to Andy reflect on their conversation here (download the show notes to follow along): January 2024: REVERB: Leading Through Leadership Transitions
To hear Gavin be interviewed by Andy Stanley you can check out the podcast here (download the show notes to follow along): January 2024: Leading Through Leadership Transitions with Gavin Adams
For a further dive into the interview listen to Andy reflect on their conversation here (download the show notes to follow along): January 2024: REVERB: Leading Through Leadership Transitions