TRANSITION AND SUCCESSION: WHO’S GOT NEXT?
In August of 2022, I concluded a nearly 28-year run at leading a church I founded and handed it off to a next generation of leaders. During that time, it grew to 3500 in weekly worship attendance gathered in 350 small groups while giving birth to new locations and churches. I then transitioned into a new role as Executive Expansion Pastor with oversight of helping younger pastors start new locations, plant new churches, and grow in their leadership. Serving as a mentor and coach to younger leaders in existing works also became part of the package. This all meant I came under the authority of leaders that used to answer to me. In other words, I was no longer the boss and I would now answer to them. It wasn’t the only transition I have navigated but without question the most significant.
The truth is everyone goes through transitions in life, work, and ministry. Usually that involves succession in some form. Often, that means someone replaces you after you’ve prepared them to do what you’ve been doing. At the same time, you’ve been preparing yourself to do something else. The entire process can be quite a journey but a necessary one because life consists of seasons and no season lasts forever. The worst thing that can happen is getting stuck while frustrating emerging leaders around you and stalling out the ministry or organization. The least desirable transition is when others have to move you out because you are unwilling to move yourself on. Here are suggestions for transitions and successions taken from my own personal experience. Please consider this a description and not a prescription. That said, let’s dive in.
Start pondering over and praying for possible successors early on.
Discount nothing and no one because people and contexts change over time.
Candidates that look promising when the work is smaller may not be the best fit when the work becomes larger.
Consider prophetic words that have been spoken prior because nothing beats God’s point of view. The shepherd boy David didn’t look like much when God first revealed that he would one day be king.
Observe possible candidates as time evolves, adding to the candidate list as God leads.
With the passage of time people may grow, mature, plateau, or regress. Never lock people into a seasonal snapshot, because development is ongoing and fluid.
The person who looks like a misfit early on may appear to be a solid fit later on.
Conversely, the person who looks like a great fit early on may turn out to be less of a fit later on.
Start walking and working with potential successors.
Connect regularly on a personal basis to establish a genuine connection through meaningful conversation.
Remember that as you disciple potential successors this adage holds true: discipleship is relationship. In the same vein, leadership is relationship.
Tend to both the health of their soul as well as the development of their skill.
Aim for the impartation and transfer of heart. This usually happens in settings that are up close and personal. This tends to deepen the stickiness of vision, values, and culture.
Share ministry assignments and tasks, then take time to debrief and discuss.
During leadership transitions, there is a time when the load is shared. This is when both present and future leaders hold the leadership baton together (Depicted in the picture above).
I have found that applying an apprenticeship style approach made popular by leadership icon John Maxwell works well:
I do you watch, we discuss.
We do together, we debrief.
You do, I coach, we debrief.
You restart the cycle with your own potential successor.
Out of the list of candidates, the best choice will eventually emerge.
Honestly assess the state of your soul and season of life through prayer, reflection, and counsel.
Examine levels of passion, energy, and health while considering the realities of age.
Cautionary maxim: Just because you still can do your job well doesn’t mean you should still keep doing it.
Seek wise counsel and do what is best for the overall health of the church or organization. Avoid the temptation to do what seems best just for you. See bigger, broader, and beyond.
Periodically ask yourself these questions: “How long should I stay in my position so that the greater long-term good can be served?” “With training, could someone do the job better and go longer?” “When should I transition so that I can still be at my best for my next role and season?”
Then ask yourself the question again because the first answer is sometimes not the honest one. The soul and ego normally default to resisting change.
If you feel peace to continue, then be at peace. At least you asked the question and exercised self-awareness. This is always a healthy beginning.
Decide what you will do in your next season.
Will you remain to serve in another capacity or will you exit altogether?
If you think you will exit, prepare financially in advance because sometimes the reason leaders hold on is for financial security.
That said, a leap into “next” should often happen regardless because every change requires faith. Here is the assurance: Where God guides, he provides.
Remember: the safest place to be in every season is in the center of God’s will regardless of the discomfort that accompanies change. Holding on to what is safe and comfortable may stonewall what is God’s best and finest.
Discerning your “next” will include a convergence of your passions, past experiences, primary strengths and open doors.
Generate a list of qualifications and skills your successor will need to do their job well.
To find what you’re looking for you need to know what you’re looking for.
Begin with character requirements because people lead first out of who they really are on the inside. Refuse to be seduced by charisma alone.
I have found humility, teachability, and adaptability to be foundational. While IQ and critical thinking are vital, EQ or emotional intelligence may be more so. Having self-awareness and knowing how to relate to others in a healthy manner matters. Leadership is about connecting with people and not just communicating content.
Most leadership failures can be traced back to flaws in the soul/character of a leader that was either ignored or camouflaged. Being selfish usurped being selfless.
Given that, profile the specific skill sets and abilities needed.
Craft a short list of candidates and envision each one serving in your role.
The power of rehearsed imagination can foster clarity when pondering possibilities.
In fact, mentally and emotionally rehearse letting go before actually letting go.
This can ease the eventual transition because you’ve first practiced the coming reality internally.
Seek input from those you trust on the inside.
Seek the input, counsel, and perspective of devoted members and stakeholders within your church or organization.
These are influencers who tend to be guided less by emotion and more by principle because they see the bigger picture.
Ask for the unvarnished truth and assure them they will be helping you and not offending you.
Seek input from those you trust on the outside.
You often don’t know what you don’t know because you are too close to something that is too dear to you.
Fresh eyes offer the gift of objective perspective so consult with people you respect who have gone through the journey of transition and succession. In my case, I consulted with several people beyond my leadership level who have walked this path before. Scripture in Proverbs encourages the input of many advisors (Proverbs 15:22). If many is not possible, settle for a selected handful.
Take notes and converge all the input received. Evaluating best practices will help surface the transition approach that best fits you, your successors, and the bigger picture.
Find someone you trust and have them act as a primary coach to guide you through the process while monitoring the journey of your soul. Skillful transitions are both strategic and emotional.
Develop a timeline and aim for a specific transition date.
Without at least a specific aspirational date, there is no real goal, and where there is no real goal transition and succession can be delayed indefinitely. This can be detrimental to the church or organization. (Consider Proverbs 29:18)
Set a date, and if something unexpected triggers a delay, reset and set another date. Leaving things open-ended, nebulous, and vague can undermine the process.
Have a transition moment to commission your successor and bring closure to your tenure.
Realize that both you and the people you’ve led will need closure.
Moving forward and moving onward can then take place in a healthier more expedient manner.
The transition moment should focus on the new leader and the future while recognizing the importance of the past.
If and when appropriate, have a separate moment to honor the outgoing leader.
Agree upon a season of private post-transition coaching and mentoring.
Cover but don’t hover: resist the urge to become a helicopter mentor, coach, or controller.
Offer encouragement constantly and be careful not to meddle. However, don’t pull back on tough conversations when necessary.
Listen well and frame perspectives. Ask questions to draw out insights your successor has been processing. Talk about them because this will crystallize valuable lessons being learned.
Quite often successors already know the answers. They just need mirrors for reflection and echoes of confirmation.
Coach for progression not perfection and back off as time goes on. Everyone learns from making mistakes and new leaders must be allowed to learn from their own missteps in a climate of fail-safe acceptance.
Remember they must lead out of who they are, not who you are.
Observe healthy boundaries that will give your successor space to lead apart from an uncomfortable shadow.
Should you continue with the leadership team in another capacity, practice intentional absence to establish and affirm confidence in your successor’s authority.
This is important because people you’ve led for a long time will be used to your voice.
Initially, drop in periodically to observe, share feedback, show care, support, and encouragement.
As time goes on, wean your presence so the people can readily bond to their new leader in a deeper way.
The longer you’ve been there the less you should be there. This is an important part of letting go. Let the degree of any future involvement be because of a request from the new leader and not a demand from you, implied or otherwise. It is God’s Church and he will put it on their heart to ask for your contribution.
Publicly endorse and affirm your successor.
This will work wonders in getting the people you’ve led to quickly believe in the leader you’ve groomed.
Echo compliments and affirmations people share about your successor.
Don’t delight in comments of comparison that communicate a preference for your past style of leadership. Politely redirect well-meaning followers towards believing in and supporting the new leader.
Remember that adjustments take time and it will be normal for mistakes to be made. These often produce the greatest growth in new leaders.
Truth be told, effective transitions are done poorly more often than we’d like to admit. There is no judgment here because the struggle is real, people are human and I for one can certainly relate to that. Nevertheless, transitions are necessary to ensure organizational longevity and a healthy legacy.
At this writing I am a little over one year removed from my transition and the church under new leadership is doing well. I am very proud of my successors. Both are shown in the picture below (I am in the red shirt). To my right is Pastor Billy Lile, Lead Pastor of our church’s large main campus congregation. To my far left is Parris Hayashi, Executive Oversight Pastor over all our church locations. To my immediate left is Pastor Steve Murrell, President of the Every Nation Family of Churches to which we belong and author of the soon-to-be-released book, LEADERSHIP RUNWAY. It will be a solid and thorough treatment of leadership succession and in my opinion a must have, must read.
At this juncture, attendance has grown, finances are up, new groups have been added, new sites have started and another church is about to be planted. I don’t think things would have done this well had I not let go and continued as Lead Pastor. My successors are far better suited to seize the future. While only time will tell in the long run how well this transition will fare, I am hopefully optimistic. Every generation of leaders must eventually pass on stewardship to upcoming generations while leaving something of permanent value behind. And every generation of leaders must stand on the shoulders of the generations that have led before them.
Pastor Billy Lile (Pearlside Church Main Campus Lead Pastor), Pastor Norman Nakanishi (Founding and Expansion Pastor of Pearlside Church), Pastor Steve Murrell (President and Cofounder of Every Nation Ministries), Pastor Parris Hayashi (Executive Oversight Pastor of Pearlside Church)
