Succession planning can help position you and your ministry for leadership changes.

It is not too soon to start planning.

Succeeding in succession starts long before a change in leadership, and these practices have helped leaders plan and prepare well ahead of changes in leadership.

Leadership development does not happen instantaneously. It takes time; it happens gradually.

Mentoring leaders understand that they influence people in many different ways ranging from directly to indirectly to organizationally.

Knowing that God develops someone one step after another and that such development is a product of his use of other people, events, and experiences in a person’s life, mentoring leaders exercise a keen attentiveness to development movements.

Leaders take an active approach to leadership with a keen attentiveness to God’s purposes for the ministry and their lives. Continually, they prayerfully considered how God was directing and then promptly responded.

Leadership must be marked by a series of patterned behaviours which are repeated over and over again until each one develops into leadership practice. These practices work together with the organizational biases and behaviours in Part 1 to position a ministry for sustained organizational health even as a leadership change is experienced.

Your leadership is exercised within an existing environment that is unique in its context.

No two ministries are the same, and yet, I have found that ministries that sustained organizational health during succession processes shared a series of characteristics (consisting of certain organizational biases and behaviours). These shared characteristics marked a ministry well-positioned to succeed in succession.

Succeeding in succession starts long before a change in leadership was expected. 

Participation in a healthy relationship significantly increases the level of trust an individual has in leadership.

How you approach leadership—your leadership style and your conduct as a leader—has a direct impact on your relationships and trustworthiness. When you understand the purpose of your position and its limits and act accordingly with humility, you cultivate trust.

Trust is built.

It can be strengthened as you meet the trust-related expectations of those you are leading.

You can built trust as a leader by authentically demonstrating concern and compassion.

Authenticity is vital in this area.

Care should not be feigned and it must be practiced regularly.

Trusted leaders actually care for others—they are concerned and have compassion for them.

Authentic demonstrations of concern and compassion significantly influence the trust-related expectations of others. These behaviours reinforce trust-related expectations.

Trust is built.

Bit by bit over time you can build trust.

Healthy leadership practices that meet the trust-related expectations of those being led establish and reinforce trust. Your approach leadership—your leadership style and your conduct as a leader—has a direct impact on your relationships and trustworthiness. In fact, when someone continually sees you practicing healthy leadership, their trust significantly increases in you and in the leadership of the ministry.

The importance of trust in leadership cannot be overstated.

Leadership is built on trust.

Unfortunately, trust is tenuous.

Trust is really quite fragile, and it is only ever lent to leaders.

The fragility of trust reinforces the need for consistent, stable leadership.

Three factors noted to influence the degree to which people trust you as a leader are competency, care, and integrity. The influence of these factors is so significant that leaders and ministries are trusted to the extent—and only to the extent—that their practices and processes consistently exemplify each one.

Establishing a leader is not something that happens all at once in one moment.

You must be willing to walk the long road if you want a leader to succeed in succession.

It takes time and intentional effort to establish a leader in every context. You need to carefully plan and prepare for steady, stable leadership. Leadership matters immensely in your ministry. It is the key determinant to the health of your ministry. Regardless of the size of your ministry or the scale of your operations, leadership is crucial to advancing the mission of your ministry.

Ministries exist for a stated purpose.

While it is increasingly common for ministries to articulate this stated purpose in compelling ways, not all ministries have captured their purpose so succinctly. Regardless, every ministry exists for a purpose. Pursuit of this purpose is the advancement of mission.

And the advancement of mission is directly tied to the organizational health of your ministry.

How healthy is your ministry at this point?

How committed are you to sustaining the health of your ministry?

Leadership succession and succession planning are not the same.

Leadership succession is primarily concerned with the replacement of the most senior person in an organization.

Succession planning, however, is not solely interested in replacing an organization’s most senior person. It is focused on sustaining organizational health through healthy leadership practices.

How will a leadership change impact your ministry?

Leadership matters. It is crucial to advancing the mission of your ministry.

Changes at the leadership level are significant. These changes alter pre-existing relationships, and as relationships change, organizational processes and practices adapt, which, in turn, directly affect the health (and sustainability) of the ministry.

Succeeding in succession starts long before a change in leadership.

How are you preparing for a change in leadership?

Whether you realize it or not, you are participating in a succession process right now.

Effectively employed, succession processes can help you and your ministry mature to become who and what God is shaping them to be and to accomplish what God has called them to do.