Skip to content
cla-higher-thinking-blog-web-rev

Successful Succession Planning Insights By Mark L. Vincent

 

Successful Succession: Continuous Organizational Leadership

I’ve witnessed many succession plans, leadership transitions and led several during my career. These experiences led me to develop a theology of ending well, studying bible story accounts of when leadership succession worked and when it didn’t. I wanted to know if divine guidance was present in any of these stories. I also wanted to be prepared to live well through my own as I moved to a Founder’s Role after 18 years as from CEO of Design Group International. Here is some of what I learned:

Every situation is uniquely constructed.

Good leaders are helped to pay attention to the context, not just their methods. Here are some other insights: Succession works best during an economic upswing. Leaving when trend arrows point down looks like failure and creates a desire to clean house. Similarly, succeeding to the leader’s role is more easily done in the upswing. Ascending when trend arrows point down looks like incompetence and creates a rebellious ferment (Study the successions of David to Solomon and then Solomon to Rehoboam to see the contrast).

Succession works best with clean boundaries in place.

The outgoing leader must hold a well-defined line between managing ongoing affairs without obstructing changes the new leader may wish to bring. Failure to keep this clear leads to meddling and handicapping one’s successor. It is better to be seen as detaching from the role too early than holding the reins too long. Similarly, succeeding to the leadership position means the successor must hold a well-defined line between getting resources in place without showing disrespect to the leader they succeed. Better to be seen as slow in getting started than as a usurper. Many people study the presidential transitions of the United States as a good example of managing succession (One might also study Queen Athaliah as an example of someone who destroyed rather than lose access to power. The succession of Moses to Joshua, by contrast, is one of the best case studies in human history).

It matters what others say about you after you are gone.

This is not an obsession about one’s image, but a realization: If succession is led well and leaves fertile ground for the successor, there will be new opportunity for the outgoing leader. If succession has been poorly managed, however, each subsequent interaction with one’s former colleagues will be tinged with stress and regret. Whichever reputation one has forged during the succession process will become an oft-told tale, perhaps even an epitaph (Consider the reputations of King Saul and King David as examples of this contrast).

If I do my part well, my successor has every opportunity to thrive and to lead into new efforts that invite human flourishing. If not, then I handicap his tenure.

There is no room for mediocrity here. It is among the highest of leadership arts to master effective leadership succession, then to do it repeatedly in a variety of contexts.

####

Mark L. Vincent Ph.D, CCNL is the former CEO of Design Group International, an organizational development company he co-founded in 2001 to help organizations and their leaders transform for a vibrant future.

 

 The Outcomes Conference 2019.  Early registration and savings are available now!

Presented by Christian Leadership Alliance

 

logo-small

What is Christian Leadership Alliance?

Christian Leadership Alliance equips and unites leaders to transform the world for Christ. We are the leaders of Christ-centered organizations who are dedicated to faithful stewardship for greater kingdom impact.

Upcoming Events

Outcomes Conference 2024