Summer 2015
The theme for Summer 2015 is “Succession.”
“In history’s judgment, leaders are only as good as the successors they groom.”
—The Economist, March 28, 2015
These words evaluate Rwandan president Paul Kagame, viewed as one of the most successful presidents in African history. He brought leadership to end genocide in 1994 and guided the rebuilding of his country into health, wealth and education beyond what it knew before. And yet, he has reputedly chased away, fired or exi...
The gift of greater things
Succession in Christian leadership is a drama with a cast of three characters — the governing board, the departing leader and the incoming successor. Although each of these characters has a unique role to play in the drama, they share the common responsibility for continuing the mission, developing the leadership and advancing the ministry of the organization they represent. Succession in Christian leadership is the thread that r...
After more than 20 years as pastor of Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida, the church he founded and grew to a multisite church of more than 40,000 people meeting on seven
campuses around South Florida and online around the world, Tom Mullins passed the baton of leadership to his son Todd. As Tom was transitioning out of this role, he was also stepping into a new one, as president of EQUIP Leadership, a nonprofit organization specializing in training and mobilizing effective ...
Ensuring successful ministry leadership transitions
Some, like Frances Kunreuther in Up Next: Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2005), began to study the effect of the generational change from the retiring Baby Boomers to Generations X and Y. The social movements of the 1960s and 1970s catapulted Boomers to the leadership of the surging number of nonprofits, as detailed by Tom Adams in Found...
Five steps for targeted staff development
Many years ago, when I heard the term succession management, I immediately thought of the 9-Box Model. This model plots team members in one of nine boxes based on their performance (high/medium/low) and their potential (high/medium/low). The 9-Box Model makes it easy to identify “A-players.” After all, that is where organizations should focus their investments, at least according to what I learned in graduate...
Your organization’s long-term health depends on it.
One of the most successful examples of leadership transition was the transition of power from Moses to Joshua. Moses recognized Joshua’s inherent leadership qualities early on. He gave him opportunities to develop his skills, personally mentored him, entrusted him with increasingly sensitive tasks and exposed Joshua to his interactions with God on Mt. Sinai. Over a period of 40 years, Joshua earned ...
Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury on evangelicals, culture and leadership
CLA President and CEO Tami Heim recently interviewed Gregory Alan Thornbury, Ph.D., president of The King’s College in New York City. He has been called “Jonathan Edwards Meets Rolling Stone” by Russell D. Moore and “America’s First Hipster College President” by The American Spectator.Thornbury previously served as professor of philosophy...
Serving as trustees of the next generation
In Christ-centered ministries and universities, there is an added dimension of the call to serve. This is valued when we recruit and employ that passionate and energized member of our team who not only is professional and knowledgeable, but also called by God to be part of the purpose and mission of the ministry. We forget, however, that those who are called into a ministry are often open to God’s next call. Disce...
One organization’s journey of change
Two years ago, our organization took a look at our leadership landscape and decided to address our lack of gender balance head on. Having operated as an egalitarian organization for some years, we were nowhere near representing that balance on our leadership teams. Knowing that for many Christians, theology is a significant barrier, our first step was to clarify our position in writing and distribute it widely. This gav...
The keys to seamless leadership succession
How would you feel as the new president of a Christian organization knowing that all five of the former founders and presidents were still actively involved in the ministry? Does just the mention of this send shivers down your spine as a leader? Well, this is my reality as the new president of the C.S. Lewis Institute, and I couldn’t be happier!
You are now wondering, “Is this guy crazy or just pl...