spotlights the most disastrous and the most successful ministry successions. Must-read: Steve Woodworth’s new book,
to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and
for more book reviews. Also, read my recent review of
Read this week’s blog on the song, “White Rabbit,” by Jefferson Airplane, in our toe-tapping feature,
, spotlighting 45 songs from yesteryear.
The Most Disastrous & Successful Ministry Successions“I am amazed that so many boards miss this,” writes Steve Woodworth. In his chapter on “Respecting the Outgoing Leader,” he describes a nonprofit organization board that bobbled the baton handoff between the outgoing CEO and the new CEO.
Besides hurt feelings, inadequate mentoring for the new CEO, a weakening of the culture among the staff, and a drop in revenue—one more avoidable misstep occurred: “at least two donors have stopped making annual million-dollar gifts.”
I urge you to read:Oh, my. Steve Woodworth, CEO of Masterworks, has been around the block—and he took notes. It’s not pretty, but there’s hope.
He quotes Edgar Sandoval, who followed Rich Stearns as World Vision’s CEO. “According to Edgar, every new leader should ask the former leader, at regular intervals,
• ‘How are you doing?
• How are you feeling?
• How am
I making you feel?’”
Woodworth adds, “That kind of simple, direct communication shows appreciation and respect. It will be welcomed more than you can imagine by a former leader who isn’t sure if they’re still wanted.”
In the chapter, “Just for Board Members,” the author suggests that boards make a commitment
“that when your leader turns 55 or 60, you will have annual conversations about what a succession looks like.” He quotes from the helpful book,
Next, by William Vanderbloemen and Warren Bird,
“Every leader is an interim leader.”Time out! All of this is important, but honestly—do we really need another book on CEO succession planning? (Certainly, the succession literature is abundant—see my “Baker’s Dozen” below.) So should I read this?
I wasn’t sure—but then I did. Lost in Transition’s “five key factors” are very strong. And Woodworth populates his points with actual transitions (the good, the bad, and the ugly—
oh, my).
When I finished reading this the book,
I emailed four leaders who have transitioned recently. “I hope my succession consulting was helpful to you and your boards—but I missed a few things that Lost in Transition points out. It’s not too late to read this book. And I’ll send you a Chick-fil-A gift card once you’ve texted me that you’ve read this book. It’s just 135 pages.”
“The Five Key Factors That Will Make or Break Your Succession” include: 1. Boards Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
2. Culture Is King
3. Humility Is the Secret Ingredient
4. Respect Your Outgoing Leader
5. Clear Communication Makes It All Go
View this March 25, 2024, YouTube conversation between Robby Angle, president of TrueFace, and Steve Woodworth on the book, Lost in Transition.
I underlined wisdom on dozens and dozens of pages. You will too. • A McKinsey & Company consultant notes that “studies show that as many as 46 percent of executive transitions at leading organizations are regarded as failures or disappointments.”
• On false assumptions: “I’ve learned in my talks with current CEOs that many have an almost phobic fear of remaining too long in their post.”
• From Vanderbloemen and Bird:
“…successions from first-generation leaders to second-generation leaders are the least likely to go well. In fact, too often they end up more like a divorce than a wedding.” • “There should always be an emergency ‘hit-by-a-bus’ strategy that can be implemented on a moment’s notice.” (My suggestion: screen the
ECFA Governance Toolbox “hit-by-a-bus” video at your next board meeting—and facilitate the exercise.)
• Learn why
Rich Stearns, World Vision’s CEO from 1998-2018, affirmed
Bob Andringa’s help with this: “We got off to a honeymoon start that never really ended.” (Extra Credit! Read
The Hole in Our Gospel, by Rich Stearns.)
There’s much more, especially on the humility factor (for all parties, including the board): •
3 Questions for the Outgoing Leader: “Am I adopting the attitude God desires for me in this transition? Am I doing all I can to support my successor? Am I leaving my ministry in the best possible position for continuing effectiveness for the Lord?”
•
The three important qualities of a search committee chair. (Hint: “Time and energy.”)
• “Finding the sweet spot” for outgoing leaders is not easy. Read about John (not me!) who
“failed at retirement” within the first 24 hours! He confessed, “I’m a micromanager by nature. I didn’t know it would take so much energy to keep my hands off things.”
• Read how humility (and emotions) played out in transitions among
four leaders of A3, the pastoral transition between pastors Bob Russell and Dave Stone, and David Ashcraft’s pastoral transition and his admission, “I found I had to constantly confess, ‘God, I’m so sorry. I’m being stupid here.’”
•
Note: I would add this must-read: Andrew Murray’s powerful 60-page book,
Humility.
Bottom Line: I picked up about a dozen insights (fresh, new approaches) that I wished I had understood much earlier; and also had passed along to clients over the years.
You will read this book with renewed hope. You should probably order two copies!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for
Lost in Transition: Lessons from the Most Disastrous & Successful Ministry Successions, by Steve Woodworth with James Lund. And thanks to Kingdom Life Publishing for sending me a review copy.
13 Succession Resources
& 13 Questions for Your BoardInspire your board and CEO to read Lost in Transition—and also ask three or four other board members to each read and report on one additional resource listed here:#1. More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! by Dan Busby and John Pearson. (
Read my review.)
Read Lesson 8: “Design Your Succession Plan—NOW! What if your CEO is hit by a bus?”
Read the blog by Bill Frisby.
QUESTION: Do you have a current emergency succession plan?
#2. ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning: 11 Principles for Successful Successions - “Every CEO is an Interim CEO.” (
Read my review.)
Purchase the toolbox and video. Read my 11 blog posts on the
11 principles for succession planning.
QUESTION: Does your current CEO need a coach?
#3. Succession: Seven Practices to Navigate Mission-Critical Leadership Transitions, by Peter Greer and Doug Fagerstrom, with Brianna Lapp. (
Read my review.)
QUESTION: The authors list five mistakes that boards often make in successions. What might be one of these mistakes?
#4. Next: Pastoral Succession That Works, William Vanderbloemen and Warren Bird. (
Read my short review.)
QUESTION: How will you address the “elephant in the room” in your next leadership succession?
#5. The Hero’s Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire, by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. (
Read my review.)
QUESTION: Of the four types of CEO departures, what fits your organization’s culture? (Pick one: The Monarch’s Departure, The General’s Departure, The Ambassador’s Departure, or The Governor’s Departure.)
#6. Boards That Lead: When to Take Charge, When to Partner, and When to Stay Out of the Way, by Ram Charan, Dennis Carey and Michael Useem. (
Read my review.) The authors recommend that boards ask new CEOs to draft their succession plan immediately (and the annual self-assessment should measure progress).
QUESTION: Do you have an updated CEO succession plan?
#7. “The Last Act of a Great CEO,” by Thomas J. Friel and Robert Duboff (
Harvard Business Review, January 2009).
Read the article. The authors note: “For departing CEOs who aren’t full-blown narcissists, pride can get in the way. The experience of losing power, feeling cast aside, and perhaps being struck hard by the fact of aging is enough to bruise even the most durable ego.
“One ex-CEO we interviewed made a wry comment on his experience:
‘The first day after I left, I sat in the back seat of the Mercedes and it didn’t go anywhere.’” QUESTION: Will your organization squander your outgoing CEO’s intellectual capital to “simply evaporate,” or will you creatively create a humble partnership between the “old” and the new CEO?
#8. “The Most Beautiful Baton Passes One Could Ever Hope For. How the collaboration and friendships amongst the CEOs of A3 have turned succession-planning theory on its head.” Read this March 13, 2023, article by A3’s Noel Becchetti.
QUESTION: Name a baton pass that was
not pretty!
#9. You're Not the Person I Hired! A CEO's Survival Guide to Hiring Top Talent, by Janet Boydell, Barry Deutsch and Brad Remillard. (
Read my review.)
QUESTION: What are the top-10 hiring mistakes—and how do you avoid them?
#10. The Perfect Search: What Every Nonprofit Board Member Needs to Know About Hiring Their Next CEO, by Tommy Thomas, with Nick Isbister and Robert C. Andringa (
Read my review.)
QUESTION: With more than two million nonprofit organizations in the U.S., the authors estimate that there are more than 60,000 active CEO searches every year! So how do you compete to hire the right CEO for your organization, when your current CEO retires, leaves, dies or is terminated?
#11. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, by William Bridges. (
Read my review.) The author writes, “It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Change is not the same as transition. Change is situational: the new site, the new boss, the new team roles, the new policy.
Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal.”
QUESTION: Do you agree?
#12. “Nice Farewell Dinner, But Where’s My Plaque?” Read this blog I posted for ECFA about appropriately honoring your outgoing leader.
QUESTION: What’s your CEO’s love language?
#13. The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duff. (
Read my review.) This book is a leadership case study on multiple levels. CEOs in transition (retirement, termination or promotion) will especially appreciate this revealing inside look at the new guy/old guy relationships in the Oval Office. The book will trigger all your emotions (as it did for each president): mad, glad and sad.
QUESTION: Can you name a U.S. president that blessed the outgoing president?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books
Part 13: In Search of Global PerspectivesBook #73 of 100: Collision CourseFor your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #73 in
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Collision Course:
Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars
That Upended an Auto Empire
by Hans Greimel and William Sposato
Books #71 through #76 spotlight six fascinating looks at diverse cultures—in search of global perspectives.
And speaking of succession planning (!), this book chronicles how former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn escaped from Japan in an equipment storage box, “the kind used to transport clunky but delicate audio equipment.” (
Apparently, not every plan requires out-of-the-box thinking.)
•
Read my review.
• Order from
Amazon:
Collision Course • Listen on
Libro (12 hours, 54 minutes).
•
Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
In my review I list nine reasons you should read this book.
Reason #1: Leadership Complexity. Imagine—you’re the CEO and/or chairman of not one, not two, but three major companies (Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi). Does it really work? Was Carlos Ghosn’s rockstar status a one-off risky experiment, or is this the new global leadership trend? Ghosn was “the first person to serve simultaneously as the CEO of two Fortune 500 companies.”
Relevant today? How many organizations, formally or informally, do some megachurch pastors lead? Does it really work? What might go south fast?
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN
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Issue No. 658 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Oct. 3, 2025) features a new book coming Oct. 7—describing the four seasons of a CEO. The “...
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