Succession Planning: “Appointment Without Anointment Always Led to Disaster”

Note: This is the second of 11 blogs featuring practical wisdom from the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning. Free to ECFA members, you can download the resource and video by clicking here.

“…the greatest tool for effective steward leaders is a mirror and a group of friends to be sure they are looking into it with clarity and focus.”

That insight is from R. Scott Rodin’s important book, The Steward Leader: Transforming People, Organizations and Communities. Who is holding your current leaders accountable—and what do they believe about leadership?

The second of 11 principles in the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series on succession planning warns, “Before your board’s CEO succession planning discussion spirals into the nuts and bolts, stop the presses…” and reflect on this topic:

“Principle No. 2: Discern Your Board’s Succession Values and Beliefs”

Are all of your board members (and senior team members) on the same theological page? Is everyone in alignment on what Christ-centered leadership looks like? Noting two resources from Rodin and David McKenna, Video #2 of 4 wades into these important waters. Don’t skip this one!

Rodin says the antidote to the “owner-leader” trap is the steward leader. He skillfully contrasts the classic leadership styles (servant leadership, great man and charismatic leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, etc.) with his unique and deeply biblical insights on the concept of a steward leader.

And then this gut-check for CEO search committees:

“I know of few Christian leaders today who were anointed before they were appointed.

“We have mostly employed the business model of doing careful searches, looking for Christian leaders who we can appoint to office. We check their credentials, put them through rigorous interviews and give them psychological tests before we make the critical appointment. Once they are in place, we then anoint them and ask God to bless their work.

“The biblical evidence seems to indicate that God selects leaders in the opposite order. Samuel anointed David before appointing him king. The selection criterion for leadership was not based on who seemed most fit for the appointment, but on whom God had anointed for the task. And appointment without anointment always led to disaster.”

Yikes! 

DOWNLOAD: ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning – 11 Principles for Successful Successions: “Every CEO is an Interim CEO.” The toolbox includes 
   • Read-and-Engage Viewing Guide (20 pages) – photocopy for board members
   • Facilitator Guide (10 pages)
   • 4 short videos (4-5 minutes each)
   • Additional resources and succession planning tools

BOARD DISCUSSION: Do you agree that “appointment without anointment” will lead to disaster?

MORE RESOURCES: Follow the “40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays.” color commentaries on Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Click here.

Succession Planning: “My Heart Had Left the Building”

Note: This is the first of 11 blogs featuring practical wisdom from the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning. Free to ECFA members, you can download the resource and video by clicking here.

“The number one issue for me was passion. My heart was no longer engaged in my job—the fire had gone out. My heart had left the building.”

That transparent admission is from Hans Finzel’s 80-page gut-check-of-a-book, The Power of Passion in Leadership: Lead From Your Heart Not Just Your Head.

The first of 11 principles in the new ECFA Governance Toolbox on succession planning is cautionary: “Principle No. 1: Avoid Buses and Boredom!”

Your board may have an updated emergency succession plan in place (watch the video for another gut check!), but what if your CEO gets bored?

My story is not prescriptive for other leaders, but I was good for about 11 years in any one position (and some less than 11 years). That’s how the Lord wired me. So I know that CEOs and board members will benefit from reading Finzel’s personal journey. He adds:

“It is not fair to the organization or the team to hang on for the wrong reasons. It’s better to leave too soon than to stay too long. Tentative leadership kills the momentum of the whole ministry.

“So, after 20 years in the first chair, I decided it was time for me to step down as the leader of our international ministry. I was no longer all in, so I needed to be all gone. It was a job I once loved, but no longer enjoyed. I asked the board to start the process of finding my replacement. This was one of the hardest decisions of my career, but a good one.”

DOWNLOAD: ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning – 11 Principles for Successful Successions: “Every CEO is an Interim CEO.” The toolbox includes 
   • Read-and-Engage Viewing Guide (20 pages) – photocopy for board members
   • Facilitator Guide (10 pages)
   • 4 short videos (4-5 minutes each)
   • Additional resources and succession planning tools

The Facilitator Guide provides three discussion directions (30-45 minutes; 45-60 minutes; or use at a board retreat or two-hour board development session). 

On CEO succession planning, David McKenna notes, “No decision of the board, absolutely no decision, is more profound.” As board members, are you stewarding the giftedness of your CEO? Next blog: “Principle 2: Discern Your Board’s Succession Values and Beliefs.”

BOARD ASSIGNMENT: Tee up a discussion, using Video #1, “Avoid Buses and Boredom!” from the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning. Click here.

MORE RESOURCES: Follow the “40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays.” color commentaries on Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Click here.