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.

“The Cardinal Sin Is Dullness”

I was catching up on my reading last Sunday evening, with the Oscars on TV in the background.  I had one take-away—an actor quoted Frank Capra (1897-1991), the famed director of the 1946 uplifting movie, “It's a Wonderful Life.”

Capra cautioned:

“There are no rules in filmmaking.
Only sins.
And the cardinal sin is dullness.”

With apologies to Capra, I’d add—“Ditto our board meetings. The cardinal sin is a bored board member.”

What’s the antidote to dullness?

#1. Holy Ground. Begin with God—not the “found-this-on-the-Internet” dribble, but a fresh-off-the-street story.  Bring a sense of the holy with John 1:14 (The Message):  “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” Inspire your board members with God-at-Work Stories.

#2. Probing Questions/Insightful Answers.  I have a 45-minute rule for board meetings. Facilitate a discussion exercise so every board member verbally contributes within the first 45 minutes of the meeting. Who wants to endure yet one more meeting where the CEO and senior team members drone on and on, regurgitating their written reports sent in advance? Dullsville!

#3. Frequent Holy Interruptions!  Another cardinal sin (my opinion): prayer is reduced to opening and closing agenda items (and maybe grace at meals). What if…board meetings were more about prayer—with occasional interruptions for business?  We don’t pray out of routine, we pray out of need. Most of us are ill-equipped for stewarding God’s work. Especially when we go it alone.

Imagine this! The God of the Universe wants a seat at our board tables. Will we acknowledge His presence, invite Him in, discern His direction, and follow His way? 

Ruth Haley Barton reminds us: “Many of us have been taught that leadership is having the answer, and we come into meetings we are leading prepared to bestow that wisdom on our trusty followers; we might ask God for wisdom in a prayer that sounds very spiritual, but the truth is, there isn’t much room for God to do or say anything other than what we already have in mind.”

It’s a sin to bore a board member—especially when conducting God’s business.

QUESTION: At your next board meeting, ask each board member (round-the-room) to describe the most meaningful board meeting they’ve ever attended—and why.