Prov 28:2: “When a land transgresses, it gains a succession of leaders, but with an understanding and knowledgeable man, its stability endures.” Plan earlier than you think. The person with the most time wins, and after leading through a pandemic, who knows how long that will be.
“In a post-COVID world I see significant changes in succession planning. I think that there will be unexpected resignations resulting in swiftly planed successions. The stress of the pandemic has been unprecedented. I predict that we’ll start to see leaders resigning in their 40s and early 50s to lead outside the church. Leading through 2020 has had the stress of 10 normal years. They aren’t going to have gas in the tank,” Todd Clark, Senior Associate in Senior Leadership at Slingshot Group.
It’s been a tough year, and I think it’s been hardest on upper leadership. When I spoke to Mark Brown, he mirrored Todd Clark’s comments on leading through COVID. He said, “leading through Hurricane Harvey was tough but leading through COVID has been exhausting. It’s called compassion fatigue. You need to force yourself to practice self-care and take time off. Leaders that make it through the pandemic are going to be a tough bunch”.
From start to finish, talking to so many experts and colleagues has given me so much insight into what a good succession plan looks like, and it is true: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.