The Succession Plan Youre Afraid to Write (But Your Teams Already Wondering About
•Todd Rhoades•Season 1•Episode 407
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Every leader has an expiration date, and creating a succession plan is a spiritual responsibility that demonstrates wisdom rather than weakness. Great leaders prepare for their eventual departure, ensuring their ministry continues seamlessly when they're no longer present.
• What would happen if you disappeared tomorrow - would your church staff know what to do? • Most pastors wait too long to think about succession planning • If you can't hand off your role, you haven't led, you've just occupied • Your team is already thinking about your succession plan, just not with you • Creating a succession plan signals wisdom and healthy culture, not weakness • A good succession plan includes a written emergency transition plan • Long-term succession roadmaps should identify potential internal candidates • Communication guidelines and preservation of core values are essential • Your absence should never be a crisis, but a continuation of God's work • Start the conversation today - with your spouse, a trusted elder, or leadership coach
If you need help developing a succession plan or want to discuss this confidentially, reach out to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com to schedule a conversation about how we might partner together.
Let me ask you a question , a weird question , but it's a question . What would happen if you disappeared tomorrow ? Would your church staff know what to do ? Would your elder board have a plan ? Would there be confusion or power struggles or fear ? Most pastors avoid this conversation and today we're not going to . We're going to go there . Let's talk about the succession plan that you don't want to write , but your team is already hoping that you will Stick around . This could be the most important leadership decision that you make all year , and I'm not overstating that all year long .
Speaker 1
Hi there , my name is Todd Rhodes . I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I am your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff podcast . All right , believe it or not , your legacy already has a clock . Every leader , just like a carton of milk , has an expiration date . Some just don't know when it is , and while nobody likes to talk about endings , particularly career endings , succession is a spiritual responsibility , especially if you're a senior pastor , if your ministry disappears the moment you're gone . Was it ever really a ministry or was it just a personality cult with a budget ? Most pastors wait way too long to think about succession . They think succession is for when they get older or when they're ready to retire . But great leaders don't wait , they prepare
. We do a lot of succession work in my role at chemistrystaffingcom and one of the things that we always tell people is that the time to start your succession plan is yesterday . Great leaders don't wait , they prepare .
Speaker 1
If you've got a sticky note , take one of the sticky notes and write this on it If I can't hand off my role , I haven't led , I've just occupied . That might be worth today's podcast and it's free , right , free advice . You take it for what it's worth , but I think this is actually worth something . Take out a sticky note . If you have one , take it , I'll wait for you . Okay , you got the sticky note . Take out the sticky note and write this If I can't hand off my role , I haven't led , I've just occupied . Okay , your team's already thinking about your succession plan , just not with you , right ? Here's the
honest truth . Your staff , your elders , your key volunteers are already thinking about what would happen if you left , but out of respect or fear , they just usually won't bring it up , and that means that there's this silent anxiety kind of simmering in the background of your leadership . Now , am I making too big of a deal out of this ? No , I don't really think I am .
Speaker 1
We're having this discussion right now at Chemistry Staffing . We are having a discussion . We should have had it a long time ago . I preach this stuff all the time , but we're having we're calling it the Todd HBAB , the Todd hit by a bus plan and we're actually talking about and part of this podcast is me getting things out of my head so that I can share them with other people . I need to be able to if something were to happen to me for things to carry on with my work and my ministry at Chemistry Staffing . I'm not asking you to do something that I'm not doing myself , but the onus is on you , right ? The staff are sitting there kind of wondering . The elders are wondering , your leadership is wondering . People in your congregation are actually wondering Is there a backup plan here ? If you're seeing who would preach , maybe you're asking what would happen to my job . Would this church survive ?
Speaker 1
Creating a succession plan is not a sign of weakness . It doesn't signal weakness . It actually signals wisdom and trust and a healthy culture that's not built around a single person . Now I know what you're saying . You're saying , todd , if I went to my elders or I went to my board or went to my staff and said I'm working on a succession plan , I'm as good as gone . They might even hand me a box and tell me to tag up my office , and you might be true .
Speaker 1
If you're in a really unhealthy situation , a succession plan might be something that you need to walk through very cautiously . But if you're in a healthy church and a healthy culture , you need to be able to . You need to work . If you're not there now , you need to work to be able to have these kind of conversations . All right . So maybe you're not there yet , but maybe this is something you need to work toward . I'm not asking you to do anything rash , but I am asking you to start thinking about what the plan is going to be All right . So let's talk about that . What does a good succession plan actually include
? We're going to get really practical here . I only have a couple minutes here , so this is going to be really broad . If you're interested , you can reach out to me podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . I'd love to talk you through the nitty gritty of what a really good succession plan looks like , but let's just look . 30,000 foot level , very practical . A healthy , pastoral succession plan should include some of the following here Okay , a written emergency transition plan is goal number one .
Speaker 1
Who steps in short term if you're suddenly unavailable ? What if you get hit by a bus ? I live in Bryan Ohio . The chances are it's not impossible . I could get hit by a bus , but the chances of me getting hit by a bus in Bryan Ohio are slim to none . We don't have public transit here , but anything could happen to me . Today . We're not guaranteed another minute on this earth . So what happens in the short term if you're suddenly not available , you're unavailable ?
Speaker 1
The key here is a written plan . A written plan . It needs to be on paper . It can't live in your head . It can't live in the head of one or two of your elders or another staff member or your spouse , right ? This has to be a written plan so that when something does happen God forbid there is a written plan where people can go and see exactly what the plan is . And it can't just be your plan . It has to be . There has to be buy-in from other people , right ? And then a long-term succession roadmap needs to be put in place . Even if you don't know your retirement date , you might be 10 years away from your retirement date right , but a long-term succession roadmap is something that can be really valuable . Whether you're six months or five years or 10 years or 15 years , it's not too early .
Speaker 1
Yesterday's a great day to start working on this . It could be that there's even a list of internal candidates , even if they're not ready yet . This is something that I'm preaching really hard these days is the need for churches to call out the called inside their congregations , right . So maybe there's a list of people that they're not ready yet You're not and you're not stepping out the door at and you're not stepping out the door , you're not leaving but a list of people that you got your eye on . Right . That are internal candidates . They love you , they love your church , they love the mission of your church . They're not ready yet , but there's somebody , some people , that you're building into . I know of a church that went through a had a succession plan where they had two people that they were really building into . They weren't ready yet , but when a crisis happened where the senior pastor had to step down after a few months due to an illness , one of those candidates was able to step up and take the place . So it was actually a part of that long-term succession roadmap , even when there was no real plan for the senior pastor to have to leave .
Speaker 1
Okay , and there needs to be some communication guidelines who gets told what and when and you need to look at some cultural values as well must be preserved in any leadership change . What are the non-negotiables that cannot change when you step out of your role ? Think of it this way You're not scripting the future . Okay , you don't have scripting rights . You can't write the next chapter after you leave of your church , but you can steward it and you can start stewarding it . So here's the bottom line for today Start , not later .
Speaker 1
Most pastors put off this conversation until they feel ready , but readiness is a feeling and planning
is a choice . So , even if you're decades away , even if you're 10 , 15 , 20 years away from stepping away , naming what matters now will make your church stronger . It's going to create clarity , it's going to build trust and it's going to signal to your team hey , this church is bigger than one person . So here's your next step . Okay , start with a conversation . Maybe it starts with your spouse , maybe it's with a trusted elder , with your leadership coach . But start the conversation today .
Speaker 1
Your absence should never be a crisis . It should be a continuation of what God is doing , and succession isn't just about writing your ending . It's about ensuring that your church has a really healthy future . Okay , I hope this has been helpful to you . Maybe a little convict , and if it has been , chances are you're going to need to talk to somebody outside your church about what to do , how to come up with a succession plan , what to do , what not to do , and I would love to have a conversation with you If this is something that you're thinking about doing .
Speaker 1
You're like Todd , yep , I'm not ready yet , or maybe you are ready , but , man , I need to start talking through this with somebody . I would love to be able to coach you and see if there's any way that we could partner . We do successions plans with churches quite often here at Chemistry , so reach out to me . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . Just hop on a Zoom call and have a little conversation , confidential conversation , and see where you're at and see how we might be able to
help you . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . All right , that's it for today . Thanks so much for joining me . I'll be right back here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast . Till then , pray good you .
