The Magnificent ExitSample

Successful Leaders are Stewards

Leadership is an enormous part of how our world works, and it affects us all. In fact, the Bible shows us that God intervenes in the human condition primarily through leadership. However, all leaders have to leave at the right time and handoff may be the hardest of all leadership tasks.

Maybe you’ve pioneered and led a team, organization, business, or church for years. Maybe you’ve built it from the ground up and invested all of yourself – heart, mind, sweat, and some tears. Now it’s time to move on. You’ve felt it for some time, and you know another challenge awaits. But how do you choose your successor? How will you know the right person to take your ‘baby’ into its next growth phase? What will you do with those feelings of insecurity and those control issues lurking just beneath the surface?

As a leader, Jesus was a maverick and a revolutionary. He didn’t conform to the wisdom of the culture but instead demonstrated unique techniques to raise up and release leaders, and no other leader comes close to His success in changing the world.

Jesus understood the stewardship of his leadership and power. All power is God’s, and redistribution from that source represent the core duty of anyone leading in Jesus' wake. Read through John 13 and think about his actions and how they empowered the disciples to lead. When we grasp this fundamental truth, we’re far better equipped to take a closer look at leadership handoff: the transition from one leader to another.

In Jesus we have the perfect pattern to follow: human, leader, filled with emotion, deeply committed to the mission -- working with fallible, imperfect people.

With the various transitions I’ve been through, and the research I’ve done on the subject, the undeniable fact is that leadership transitions are complex and difficult. Over the next six days, we'll explore some thoughts for transitioning leaders as well as leaders jumping headfirst into new spaces of influence. Get ready to succeed.