5 Minute Read…
My last Sunday at Woodstock City Church was August 1.
I’ve had that date circled on my calendar for several months.
When you set a date and decide that ending well is a priority, you realize how much needs to be done to run through the finish line strong.
It can feel that the race to end well begins when an ending date is defined. The ending date sets a public finish line, giving you a target to run strong through the tape.
Unfortunately, and to stick with the race analogy, finishing well is more about race preparation than the race itself. The finish line may mark the end of your time in the organization, but your race success is determined long before the race even begins.
If you’ve ever competed in a race, you know how true that is. I once competed in a sprint triathlon. That sounds more impressive than it is. Compared to a full triathlon, a sprint is a walk in the park. But still, outside of elementary school recess, I had never competed in a race before, much less a swimming, biking, and then running race.
Completing that triathlon required several months of training. I had to learn to swim for distance rather than from the diving board to the ladder (it’s very different, so I learned!). I had to learn the mechanics of a race bike. I had to practice running after swimming 1,000 meters and biking 14 miles. And I had to become partially comfortable with spandex.
The actual race began months before the starting gun. It was the preparation that allowed for race completion.
And it’s the same for ending well.
You probably aren’t leaving your church or company soon, but you will one day. If you want to end well, you need to prepare now. Your leadership race to end well begins today.
Here are 5 training methods you can implement now to end well later:
1. Redefine the finish line
Isn’t the finish line your last day on the job? While that is a visual finish line, I don’t believe it should be your actual finish line.
In my race, I refused to see my last date on staff as my finish line. My finish line was the successful transfer of leadership to the next pastor of our church. I publicly transferred the baton of leadership trust to Samer Massad on Sunday, July 25, 2021. You can watch it here (scrub to minute 19:45 unless you want to watch our full service, including my next-to-last sermon on staff).
The successful transfer of trust to the next leader was my finish line, even though our staff and church most likely circled August 1.
POINT: Preparing to end well requires we define a better ending than a date on the calendar.
2. Actively replace yourself
With #1 in mind, actively replacing yourself today is part of ending well tomorrow. It becomes challenging to end well as a leader if you can’t transition leadership to someone you’ve been actively preparing.
At our church, this has been on my mind for years — long before I even considered transitioning off the team. At Woodstock City Church, we had an abundance of quality leaders who were capable of point leadership. We kept great leaders by providing them leadership autonomy. This autonomy grew them as leaders while actively preparing them for their next season of leadership.
POINT: To prepare your future replacement, provide more leadership support than leadership directives to encourage their leadership development (and satisfaction).
3. Use team structures to prepare individual leaders
Evaluated experience is the best teacher, which means we must actively define ongoing experiences for leadership development. Few things are more beneficial to the next group of leaders than active participation with the current leader.
I used our leadership structures for active preparation. Most organizations of scale have a management team, a leadership team, and perhaps an executive team. For me, these teams contributed to the organization’s current management and future direction. While these teams collectively worked to make the organization better, they also helped develop future leaders.
Engaging directly with me provided each leader around me a better perspective on my role and what is required to lead the organization.
POINT: Preparing to end well means ensuring other leaders have active proximity to the current leader.
4. Refuse organizational codependency
You’ve seen a codependent relationship. Perhaps you’ve experienced one, too. Excessive emotional or psychological reliance on a partner defines relational codependence. Similarly, leaders create organizational codependence (I might be inventing a term) when they need the organization more than the organization needs them.
Think about that for a moment. Can you think of organizations that are so synonymous with the leader that they appear as one? Codependent leaders make all the calls, demand personal loyalty to the “organization” (AKA: them), and can’t separate who they are from what they lead.
Relational codependent harms people. Organizational codependence destroys organizations.
POINT: As the current leader, refuse to allow the organization to unnecessarily depend on you.
5. Visualize the race
Great athletes spend time visualizing the race long before the race begins. Great transitional leaders do the same. If you want to finish your leadership race well, start imagining the organization without you. If that visual scares you, allow that fear to serve as a red flag (I’ll let you determine what the flag means, but I have some guesses if you need help).
Visualizing the organization without you will serve as a powerful motivator to avoid codependence while ensuring you give away leadership autonomy to the leaders under you.
POINT: If you want the organization to succeed after you, start visualizing it without you.
Conclusion…
My public race to end well began on Sunday, June 6, 2021, as I announced my transition to our congregation, but I crossed my personal finish line on Sunday, July 25, 2021, as I introduced our next lead pastor. In reality, my preparation began on November 16, 2008 — my first day on staff at Woodstock City Church.
How can I help?
Coaching ministry and marketplace leaders through change, transition, and transformation is why I created Transformation Solutions. Go right now to mytransformationsolutions.com and sign up for a free, 30-minute conversation to decide if working together works for you.
