Excerpts from “Lost in Transition”—new book from A3 Board member, Steve Woodworth!
My friend, Steve Woodworth, recently published an amazing book on leadership succession: Lost in Translation: Lessons from the Most Disastrous and Successful Leadership Transitions.
Steve has been a valued member of our board for 11 years, and we regularly lean on his wisdom. Through the years, he has studied leadership successions in dozens of Christian organizations and churches. His research is full of tremendous lessons, both those that went well and those that went poorly. As a taste, I wanted to share some excerpts from Steve's book, including a section about A3 for which I'm particularly thankful.
Humility Is the Secret Ingredient
A few years ago, two men stood on a ferry boat as it traveled across a crowded Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island to the area known as Kowloon. One of the men felt his phone vibrate and pulled it from his pocket. He turned to the other man and showed him the text message he’d just received.
The owner of the phone was Ken Wendling, who founded Language Institute for Evangelism in the 1960s in Japan. The organization is known today as A3, a global ministry dedicated to equipping and unifying Christ-centered leaders. The other man on the ferry was John Wood, Ken’s good friend and the senior pastor of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The text described an anniversary dinner celebrating another ministry founded by Ken. The text said in part, “Ken, the dinner was great. You’ll be glad to know that you weren’t even mentioned.”
When John read the text, he was offended on Ken’s behalf. “Ken, really?” he said. “I know you’re big on this humility thing, but you are a human being. You started that organization. Don’t you don’t want any credit?”
“You bet I do,” Ken replied. “I just don’t want premature credit.” What Ken meant, John later explained, was that Ken was like the servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents. The only reward that mattered to Ken was hearing from the Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). He wasn’t looking for credit in this life—he would be satisfied instead with the Lord’s approval.
We have talked about how boards need extra help when conducting a leadership succession and about the critical importance of choosing a candidate who fits the culture, which is most likely to occur when they are hired from within the organization. But the secret ingredient for a successful transition—the special sauce that makes it a winning recipe is when everyone involved comes to the feast with a humble attitude.
Scripture repeatedly directs us, after all, toward a posture of humility. Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:43–45). Christ also once called a child to him and said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). Why did Jesus put so much emphasis on humility? Because he knew that when we feel our reputations and identities are at stake, we are easily drawn away from a servant attitude and toward an attitude of pride.
Joe Handley, the current president of A3, has watched Ken Wendling—along with Steve Hoke and Doug Birdsall, the other previous leaders of the organization—model a humble spirit for years. He says it has made a critical difference in both their leadership transitions and their continuing efforts on behalf of the ministry.
“During a transition, we need a spirit of collaboration, a spirit of family, a spirit of unity,” Joe says. “We need to realize that God’s mission in this world is bigger than our identity, particularly our own ambition or ego. If we can let go of our egos and lean into God’s purposes, we have a much better chance of success in the short term and the long term.”
That is the goal: to let go and to adopt a humble spirit throughout the process of succession.
It can be a daily challenge.
It can take humility combined with discipline to hold one’s tongue. Sometimes, however, a different kind of humility is called for. Doug Birdsall, who eventually succeeded Ken Wendling as the leader of what is now A3, tells the story of the time Doug had been named director of the ministry staff in Japan, relieving Ken of the responsibility and allowing Ken to spend more time in the United States to focus on other areas as the organization’s president. One day not long after his appointment, Doug and Ken sat in Doug’s living room, with Doug asking question after question. Ken realized that Doug was trying to figure out what Ken would do if he were still in Doug’s position. Ken got up, walked over, extended his arm, and shook Doug’s hand.
“Doug,” he said. “Lead!”
“It was like the Michelangelo painting where God imparts life to Adam,” Doug says. “Ken was saying, ‘Doug, I’m no longer here. I’m not coming back. You are the person God has put in place. You’re the one to make the decisions now.’ It was one of those confidence-giving, life-giving moments. I’ve never forgotten it.”
Sometimes the most helpful and humble act a former leader can perform is to avoid any sense of stepping back into the ring and instead simply affirm the new leader.
That’s the kind of humble, Christ-centered spirit that a board should be looking for.
Another advantage to humility in a leader is that it tends to draw out the best in his or her team. Doug Birdsall says of Ken Wendling, “One thing I learned from Ken is that humility releases power in other people. If you’re the leader and you say, ‘I’m in charge here,’ that squashes any power or energy that’s out there, organizationally or spiritually. But if someone proposes a next step and you say, ‘That’s a great idea. I wish I’d thought of that.
Guys, I think we ought to do that,’ then that person feels a sense of confidence, that they belong, and they’ll be more likely to suggest more good ideas.”
Ken practiced what he preached. One year when Doug Birdsall was president of Asian Access, his board and the board of their ministry in Japan were having meetings in Dallas. The two boards had come to a significant impasse, one that had the potential to end the Japanese ministry of Asian Access.
When it became clear that there would be no easy resolution to the problem, Doug made an evening call to Ken, who was in Minneapolis, to explain the situation. “When do your meetings end?” Ken asked. Doug told him. “Let me check,” Ken said, “but I think I can get a flight tonight. I should be there in the morning.”
He was.
“We had the wisdom of the ten people on our board,” Doug remembers, “but as the founder and with the history and relationships that he had, Ken stepped in and somewhat sternly, with a mild rebuke, was able to save things. It was received as from the Lord. Nobody else could have done that. Ken didn’t expect a medal or a trophy for that. He just got back to the airport for a flight to his next destination.“
I’ve often heard Ken say, ‘There’s no limit to what we can do for the glory of God if we don’t care who gets the credit.’ That’s the kind of leadership he modeled.”
“There’s no limit to what we can do for the glory of God if we don’t care who gets the credit.”
It’s also an example of the kind of humility that makes for an excellent succession.
Influence of the Outgoing Leader
I even know of three examples—Ted Engstrom at World Vision, Doug Birdsall at A3 and, when the transition occurs, Jonathan Bernis at Jewish Voice—where the outgoing leader remained or will remain on the board. It’s an unusual situation that requires an outgoing leader who still wants to serve in that capacity, a secure incoming leader and board, and an extra level of trust, but it is a blessing when it can happen.
I once witnessed firsthand what having a supportive former leader on the board can mean. A3 had a pivotal board meeting to decide whether to adapt their pastor leadership training program for businesspeople. Joe Handley, the current CEO, submitted the idea for the board to consider, but the board was split. At a break in the debate, Doug Birdsall—the former leader who had become a board member—asked in front of everyone, “Joe, on a scale of one to ten, with one meaning ‘I couldn’t care less’ and ten meaning ‘If we don’t do this, I’m out of here,’ how badly do you want to do this?”
Joe thought for a few seconds and said, “Probably a seven or eight.” When the skeptical board members recognized how important the issue was to Joe—thanks to Doug’s intuition to ask his question at just the right moment—they changed their minds and offered enthusiastic support. The result was that A3’s mission to business leaders became one of its greatest success stories of the last ten years.
Excellent Succession
The challenge of pulling off an excellent succession is enormous but far from impossible. As you look for the right balance between being yourself, heeding the advice of others, and not moving too quickly, my best counsel is to check your motives from a spiritual perspective and leave each decision in the Lord’s hands.
“If you have the sense that God has called you to the job, then you’ll realize that it wasn’t your idea, and you have no claim to the position,” says Doug Birdsall, the former CEO of what is now A3. “You will make mistakes, but if someone doesn’t like it, you can say, ‘I’m sorry, this is the best I can do.’ You don’t have to feel pressure to defend yourself or compete with somebody.”
About Steve Woodworth
Steve Woodworth is the CEO of Masterworks and serves on the board of A3. He has been a former vice president at World Vision and has also served as chair of the Communications Working Group for the Lausanne Movement.
This is just a little glimpse of the immense insights Steve shares in the book. To dig in deeper, you can get the book here:
https://www.kingdomlifepublishing.com/product/lost-in-transition/
I want to thank my dear friend, Steve, for allowing me to post these excerpts from his book.
Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
More Information
- Images of the book cover and Steve Woodworth courtesy of Steve Woodworth
- Additional images courtesy of Jeff Johnston/A3 provided as enhancements but are not published in Steve’s book
- See the A3 Board of Directors
