Leading Through Transitions: Starting Well (Part 1)

The first 100 days in a new leadership role can set the tone for years to come. But how do you know what to prioritize, when to make changes, and which relationships matter most?

On this episode of The Lead On Podcast, Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee, shares practical strategies for making a strong start. Drawing from his leadership experience, Iorg explains how to establish priorities, build meaningful relationships, recognize quiet influencers, and avoid letting urgent demands overshadow long-term goals.

Whether you're stepping into a new ministry position or helping another leader make that transition, discover how an intentional beginning can lay the foundation for lasting success.

Creators and Guests

Host

Jeff Iorg

President, SBC Executive Committee

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Ready to hone your leadership skills and unlock your full potential? Tune in to the Lead On Podcast, where Jeff Iorg dives deep into Biblical leadership.

Hosted by SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg, this dynamic podcast provides insight for seasoned executives, aspiring leaders, or those in ministry who are simply passionate about personal growth. The Lead On Podcast offers actionable, practical tips to help you navigate the complexities of ministry leadership in today's ever-changing world.

From effective communication and team building to strategic decision-making and fostering innovation, each episode is packed with valuable lessons and inspiring stories to empower you on your leadership journey.

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Jeff Iorg: 00:01

Welcome to the Lead On Podcast. This is Jeff Iorg, the president of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, talking with you once again about practical issues related to ministry leadership. Well, today on the podcast, I'd like to talk about some insight into starting a new position or starting a new role. And then next week on the podcast, I'd like to talk about some strategies when people are departing from your organization or departing from your church. I want to talk about making a good beginning and making a good ending on these two podcasts.

Jeff Iorg: 00:35

Now, today we're going to focus our attention on making a good beginning. This is what happens when you have an opportunity to start a new job or to start in a new ministry position in your existing organization or to do something new. Now, most of the time I'm referring to when you're brought into a situation as the new pastor or the new youth pastor or the new professor or the new administrator director. I'm referring primarily to what you do when you are the new person in the role. Now, frankly, a lot of you may find yourself today in fairly settled places, and you may think, well, do I really need that?

Jeff Iorg: 01:14

Well, perhaps you don't need it right now, but you might need the podcast someday. But more importantly, you may be in a position where you're hiring people and putting them in new roles, and it's important for you to know how to coach them so they can make the best beginnings possible. So this podcast really has application on at least two levels today. First of all, it has application for some of you who are starting something new or anticipate starting something new in the reasonably, close future, Or it has application for those of you who are in settled positions, but more like me, you're in a position where you're hiring people, you're interviewing people, you're bringing people in, and you want to help those new people launch in a healthy way. And that's part of your responsibility as a leader is to help them do that.

Jeff Iorg: 02:01

So today, I want to

Jeff Iorg: 02:02

talk about starting something new. The first principle I

Jeff Iorg: 02:06

want to underscore is to be intentional. Be intentional. In other words, make a plan. And once you've made that plan, work that plan. Now there's, some good material out there that's, helpful in this regard.

Jeff Iorg: 02:22

There's a particular book, and I I don't like to endorse secular books, on the podcast, but there's a particular book out there about making a good start. It's, your first ninety days or something like that. And its whole premise is that you make an intentional beginning that takes about the first three months of your, tenure, and you make sure that you do the single most strategic things necessary in that ninety day window. Now you might say, well, what are those most strategic things? Well, they're really going to be determined mostly by the condition of the organization or the department or the area in which you'll be working and helping you to understand from the beginning what are some of the key needs, some of what are the main problems, some of what are the pressing deficiencies, what are some of the concerns that need to be overcome.

Jeff Iorg: 03:13

What does need to happen? So when I say be intentional, I I don't mean necessarily to be intentional by borrowing someone else's checklist and simply working through it. I mean that when you're in the interview process, you're going to learn lot about the organization or the department or the ministry that you're coming into. You're going to hear about some of the problems, of the challenges, some of the difficulties. If you're coming in as the senior leader, perhaps the search committee that brought you is going to lay that out for you, or perhaps the board that you're going to be interfacing with is going to help you understand what those needs are.

Jeff Iorg: 03:45

If you're coming into an existing organization that, where you won't necessarily be the senior leader, then perhaps your senior leader, your pastor, your director, your president, whoever's over you in the organizational chart will be the one to help you sort out some of the key issues that need to be resolved in an area. Some time can only involve finding out what the problems are, and then you have to make your own inquiry as to how to get that fixed. I'm thinking about one young man that I knew. He was a young a young air force officer. He reported for his first duty assignment after being commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Jeff Iorg: 04:23

And upon arrival, the colonel said to him, you, young man, are in charge of this particular hangar with this particular aircraft in it, and it's deficient. It's been underperforming, and I want it fixed. And when he made some comment about asking some question about, well, what specifically do you want done, sir? He said, I want you to figure that out. I want it fixed.

Jeff Iorg: 04:50

So this young man went down to the hangar and found the sergeant who was in charge of the daily operations and said, introduced himself and explained that he had been ordered to take over command and the sergeant knew he was coming and welcomed him to the role. And he said, I've been ordered to fix this hangar. And the sergeant said, we can get that done. Well, this young man didn't really know what he was talking about or even what he needed to do, but he had the good sense to understand that someone who had been there and someone who understood the problems could help him diagnose what intentionally needed to be done in the first ninety days to really get off to a great start. So whether you have a search committee that coaches you up, or whether you have a board that gives you counsel, whether you have a director or a president who gives you some guidance, or whether you have a commanding officer who just tells you to get something fixed, you have to take the initiative to be intentional to develop this kind of plan.

Jeff Iorg: 05:47

Now let me be as practical as I can be. That's what I like to do on this podcast. When I recently started something new about two and a half years ago here at the executive committee, I put into practice what I'm talking to you about today on

Jeff Iorg: 05:58

the podcast. And

Jeff Iorg: 06:01

when I knew I was coming, I started listing what are all of the possible things that need to be done in the first ninety days to really get me started in the most strategic way possible. And I just started listing ideas. For example, things like obtain a full legal briefing from our general counsel, obtain a full financial overview from the chief financial officer, interview the independent auditors who've been looking at our finances and understand what they're saying about them, develop relationships or try to develop relationships with the people who work in the executive committee staff and discover what their needs are. And because I was coming into a situation that had some difficulty attached to it, I knew that there was a good likelihood that the staff would be feeling somewhat disconnected and maybe even a little bit, if I could say it this way, a little bit beaten up by what some of the circumstances that they had had to deal with had done to them. And so I thought there might be some specific intentional needs, so I wrote, do pastoral care, make relational connections, these kinds of things as part of my intentional plan.

Jeff Iorg: 07:07

Now it's not so important that you understand everything that was on that plan today. It's important that you understand the process. I was listening to the people who brought me into the situation. I was diagnosed in the situation based on my leadership experience. I was paying attention to the needs of the organization as they were revealed to me in the search process and by the board.

Jeff Iorg: 07:28

I was making lists of these things as I was hearing them, I was thinking about strategies that I could implement to get me up to speed and to make good, important steps in the first ninety days. Now, here's a very important part of this process. Listen carefully.

Jeff Iorg: 07:45

You're not going to do everything on that initial list. You're just not.

Jeff Iorg: 07:52

So once I made my brainstorming list, let's say it had, you know, 50 things on it, then I go back through it and I ask myself the question, what's really on this list that would make a strategic long term difference? And I started marking out some things. And then as I processed, I maybe added some more things. And I kept working with the list over a period of really a couple of weeks, thinking about it daily. What on this list is really strategic and what on here is not so significant?

Jeff Iorg: 08:23

And with reflection and with consideration, there's a winnowing process that takes place. So let me underscore this. Being intentional about making a ninety day plan to start your new work or your new role does not mean that you do everything you write down on that plan or you do everything anyone could possibly think up for you to do in this regard.

Jeff Iorg: 08:44

No. Instead, you focus in on what are the

Jeff Iorg: 08:49

most intentional things I can do, and then you make a plan to get those done. Now that plan to get those done means that you actually then list them in priority order, calendar them so that they get done, and work hard, to make those things happen. Because as soon as you arrive on the scene, there's gonna be a 100 people coming at you with a 100 different things that need your attention. And you're going to have to work on some of those things as they start arising because you're there to do a particular job. So if you're not careful, you'll get overrun by what's called the tyranny of the urgent, and you'll lose the intentionality of the strategic.

Jeff Iorg: 09:27

Don't let the tyranny of the urgent rob you of the intentionality of the strategic. So, for example, one of the things that, I determined to do, and we'll talk about this more in a moment, but was to make some strong relational connections with the people I would be working with. Now in my case here, the executive committee is is is really not a a large staff of people, So I was able to meet one on one with every employee for about a forty five minute conversation to get really more well acquainted with them. So that's the kind of strategic choice I'm saying that takes up time that if you're not careful, will get cast aside because the... Again, tyranny of the urgent can cast aside the intentionality of the strategic.

Jeff Iorg: 10:14

So you're gonna be intentional by making what I'm calling this ninety day or a hundred day plan to get you started in your new role. You're gonna brainstorm a bunch of ideas by listening to your board, your search committee, your staff, people that you're first meeting, knowing the difficulties the organization has been facing that have been revealed to you during the process. And you're also gonna think strategically about solutions and what you have to do to get started on those solutions. And you're gonna make a brainstormed list of these things. And then you're going to winnow that list and into what really will make a difference and then categorize it and calendar it so that it does get done.

Jeff Iorg: 10:49

Now this involves strategic choices, as I've said, to do what's really going to make a difference and to not let all of your early time be dissipated with minutiae that really isn't going to accomplish the long term objectives that you have in mind. So you're making intentional, strategic choices during this planning for these early days. But also, when you arrive, you may want to think about also making some what I call symbolic choices. These are part of your strategy, but they're really more symbolic of what you're trying to accomplish, than anything else. So for example, I have a friend who went to work as a senior executive, of a large company.

Jeff Iorg: 11:35

And one of the things he heard a lot about during the time that he was interviewing was that there was a pretty significant disconnect between a lot of the workers in the company and the president, the chief executive, and the executive leadership. So while he was in the consideration for his position, he determined with the board that this really was a true and legitimate problem. And he knew that he couldn't solve it all immediately when he first got there, but thought, what could I do that would be symbolic and would communicate it's a new day and a new way of relating? He did two things. First, he moved the president's office from the Top Floor Suite in their high rise building to the lobby level.

Jeff Iorg: 12:25

There was some office space that was available there, and so he had that reconfigured, remodeled pretty quickly and inexpensively. And then he and his immediate support staff moved into the President's Suite on the 1st Floor. And then he spent time in the mornings and in the evenings as people were coming to work, as people were leaving for work, loitering, if you will, in the lobby and just meeting people. And he knew he wasn't going to meet everyone that worked in the company, and he knew he wasn't going to remember every name of anyone who spoke to him, but he just wanted people to know I'm I'm, I'm accessible. I'm a real guy.

Jeff Iorg: 13:05

I'm here working. I'm not in a high rise suite above all of you, totally disconnected, secured by four levels of protection. No. I'm I'm here. I'm available.

Jeff Iorg: 13:14

I'm accessible. This turned out to be a remarkably insightful thing because word spread throughout the organization. Hey. The new guy, he's, he's okay. He's he's approachable.

Jeff Iorg: 13:27

You can talk to him. He's around. Now let me underscore this. This this executive did not spend three hours a day hobnobbing in the coffee room. No.

Jeff Iorg: 13:37

He spent about fifteen minutes in the morning, fifteen to twenty minutes in the evening, making sure that he was out in the lobby at the time when a lot of people were coming and a lot of people were going just to make connections. And in those connections, he thanked people for their work. He found out a little bit about what they did. He made, connections with some as they were moving in and out of the building. You know what I'm trying

Jeff Iorg: 13:58

to communicate. Now you say, well, gosh,

Jeff Iorg: 14:01

you know, a big senior executive like that. Does he have that kind of time? We're talking about thirty minutes a day to build relational goodwill that has cascading impact down through the organization. So, yes,

Jeff Iorg: 14:13

he had time. Alright. Step one, be intentional. Listen to the concerns. Listen to the problems.

Jeff Iorg: 14:20

Listen to the opportunities. Brainstorm a massive list of what you can do. Spend some days winnowing that list, pulling out what really will make a strategic difference, and then putting it in some kind of order and then some kind of calendar. And these are both strategic choices and symbolic choices to launch yourself in the best way possible. Now, if you're going into a ministry organization, I don't think you can undervalue the importance of the relational connections that you must establish during those first ninety to a hundred days.

Jeff Iorg: 14:53

Now it's impossible for a senior leader or for a leader of a large organization to meet every person and establish a connection with every individual. I'm not asking you to do that. I'm asking instead to think, who do I need to connect with strategically? Who do I

Jeff Iorg: 15:08

need to connect with strategically? Who do

Jeff Iorg: 15:10

I need to make sure that I establish a relationship with during these early days? And quite frankly, this is very significant because a lot of the most significant people don't want to bother you, don't want to take up your time, or don't want to, crowd your schedule while you're trying to get started, and they'll pull back when they're the very people you need to be engaging with. So for example, you're bringing in a new youth pastor to your church. You say, well, who are the strategic people this new youth pastor needs to connect with? Listen.

Jeff Iorg: 15:44

You say, here are the people who currently teach in the youth Sunday school. Here are the people who currently sponsor youth events and activities. Here are the people who went with us on the youth mission trip last summer and are likely to go again next summer. And here are the parents of 10 teenagers in our church that make a difference at the core of who we are and what we're doing. In the first few weeks that you're here, you need to have lunch or dinner or breakfast or coffee or something with every person on this list to build a relationship, to hear what they're thinking, to understand where you're coming from, and to make the relational connections necessary to launch well in a ministry.

Jeff Iorg: 16:21

So it's not just when you come as the top guy or the senior executive, it's if you come to be the director or an associate pastor or someone on a staff, you're asking who is in this ministry area, this circle of influence, and who's connected to it that I really need to interface with to build the momentum I need in these early months of ministry. Now, here's some examples of what I've done. I mentioned earlier that when I came to the executive committee, we only had about 22, 23 employees at the time. And so I told my assistant as I was getting ramped up and coming here, I said, I want you to schedule a forty five minute meeting with me with every employee. And she said, every employee?

Jeff Iorg: 17:01

I said, every employee. There's only 23 of them. I said, in the first thirty days, I wanna meet every one of them one on one. Now this created both excitement and it created some anxiety because people were wondering, what have I done or why does the president wanna meet with me? And I I sent out an information that said, hey, I'm asking these meetings to be arranged.

Jeff Iorg: 17:24

Don't be alarmed. I wanna ask you two or three basic questions. I wanna get to know you better. I wanna hear your perspective on the work we do together. And I wanna hear your concerns that you hope I'll address in my early days of my work here.

Jeff Iorg: 17:34

And those are my three questions. You know, when people would come in and sit down, I would say, you know, tell me about yourself, your family, your background, your church involvement, anything that would help me to know you better. And then tell me what you do here. I know your job and your title, but tell me what you really do and why it matters to you. And then what are some of your concerns?

Jeff Iorg: 17:51

What would you like for me to address immediately if I could that would make a real difference in the quality of the work we're doing? I just needed three questions. And as I asked those questions and followed up with what I was hearing, we were able to fill up forty five minutes no problem. But in every case, I established a new relational connection that gave people a sense that... Of who I was and helped me to know who they are and brought us together relationally.

Jeff Iorg: 18:15

Now when I went to the seminary, it's, of course, a larger organization than the executive committee, had about a 150 employees. And I knew that there was really not practically a way that I could meet with every single one of them. And honestly, I wasn't sure that it would have been all that helpful. I think in the case of some of the support employees, landscapers, people like that, it probably would have been a more intimidating experience than it would have been a helpful one. And so in those categories of employees, I I try to meet with them as a group, you know, going out to the maintenance guys and meeting with them and talking with them while they were having their lunch or something like that, seeing some people that's worked in support roles, maybe in library and other places, making myself available to them as part of my strategic plan, but not trying to meet one on one with everyone.

Jeff Iorg: 19:01

When I got to the seminary years ago, about 35 faculty members at the time, and I said the same thing to my assistant. I want to meet every faculty member for a forty five minute conversation in the first semester that I'm here. I was coming August 1. I want this done before Christmas.

Jeff Iorg: 19:20

And that was incredibly important and helpful to me as I got that work done. Intentionally carving out that time. Yes.

Jeff Iorg: 19:32

That was a lot of time, forty plus hours of one on one dialogue, but it was with the key people who make the

Jeff Iorg: 19:40

difference. Now I recently

Jeff Iorg: 19:43

talked with a senior executive who started out in a organization, and we were talking about these very things and what he did and how he did it. And I was trying to learn from him as well as give him some input. And he said, when I was making my list of strategic relationships I needed to submit in my early days, he said, I ask our leadership, who are five people that have been vocally critical of us? Five people we would consider, critics or enemies or however you wanna describe them. And it didn't take long.

Jeff Iorg: 20:15

They were able to produce a list of the five that they thought, okay. Yeah. These are five people that have been pretty negative about us. And this guy decided, I'm gonna talk to all five of them. And he told me, he said, I called each of the five and said, I understand you've had some real concerns about our organization in the past, and I'm getting a fresh start.

Jeff Iorg: 20:34

And I'd like to hear what your concerns are so that I can sort through them and work on

Jeff Iorg: 20:38

the ones that I feel like I can do something about. All five of those critics took his call, and, all five of them expressed themselves and laid it out for him. And he said, I

Jeff Iorg: 20:52

learned two things from those conversations. Number one, some of what was being said was true, and we needed to pay attention to that and move on. And number two, I learned that if you talk to people, while it may not solve all their concerns, it does change the tone of their relationship because now they know that at least someone is listening to some of their concerns. Now I have to tell you, that's pretty bold, and I have not always been that bold in terms of reaching out to people like that, especially not in my early tenure in new responsibilities. But I think that's very courageous and very insightful work on his

Jeff Iorg: 21:32

part. So we're starting a new position. You're going

Jeff Iorg: 21:35

to be intentional, make strategic choices and symbolic choices. You're going to brainstorm whole lot of things you could do based on what you're hearing from search committees and boards and department leaders and others in the organization. And then you're gonna spend some time winnowing that list and sorting out what really will make the most difference as I get started. And then you're gonna rate that in some priority order and calendar it out. And in a ministry organization, you're going to really prioritize the relationships because quite honestly, ministry organizations flow on relational connections, and it's so vital to get that done.

Jeff Iorg: 22:09

Now as you're moving into this process, part of the part of the skills necessary to do it well is to listen wisely. There are two groups of people that I want you to make sure that you listen to

Jeff Iorg: 22:23

appropriately. First, watch out for the eager manipulators.

Jeff Iorg: 22:29

As soon as you land in a new position, there's gonna be someone who'll say, I just need a minute with you. Man, I need to get with you. Man, I need to get get... We need

Jeff Iorg: 22:36

to get together. Be careful. Look for the manipulators who are trying to get your ear at the very beginning and will get you off track. This requires wisdom to sort out, but pay attention. And then look for...

Jeff Iorg: 22:56

Seek out the quiet influencers.

Jeff Iorg: 22:59

These are the people who really aren't saying much to you. They're not trying to tell you how to do your job. They're not trying to interfere in your life. They're they're actually trying to stay clear because they know how, quote, busy you are getting started in your new position. These are the people that you must seek out and listen to.

Jeff Iorg: 23:17

Once you've found a couple of these, these are the people that you might be able

Jeff Iorg: 23:22

to say, hey, I've heard some concerns from this person, this person, this person. Are those legitimate concerns typically? Well, pastor, they mean well, but those people have complained a lot over the years about a lot of things to all the leaders that we've ever had. Well, who's a couple of people in the church that you really value their opinion, but they're probably not on my radar? Well, there's this one brother who's been here a long time, doesn't say much, but I think he'd be wise to go talk to him.

Jeff Iorg: 23:51

And there's a couple of ladies that have been serving his church in various ways for years. Probably a good idea to go talk to them. These are people that'll give you good insight, spiritual counsel, and really help you understand who we are and where we need to go. That's what I mean when I say the quiet influencers. So as you're working in those early days, watch out for two groups of people.

Jeff Iorg: 24:12

The manipulators who want your ear, hey. I need a minute with you. Can we get together?

Jeff Iorg: 24:15

Can we get together? And the quiet influencers, the people who you'll have to seek out if you want to hear from them.

Jeff Iorg: 24:23

Now, as you come into a new position, one of the questions I get most... Asked most often is, well, how much change should I initiate and how fast should

Jeff Iorg: 24:30

I go? Well, that's impossible to answer, But there are some principles that can help you. Number one, if you're younger, go slower. And if

Jeff Iorg: 24:39

the organization is stable, go slower. So if you're younger as a leader, go slower. And if you... If the organization is stable, then go slower. There's no reason for a young leader coming into a stable organization to disrupt everything immediately in order to bring about change.

Jeff Iorg: 25:02

Now, on the other side, if you're an older leader

Jeff Iorg: 25:06

and the situation is in crisis or the situation is tense or the situation is broken, go faster.

Jeff Iorg: 25:17

So if you're older and the situation is difficult, go faster. And quite frankly, a lot of older leaders get brought into situations like that. And we have ten, twenty, thirty years of credibility built up for our ministry leadership in the past and people expect us to simply get on with it knowing that change is necessary, and so we're free to implement it

Jeff Iorg: 25:36

more quickly. But generally speaking, if you're younger, go slower. The organization is stable, go slower. If you're older, you can go

Jeff Iorg: 25:44

a little faster. And if it's broken or dysfunctional or troubled or the situation is in some kind of crisis, then definitely go faster.

Jeff Iorg: 25:54

Well, one last thing. Everyone's so excited when they start something new. It is easy to overextend yourself in those first ninety to a hundred days. So when you're making your plan, remember to pace yourself. All that

Jeff Iorg: 26:08

stuff we've talked about in the past about taking a day off and taking some rest and making sure you eat properly and sleep properly and take care of yourself, all that still counts in that first hundred days. Now you may go a little faster during those hundred days and you may go a little more intensely, but you still have to pace yourself. Remember, in those early days, your family has needs and you have to meet those needs. Your health still matters and you have to make healthy choices. And habits that keep you healthy like sleep and exercise are still very significant.

Jeff Iorg: 26:42

I was helping another young leader recently who started into a new position. He has a younger family still with children at home. And he said, you know, I've made a strategic plan of what I can do in the first hundred days, and I'm feeling a lot of pressure to do a lot of outside speaking and accept a lot of invitations to events where people wanna get to know me and these kinds of things. And I said, yeah. And you need to take some of those.

Jeff Iorg: 27:06

He said, I know I do, but I'm also feeling pressured to be home to help my family get established in a church and to put them into a pattern that will really assure their spiritual vitality and their spiritual stability when I do take time to travel and be away and do these other opportunities. I said, brother, that is incredibly significant and insightful. I said, during this first hundred days, one of the most strategic things you will need to do as a father with a family is stay home on the weekends and help get your family planted in a healthy church. And that is part of your first hundred days in your new assignment. Now this is a person obviously who's not working in a church context, but if you're working in a church, of course, you have a church, but now we need to maybe take time to make sure our children get invested in school or in activities or in friendship circles and in places where they can make the connections they need to be healthy as well.

Jeff Iorg: 28:06

This means that part of your hundred day plan may need to be limiting some things that you're going to do in the next hundred days that you couldn't do in the first hundred days because you had that focused time on family. Starting a new job, starting a new position, or helping someone do that, be intentional. Strategic and symbolic choices in the first hundred days can make all the difference. Brainstorm a big plan when it went down to a reasonable plan, calendar that plan. Don't let the tyranny of the urgent rob you of the intentionality of the strategic.

Jeff Iorg: 28:40

And remember in ministry organizations, relational connections matter and a high priority is connecting with the people that are really gonna make the difference in your success as a ministry leader in that context. Watch out for manipulators, seek out quiet influencers. And as you're introducing change and getting ready to start and doing all these new things, you're younger and the organization's stable will go slower. You're older and you're in a crisis situation, go faster. And pace yourself.

Jeff Iorg: 29:13

Take care of yourself, your family, your health. Make sure that spiritually you're where you need to be so that you can sustain yourself, not just for the first hundred days, but maybe for the next ten years after you get off to such a remarkably good start. Well, this is how you get started or how help someone else get started. Making a good beginning pays off so much in leadership context. Put it into practice as you lead on.