Growing up and serving in different leadership capacities, I always wondered to myself and asked, “How will I know if I’ve done a good job in the leadership position?” The best answer I have come across is: “If you leave the leadership position, and the organization doesn’t skip a beat, then you’ve done a great job. If you leave, and the organiza­tion falls apart in a couple of months, then you’ve failed.” That may seem harsh, especially when we’d like to think of ourselves as indispensible. But it’s a powerful principle: If an organization falters and fails when a leader leaves, he or she wasn’t much of a leader in the first place. Most organizations can avoid transitional pain, if they have a replacement plan. Below are three key points to having a successful replacement plan according to Terry Scalzitti, an associate pastor for adult and family ministries at First Baptist Fort Lauderdale, a fast-growing downtown multi-cultural church.

Step 1: Be able to clearly articulate your job respon­sibilities