In this episode, Jason Davis talks with Steve Woodworth, a longtime leader in Christian organizational growth, marketing, and succession strategy.
Steve shares lessons from more than 40 years of work helping Christian organizations grow and navigate leadership change. He reflects on his early radical conversion to Christianity, his desire for missionary work, and his eventual path into leadership through World Vision, where he rose from data analytics into senior leadership during a decade of strong organizational growth. He also discusses co-founding Masterworks, an agency that has served hundreds of Christian organizations in pursuit of their missions.
A major focus of the episode is Steve’s book, Lost in Transition: Lessons from the Most Disastrous and Successful Ministry Successions, which examines both healthy and painful leadership transitions in ministries and nonprofits. Steve explains why succession failures are often so damaging and offers practical insights into how boards, founders, and successors can approach transition with humility, discernment, and wisdom.
