Many school leaders and boards operate month-to-month and year-to-year without a clear, consistent approach to risk management. Instead of proactively identifying and planning for potential issues, many schools deal with risks—like compliance gaps,

Many school board members struggle to find the proper balance between being overly involved and not being engaged at all. One pitfall is to micromanage—getting pulled into day-to-day decisions better left to teachers and administrators.

Does your ministry feel like it’s at a crossroads right now?

Not someday. Not eventually. But right now.

You may recognize opportunity, but you also feel uncertainty. You have important decisions to make, but finding clarity on what’s most important is difficult. Your activity is high, calendars are full, but progress feels slow.

Most church and school leaders know exactly what it feels like. You sit down on Monday morning with the best of intentions. This week, you tell yourself, you’re finally going to spend time thinking about the future—about enrollment growth, discipleship, facilities, or how your ministry will reach the next generation with the gospel.

When our four daughters were in grade school and high school, it felt like opportunities were everywhere. Piano lessons, violin lessons, voice lessons. Volleyball, basketball, softball, cross-country. Dance classes. School trips. Each opportunity was good—valuable, enriching, worthwhile.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development began in 1938 and is one of the longest-running longitudinal studies on human life ever conducted. Its original aim was to follow 268 Harvard students throughout their lives to better understand what leads to a happy and fulfilling life.

Spouses and couples often don’t see the same situation the same way. For example, one person wants to talk things out, while  the other needs time to think things through.