When Growth Feels Risky: A Word to Center Directors

Let me speak to you as a peer, not as a consultant or strategist.

Many of the directors I respect most are thoughtful, faithful, and deeply protective of the mission. They didn’t step into leadership casually. They carry history, sacrifice, and responsibility, and that’s exactly why change can feel so threatening.

But here’s the hard truth I want to offer gently. When we don’t regularly assess how we’re operating, we can fall behind without realizing it. Unintentionally, that lag can become a disservice not only to our teams, but to the very clients we’re trying to serve.

The Quiet Decline That Happens Without Assessment

Most centers don’t stop evaluating because they don’t care. They stop because things still seem to be working.

Clients are still coming. Services are still being provided. Staff are still showing up.

But effectiveness rarely declines all at once. It fades quietly.

What worked ten, fifteen, or even twenty years ago may still function, but function isn’t the same as serving well. Without honest assessment, leaders can mistake familiarity for faithfulness and longevity for effectiveness.

The result usually isn’t failure. It’s a quite decline

The Client Issues Haven’t Changed, but the Client Has

The challenges women face around pregnancy, relationships, fear, and decision making are not new. In many ways, they are timeless. What has changed, dramatically, is the woman sitting across from you.

Each generation arrives with different assumptions, different expectations, and different ways of processing information and trust. Today’s clients have been shaped by:

• digital first communication

• On demand access to information

• A medical system that looks very different than it did decades ago

• Marketing messages that have trained them to filter, dismiss, or disengage quickly

If our approaches don’t shift alongside those realities, our message may remain true, but our ability to connect, engage, and serve effectively will quietly weaken.

When Familiar Feels Safer Than Effective

This is where many directors get stuck… It’s not that modernization feels unnecessary. It’s that change feels risky when the stakes are high. So hesitation sounds reasonable.

We’re cautious because we don’t want to lose donors. We hold back because we don’t want to confuse or upset staff. We delay because we don’t want to disrupt something that once worked well or because we simply lack clear direction. Over time, though, caution without assessment becomes complacency, even when it’s well intentioned. All of a sudden it seems they have lost effectiveness (and sometimes staff and donors) because they protect methods that no longer meet the moment.

A Simple Way to Begin Assessing Together

Assessment doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. In fact, some of the healthiest conversations I’ve seen start with something very simple.

One practical place to begin is a basic SWOT analysis, done honestly and collaboratively with your leadership team or staff. Looking together at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats creates space for clarity without blame. It invites perspectives you may not see on your own and gives your team a shared language for where you are and where you may need to grow.

When assessment is done together, it does something important. It removes secrecy. It lowers defensiveness. It reminds everyone that growth isn’t about pointing fingers, it’s about stewarding the mission well.

Leading Through Fear Into Vision and Vigor

The idea of doing an assessment often brings fear to the surface. Fear of what we’ll discover. Fear of conflict. Fear of what it might require of us. Even fear of admitting that something good is no longer sufficient. But fear doesn’t have to be the end of the story. 

When leaders are willing to face reality with humility, assessment becomes a doorway to renewed vision. It clarifies where God may be inviting refinement, growth, or fresh obedience. It replaces vague unease with purpose and direction.

Leading well in these moments doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means being willing to lead forward anyway, grounded in mission, anchored in faith, and attentive to the people you serve today, not the ones you served twenty years ago.

Growth will always feel risky. But when leaders are willing to assess honestly and lead courageously, fear gives way to clarity, vision gains strength, and organizations rediscover vigor for the work they were called to do.

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If you’d like a simple worksheet with clear instructions to help guide a SWOT conversation with your team, I’m happy to share one. And if, as you assess, you realize your center would benefit from a deeper look, the RISE program offers a full center assessment and a 12-month growth plan for leaders who want to modernize and expand their reach. You can reach me at ehale@lifeadvancementgroup.org.