No Longer an Option!

The Times Demand Christian Schools Embrace Strategic Thinking

Over the years, I’ve asked hundreds of school leaders and boards for their opinion on strategic planning. The response has varied, to say the least. Some roll their eyes and recount failed attempts in the past that led only to frustration. Others shrug it off as a nice thing to do when there’s plenty of time to do it, but certainly not now. Some show their frustration at trying to write and implement plans that took more time and energy than the benefit they provided. Still others take a strangely detached spiritual approach by saying something like, “We just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit; we don’t need a plan.” The minority who strongly advocate for a plan will admit that the one they have doesn’t really serve them the way they had hoped.  

Overall, the idea of having a relevant, dynamic strategic plan that is guiding the daily decisions of the school is like having an endowment big enough to live off its proceeds; it’s a nice idea but very difficult to attain, and most leaders are left frustrated in its pursuit. The result of this way of thinking leaves a great majority of Christian schools struggling to be effective in a cultural ministry context that is changing so rapidly it swamps unfocused and reactionary attempts at leadership.  

My contention is that Christian schools can no longer afford to operate without a relevant, dynamic strategic plan that is uniting the entire school community around a common focus and leading it in the direction God intends it to go. The stakes are too high, the risks are too great, the times are too perilous, and the environment is too chaotic. Here are three reasons why strategic planning is no longer an option.  

#1: Short-term thinking will put your school at risk of survival. Try this exercise. Make a list of every force or factor that could have a major impact on your ability to survive over the next five years. If you are honest, your list should contain 8 to 10 serious issues, and likely more. Next, apply a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being ‘no confidence’ and 10 being ‘fully confident,’ and answer this question for each one: “How confident are you that this force or factor will absolutely never impact your school?” Again, an honest appraisal will turn up a number of items on your list that will fall into the 3 or below section of the scale. Finally, of those that received a low level of certainty, what are you doing now to monitor, manage, or mitigate each one of those factors? This exercise will demonstrate the real level of threat you face and how little you are doing to acknowledge it, prepare for it, and, to the greatest extent possible, mitigate against it. Strategic plans focus resources on the most critical items in the life of a school that will enable it to flourish in pursuit of God’s will. Part of that flourishing is understanding the forces that can wreck us. Without this recognition, we can blindly go along doing our business and miss the signs all around us that tell us we may indeed be in significant trouble. The times are too perilous for this laissez-faire approach to leadership.  

#2: You cannot obediently steward your school without knowing God’s plan for it. Strategic planning carried out in the kingdom of God is a Spirit-led process of faith where together you seek to discern God’s will for the future of your school and then build a solid plan to pursue it. Too many school leaders operate as owner-leaders, believing the school belongs to them and it is up to their own skill, planning, and vision to move it forward. In God’s kingdom, everything belongs to him. And if our school truly belongs to God, then the most important question we can ask as a leader is, “What does God want us to do with His school?” By approaching strategic planning from a stewardship standpoint and seeing it as an act of absolute obedience, it cannot be just an option. Instead, it lies at the very core of what it means to be faithful steward leaders.  

#3: Every parent and every person financially supporting your school deserves to know you’re leading it according to a divinely inspired plan. It’s not too radical to say that we have no right to ask any financial partners for a dollar of the money God has trusted to them unless we can assure them that it will be invested in God’s work according to God’s plan. If we are not willing to take the time, energy, and money to discern God’s will for the future of our school and write a robust plan to pursue it, then what right do we have to ask people to give us their financial resources? Or for that matter, to enroll their children? It’s disingenuous to take resources from God’s people and invest them in a school that doesn’t know where God wants it to go.  

These are just three reasons why leaders of Christian schools and their boards simply cannot see strategic planning as an option. It must be given the highest priority, carried out prayerfully, and implemented effectively. I believe God is ready to pour out his resources on schools that are looking back to Him, seeking his direction for their future, and are willing to follow obediently regardless of the cost. We are in uncharted waters in almost every area of our life, culture, and society. For faithful steward leaders, obedient steward boards, and faithful financial stewards, having a strategic plan to navigate these times is no longer an option.