Growth Isn’t the Goal—Sustainable Change Is

What Leaders Can Learn from High-Growth, High-Risk Organizations

In many organizations, growth is celebrated as proof of success. New programs. Expanding markets. Rising enrollment or revenue. Yet history tells a more sobering story: growth without adaptive leadership often precedes organizational failure.

Over the last decade, for-profit colleges expanded faster than many public and nonprofit institutions. At the same time, the sector experienced steep enrollment declines, institutional closures, and growing public skepticism. The lesson here extends far beyond higher education. It applies to any organization operating in a high-growth, high-scrutiny environment.

The issue was not ambition. The issue was unmanaged change.

When Growth Outpaces Readiness

Organizations rarely fail because leaders lack vision. More often, they falter because the internal systems, culture, and leadership capacity are not prepared to sustain the pace of change.

As organizations grow, complexity increases:

• Regulatory expectations rise

• Stakeholder trust becomes more fragile

• Talent requirements shift

• Technology and infrastructure demands expand

Without intentional change management, leaders find themselves reacting instead of leading. In sectors already facing reputational challenges, reactive leadership compounds risk. The result is often burnout, misalignment, and erosion of credibility—both internally and externally.

Research in organizational change consistently shows that long-term success depends not on speed, but on an organization’s ability to adapt while maintaining coherence.

Why Change Is a Leadership Responsibility, Not a Departmental Task

One of the most common leadership mistakes is delegating change to initiatives, committees, or compliance offices. While these groups play an important role, organizational change is ultimately a leadership function.

Effective leaders understand that:

• Culture determines whether change sticks

• Trust determines whether people commit

• Clarity determines whether people act

Change efforts fail when leaders underestimate the human side of transformation. People are not resistant to change itself; they are resistant to confusion, loss of identity, and perceived instability.

Organizations that navigate change well do so because leaders intentionally shape the environment—aligning vision, communication, systems, and expectations.

Sustainable Change Requires More Than Strategy

Strategy answers the question of what an organization wants to achieve. Change leadership answers the question of how people experience the journey.

Sustainable organizations invest in:

• Clear and credible leadership vision

• Engagement of key stakeholders

• Ongoing development of people and systems

• Reinforcement mechanisms that align behavior with priorities

When these elements are missing, growth becomes fragile. When they are present, organizations gain resilience—the capacity to absorb pressure, adapt, and continue performing over time.

Leadership Application

If you are leading growth or transformation, consider the following:

• Where is growth currently outpacing your organization’s capacity to adapt?

• What change expectations have been communicated—but not supported?

• How confident are your people in leadership’s ability to guide the organization through uncertainty?

• What systems still reward old behaviors while new ones are being requested?

These questions are not signs of weakness. They are markers of leadership maturity.

A Final Thought for Leaders

Sustainable organizations are not those that avoid disruption. They are the ones that prepare for it—intentionally, ethically, and relationally.

Change is not a threat to strong leadership. It is the arena in which strong leadership is revealed.

If your organization is navigating growth, transition, or cultural realignment, this is the work I support leaders in doing—bringing clarity to change and stability to progress.
You’re invited to explore that conversation further.

This article draws on peer-reviewed research in organizational change, leadership, and higher education management.