The strategist makes a plan but leaders make adjustments. I spend every Saturday watching the Tennessee Volunteers. I have been watching the Vols since I was in 7th grade so I am pretty passionate about the team and I am fascinated by many correlations I see in how coaches lead teams and how ministry leaders lead volunteers. A few years ago the Vols would come into the game with great strategy and for the first half they played great. When the other team made adjustments during halftime our team would fall apart and of course we ended that year with a terrible record. We had a young team with a young coaching staff and neither made adjustments well.

Leadership is not just about crafting great strategy. At the core of leadership is the ability to make adjustments when circumstances change. Leadership is the ability to make the strategy/plan become a reality in the midst of a constantly changing environment we like to call “the real world.” Leaders have to be willing to make adjustments and I promise, your leadership ability will be evaluated by how your adjustments help or hinder your team’s ability to accomplish the goal.

What I see all too often are leaders who love their plan so much that they ignore the need to make adjustments to the plan. The problem is that your plan will never include the challenges that only God knows are coming. Choosing to not make adjustments just leads to frustration, poor results, and fractured volunteer teams. Being humble enough to admit that your strategy, your plan may not be perfect and making the needed adjustments just reveals that you are the kind of leader people will follow.

Go ahead and be a leader…have the courage to make adjustments and lead your team to make a difference.