Adjusting Your Strategy Due to a Pivot

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

Have you made a pivot? 
Have you updated your strategic plan?
Does your strategic plan reflect your pivot? 

Adjusting Your Strategy Due to a Pivot

In the journey of faith and leadership, few seasons are as defining as the moment we realize a pivot is necessary. As we shared last week, pivoting is not simply a fallback when our plans fail; it is often God’s way of leading us into something better than we imagined. What looks like uncertainty may be divine redirection. Scripture is filled with stories of transformational pivots—Moses, Naomi, Mary and Joseph, Paul—all redirected by God toward their ultimate calling.

When God allows or initiates a pivot, our response should not be panic or fear, but strategic alignment. A God-ordained pivot requires not just a change of direction, but a reassessment of how we operate.

Here are six steps to guide you so that you may adjust your strategy wisely and faithfully in the midst of a pivot:

1. Strategic Objectives
   Before making adjustments to your strategy, ask: What are we ultimately trying to achieve through this new direction? Realign your long-term goals with God’s revealed purpose in this season of change. The pivot may adjust your “how”,  but the “why” must remain clear and compelling.
2. SMART Goals
   Turn your strategic objectives into Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. SMART goals anchor your pivot in reality and provide a practical roadmap to implementation.
3. Assess Your SWOT
   A pivot must be rooted in truth. Revisit your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats from a fresh perspective, being sure to allow for any changes to the overall objectives.
4. Clarify Your Mission
   In the midst of redirection, your mission is your compass. Reaffirm it, or refine it. Is your organization still doing what it was called to do, just in a new way? Your pivot should enhance, not obscure, your mission.
5. Develop Your Core Values
   When everything changes, your values remain the anchor. Use your pivot as an opportunity to strengthen your organizational identity. What are the non-negotiables that guide not only what you do, but how you do it? Let your core values shape every decision during your transition.
6. Develop Your Competitive Advantage
   What now sets you apart in this new direction? Reassess your differentiators in light of the pivot. Your strength could be in innovation, your people, your customer experience, your faith-driven culture, or a combination of these. Identify your competitive advantage, and communicate it clearly.
7. Clarify Your Vision
   Vision gives direction to your pivot. What are you becoming? Where are you going? As you pivot, you must reimagine the future God is calling you into. A vision gives hope to your stakeholders, unity to your team, and purpose to your mission. Revisit your original vision, and allow God to refine it for the season ahead.

The pivot you are facing may feel like a setback, but it may actually be God’s setup. Don’t just adjust your course—adjust your strategy, your goals, your perspective, and your faith posture. With God at the helm, every redirection holds divine purpose.

My prayer for you is that the Lord give you clarity, courage, and conviction as you navigate this pivot. May He help you walk in alignment with His will, lead with wisdom, and steward this new season with excellence. May your strategy honor Him, your values reflect Him, and your outcomes glorify Him.