Blog 24: Margin in the Margins – Why Leaders Need Space to Think
Margin in Leadership: Why Space Fuels Sustainable Success
Leadership without margin burns fast. Discover why unhurried space for reflection fuels creativity, resilience, and sustainable leadership impact.
Leadership Lessons from a Sailboat
Who knew those Friday afternoons sailing on Lake Pontchartrain were training for entrepreneurship?
Back then, it looked like leisure—quiet hours drifting, talking, and dreaming up the next big idea. Sometimes it happened in a conference room with whiteboard markers in hand. Other times, it was mid-lake with the wind slowing us down enough for something deeper to surface.
I didn’t realize it then, but those afternoons weren’t wasted time. They were leadership training. Not the kind you find in a manual—the kind you feel in your bones.
They taught me the value of margin: unhurried space to imagine, connect, and notice what’s not obvious when you’re racing the clock.
Margin in Today’s Work
These days, margin looks less like a sailboat and more like:
Crafting stories that carry truth
Shaping proposals with care
Sitting across the table from someone new
Giving away a session just to see if an idea holds up
It’s not idle time. It’s essential time.
As a solopreneur, it’s tempting to fill every spare minute with output—because if you’re not doing something, you’re not building, right? But I’ve learned the opposite is true.
Without margin, creativity dries up. Connections fade. Work loses depth.
Margin Is Leadership Fuel
In corporate life, “thinking time” often feels like a luxury. In entrepreneurship, it’s survival.
Leadership without margin burns fast.
Leadership with margin endures.
That’s why I protect it intentionally—because it fuels everything else.
The hardest person to convince that margin matters is me. But here’s the truth: margin isn’t just rest. It’s the fuel that lets you keep working the handle, even when the water hasn’t come yet.
Your Reflection
Where in your week do you have space for unhurried thinking?
If the answer is “nowhere,” how might you create some margin before your next big decision?
