Flourishing Leadership: Why Margin Matters
Four years in the desert have given me a deep appreciation for greenery. I love watching the number of potted plants in my entryway grow, despite the harsh climate. The aloe’s hardiness—thriving with a shallow root system and self-propagating abilities—is incredible. Meanwhile, the fairy lily’s delicate bloom is always a delightful surprise.
Despite their resilience, every gardener knows that each plant has its own basic needs. Neglect those needs, and instead of a thriving garden, you’ll be left with a dry, withered reminder of what could have been.
Reading Volume 1 of Illuminaire Press reminded me of this truth in the context of leadership. Just as plants need proper care, leaders cannot overlook self-care fundamentals. When these basics are neglected, leaders are left barely surviving—unable to thrive or positively influence others.
Illuminaire founder Karise Hutchinson poses a critical question in Volume 1:
“In a world where leaders chart unknown waters, face unprecedented challenges, and attempt to embrace the latest technological advancements, what really matters?”[1]
Just as my potted plants must endure the harsh Saharan climate, today’s leaders face demanding, often unforgiving environments. To remain firmly planted and thriving, we must prioritize the self-care essentials that strengthen our root systems.
The contributors to Illuminaire Vol. 1 offer valuable insights into the core principles of healthy leadership. For the purpose of this article, however, I will focus specifically on Illuminaire’s perspective on margin, a crucial element for sustaining resilient leadership.
Reflections on margin
In 2018, I endured nearly nine months of what felt like unrelenting panic attacks. I can still recall the first one so vividly—I was in the kitchen with my roommate when it suddenly felt like my brain and lungs had completely disconnected. Breathing no longer felt automatic. Each inhale and exhale required my full concentration, which, unsurprisingly, only made things worse.
At the time, my life was overloaded. I was juggling a full-time job, finishing a master’s program, raising financial support to move overseas, serving on a pastor search committee for a struggling church (while also acting as its bookkeeper), sitting on the board of a Historical Association, and mentally preparing to leave the United States. Looking back, it’s no wonder I felt like I was suffocating—I had no margin to breathe.
Karise Hutchinson describes a similar experience when the weight of overworking, overcommitting, and overachievement left her unable to get out of bed one morning. She writes, “Many leaders take health for granted until it leaves. Caught up in the never-ending need for progress, it is easy to lose perspective.”[2] Drawing on Richard Swenson’s simple formula—MARGIN = POWER – LOAD[3]—Hutchinson emphasizes that regaining margin requires proactive effort. It’s not something that happens on its own. She encourages us to “preschedule our life to 80% so we have margin when the unexpected comes.”[4] This concept is something I’m eager to explore further as I continue to navigate the balance of margin in my life while working to establish the safeguards that support my well-being.
While relational protections—friends, family, and community—serve as essential windbreaks for maintaining margin, I also want to highlight the spiritual safeguard of humility. Looking back, I realize how prideful I was about my “progress,” unwilling to ask for help from others. As Alfred Alborin, an Illuminaire contributor, writes, “There is a thin line between humility and pride, with the latter so easily camouflaging itself as false humility. A spurious representation of authenticity. It can be challenging for leaders to understand the concept of going lower to be higher.”[5]
True humility, I now see, would have meant being honest with myself, with God, and with others. As William P. Farley writes in Gospel Powered Humility, “Increasing humility brings rest with self, with God, and with life’s circumstances. It produces real lasting joy and healthy self-image.”[6]
Even now, I can’t help but wonder how different the outcome might have been during that critical year if I had reached out for support and sought wise counsel in such a challenging season. As a leader, I want to empower others. I desire to see people grow into the best versions of themselves. But if I’m not experiencing growth and freedom in my own life, how can I expect to inspire this in others? How can I positively influence others to become the best versions of themselves when I, as a leader, am becoming the most anxious, overextended, and exhausted version of myself?
Farley’s insight from Gospel Powered Humility resonates: “Humility always blossoms into something more beautiful. It is the root that feeds the other spiritual fruits.”[7] Humility is what prunes back the unhealthy branches of “I can do it all myself,” helping us realize that we need margin—space to breathe. As Hutchinson reflects, “I discovered margin is a space between my load and my limits. Its significance lies in its purpose: a space for relationships. Margin helps build reserves and resilience for living leadership not only in work, but as a wife, mother, aunt, and friend.”[8]
I’m still learning how to create and maintain that space—margin—for myself, and I’ve come to realize that in order to lead others well, I must first take care of my own well-being. Only then can I offer the true, authentic leadership that fosters growth, connection, and healing in others.
Like a plant that needs space to take root and grow, we, too, need margin to flourish. Without it, we wither under the weight of overload—but with it, we gain the strength to thrive.
[1] Karise Hutchinson, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 10, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital.
[2] Karise Hutchinson, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 78, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital.
[3] Power is the resources in our lives, such as skills, time, training, emotional and physical energy, faith, finances, and social supports. Load refers to work, problems, obligations and commitments, expectations, debt, deadlines, and interpersonal conflict. So, if our load is greater than the power in our life, we will overdraw. If we do this consistently over time, our bank of health will take a hit. The burnout guarantee. (Karise Hutchinson, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 78, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital).
[4] Karise Hutchinson, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 78, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital.
[5] Alfred Alborin, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 78, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital.
[6] William P. Farley, Gospel-Powered Humility (P&R Publishing, 2011), 26, Kindle Edition.
[7] Farley, Gospel-Powered Humility, 26, Kindle Edition.
[8] Karise Hutchinson, “Finding and Keeping Margin,” Illuminaire Press Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 78, https://www.illuminaireleadership.com/illuminaire-press-vol-1-digital.
About the Author
Elysse Burns
10 responses to “Flourishing Leadership: Why Margin Matters”
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Elysse,
I thought is was interesting that you and Kari both focused on Margin. You may need to stop hanging out with one another.
You conclude by writing “Like a plant that needs space to take root and grow, we, too, need margin to flourish. Without it, we wither under the weight of overload—but with it, we gain the strength to thrive.”
I am wondering what is happening in the margins of your life that helps you to flourish?
Hahaha, Jeff, there might be some truth to those words. We didn’t know the other was focusing on it when we wrote the blogs, but we do know a lot of people who could use some healthy margin in their lives! And now, I’m going off your question to me and ask Elysse my question…
Great blog, Elysse. In our cultural context, what aspects of life here do you see the host culture needing to find margin? Given the cultural challenges, what would be your advice to them in implementing this?
Hi Kari, You ask good questions. I do believe this culture is pulled in many directions at all hours of the day, but yet, the right-hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. I remember our big challenge at the clinic when last-minute meetings would be organized, and clinic staff would be called on their personal phones around midnight to inform them of meetings. I do believe phones are a big distraction here. We see this when driving here, too! Driving is not the time to watch YouTube. I would recommend that the culture silence their phones late at night, leave automatic away messages, and put their phone away when driving. This could minimize some of the internal noise and stress experienced here.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for the comment and question. I have been leaving margin for creativity, including cooking, gardening, music, etc. Essentially, I leave space to create beauty that is greatly lacking in my city. I believe Nouakchott is working towards beautification, but it has a long way to go. It’s easy to feel depleted because there isn’t a lot of beauty here to bring refreshment and renewal. Thus, you have to intentionally allow margin to do things that nourish the soul. We have to create our own beauty. Without this, life gets depressing really fast.
Elysse, Thank you for sharing your journey. I truly admire you walking in this calling. Given the fact that you acknowledge where you are in the margin journey is there something that you read that could be easily applied to your context right now?
Thanks for highlighting Alborin’s concept of the thin line between pride and humility.
I am offering a “vocational hazard” comment here for people who are involved as ExPats and F/T vocational service – it’s uniquely hard to build in margin.
I remember the push-back I received when advocating for my and others’ Sabbatical approvals. I will tell Board members, “when the average person goes to the market, they are getting bread, cheese and veggies. When a pastor goes to the market, they are “on”. Everywhere you are, you are seen as doing your work. Cross culturally, this is also tricky because the acceptable ways to build in margin may not be life-giving or easily taken on.
May a season of rootedness, water, light and healthy eco-system produce flourishing for you and all you impact.
Hi Joel, Thank you for advocating for Sabbaticals. I agree with everything you say here.
Hi Elysse, thanks for sharing your story. I am sorry that you have experienced panic attacks – I can relate. I pray that you are in a much better place today than in 2018.
Have you identified any underlying reasons for the lack of margin in certain periods of your life? What temptations do you face to reduce the margin in your life?
Elysse, yours is the third essay about margin that I’ve read this evening. I guess that’s a common theme for our cohort! Lol!
But you also talked about humility. I’m wondering what sorts of connections you can make between margin and humility, both in a general sense, but also, personally.
Thank you, Elysse, for your post. I have learn a lot and hope to be able to work that into my daily life. I like that equation: Margin = Power – Load. With my negative margins, I will either need to increase my power or decrease my load.