WEEK 47 | The Strategy of Rest: Why Margin Makes You a Better Leader

Most leaders love the stretch. We love momentum, progress, and the feeling that comes from pushing toward what’s next. Last week, I wrote about stepping out of your comfort zone and growing in your strength zone — and that kind of growth matters. But there’s a part of leadership that rarely gets talked about, and I’ve had to learn it the hard way:

Stretch can make you strong,
but margin keeps you standing.

For years, especially in ministry, I felt the pressure to be “always on.” If someone needed something, I said yes. If something had to be done, I did it. I convinced myself that being exhausted meant I was being faithful. And on paper, it looked like I was leading well — things were happening, people were happy, and momentum was strong.

But underneath all of that movement was a pace I couldn’t sustain.

There came a point when the internal pressure and the external demands collided, and the fallout touched every area of my life. My health suffered. My marriage felt the strain. My kids got the version of me that was present physically but stretched thin emotionally. Any leader who has lived there knows the tension: you’re functioning… but you’re not flourishing.

And here’s the lie high-capacity leaders often believe:
“If I slow down, I’ll let people down.”

But the truth is the opposite. When you lead without margin, you don’t just drain yourself — you diminish the people who depend on you. Your presence shifts. Your clarity dims. Your patience thins. Your leadership starts to leak, just like Dr. Henry Cloud often says: leaders reproduce the emotional reality they create.

That was the turning point for me. I realized the things suffering most were the things that mattered most — things God had entrusted to me long before positions, titles, or responsibilities. And so, I made a difficult decision: I stepped back. I released roles I cared about and expectations I carried. It felt like a free fall at the time… but it became one of the best leadership decisions of my life.

Because stepping back gave me space to breathe again.
And space became the soil where clarity grew back.
Margin didn’t weaken me — it rebuilt me.

In Mark 6, Jesus says something that’s become a leadership anchor for me. The disciples had been pouring themselves out, serving nonstop, with people coming and going so quickly they didn’t even have time to eat. And Jesus didn’t congratulate them for their grind. He didn’t say, “Push harder — you’re almost there.” Instead, He said,

“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31, ESV)

That wasn’t a suggestion.
It was direction.
He was protecting His team from the pace that would eventually destroy the mission.

And if Jesus Himself invited leaders to rest, we can stop feeling guilty for needing it too.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to see rest not as a retreat from responsibility, but as part of responsibility. Rest isn’t stepping out of leadership — it’s what strengthens leadership. Margin isn’t empty space — it’s the oxygen leadership breathes.

Cloud says, “Your energy is your responsibility.” And he’s right.
Leaders without margin eventually lead without clarity.
Leaders who never stop eventually stop leading well.

The truth is simple:
You lead better when you lead from a full mind and a grounded heart.

And margin is what makes that possible.

For me, margin now looks like protecting space in my calendar, not just filling it. It looks like unplugged hours, not guilt-filled pauses. It looks like choosing presence with my family over the pull of productivity. It looks like resting before I’m exhausted, not after. And not surprisingly… I lead stronger, not weaker.

So here’s my question for you — the same one I’ve been asking myself:

Where do you need more margin so you can lead well again?
Is it your pace?
Your expectations?
Your schedule?
Your boundaries?
Your willingness to step back when everything in you wants to push forward?

Whatever it is, give yourself permission to slow down — not as an escape from leadership, but as an investment in it. The people you lead aren’t looking for a leader who’s always busy. They’re looking for a leader who’s healthy, steady, clear, and present.

A rested leader is a stronger leader.
And sometimes the bravest thing you can do is breathe —
because clarity grows in the space hustle can’t reach.