The Leadership Gift of Space: Finding Clarity Beyond the Busyness

Making room for clarity, energy, and authentic leadership

I used to think the best leaders were the busiest ones. The ones who could glide from meeting to meeting, answer emails at lightning speed, and keep their calendars crammed so full that every square inch of the week looked like a game of Tetris. Busyness felt like proof: proof of value, proof of commitment, proof that you were doing leadership “right.”

But the truth? Busyness doesn’t always mean impact. More often than not, it means exhaustion.

When our days become a blur of back-to-back commitments, we confuse motion with meaning. We fill every gap, squeeze in one more call, say yes when we should have paused. It looks productive from the outside, but inside it drains clarity, erodes presence, and leaves us leading on fumes.

The gift—the secret we’re rarely taught—is that leadership actually expands in space.