Protect Their Margin — And Yours
A Leadership Practice for June
A new month has arrived.
And with every new month comes an invitation.
An opportunity to pause before rushing ahead.
An opportunity to look back before moving forward.
As leaders, we often enter a new season carrying the momentum of the previous one
—the unfinished projects, the lessons learned, the responsibilities we managed well, and the moments we wish we had handled differently.
June offers us a threshold moment.
Not to judge what came before.
Not to measure our progress against someone else's journey.
Simply to notice.
What served us well?
What depleted us?
What no longer belongs in the next season?
As we step into the second half of the year, these questions matter.
Not because we need another thing to improve.
But because we deserve the opportunity to lead with greater ease, clarity, and intention.
The Cost of Constant Protecting
Many leaders are entering this season tired.
Not because they lack passion.
Not because they lack commitment.
Not because they lack purpose.
They are tired because they have spent months protecting.
Protecting deadlines.
Protecting outcomes.
Protecting teams.
Protecting expectations.
Protecting everyone and everything entrusted to their care.
Protection has its place.
But protecting requires energy.
Trusting creates space.
The Invitation to Trust
What if June was less about protecting more and more about trusting more?
Trusting ourselves.
Trusting our teams.
Trusting the process.
Trusting that not every problem requires immediate intervention.
Trusting that growth often happens when people are given room to think, learn, contribute, and become.
Trusting that rest is not the enemy of productivity, but one of its partners.
This is where margin becomes important.
What Is Margin?
Margin is the space between full and overflowing.
It is breathing room.
It is the pause between reacting and responding.
It is the space where wisdom has room to surface.
It is where creativity, restoration, and possibility often return.
Inclusive leaders understand that sustainable leadership is not built by maximizing every moment.
It is built by stewarding people, energy, purpose, and possibility over time.
The strongest teams are not always the busiest teams.
Often, they are the teams with enough margin to think, adapt, collaborate, and grow.
The same is true for leaders.
When we create margin:
We create room to listen.
We create room to learn.
We create room to become.
A June Reflection
As you enter this month, consider this question:
What is one thing I no longer want to carry into the second half of this year?
Pause.
Sit with the question.
Notice what comes forward.
Then ask yourself:
What is one small practice that would create more room for trust?
Not five practices.
Not a complete life overhaul.
Just one.
Perhaps it is:
Declining one unnecessary meeting.
Protecting one lunch hour each week.
Delegating something someone else is ready to carry.
Creating one hour of white space on your calendar.
Pausing long enough to ask for help.
Whatever it is, let it be small enough to practice and meaningful enough to notice.
Because transformation rarely arrives through dramatic change.
More often, it arrives through intentional practice.
One choice.
One pause.
One act of trust.
An Invitation from The Artifact
As you explore this month's Artifact, consider it an invitation rather than an assignment.
A place to gather wisdom.
A place to learn from lived experiences.
A place to discover possibilities before the demands of the season become overwhelming.
You do not have to do it the way someone else did.
You do not have to repeat what no longer serves you.
You only need enough curiosity to explore what may serve you better in this season.
The second half of the year is still being written.
Perhaps June is the month to create a little more margin.
And a little more trust.
Notice what becomes possible.