The legendary sprinter, Carl Lewis was known for his slow starts. He’d come out of the blocks, and in the first few steps, he might fall back to 4th or 5th place. Yet, by the end of the race, he was breaking the tape. How did he do it?

Reviewing the film of hundreds of his races researchers discovered that Carl Lewis ran at a consistent speed from the start of the race, all the way to the tape. While other runners burst out of the blocks at full speed, their energy soon flagged, and their pace slowed. Lewis, maintaining his pace, would blow by them.

He could do that because he intentionally ran at 85% of his full capacity.

That deliberate margin—that remaining 15%—allowed him to maintain perfect form, execute with control, and respond with precision to anything that happened during the race. It wasn’t about being slow; it was about achieving sustainable, strategic speed and being impactful.

The Cost of 100%

How many times have we heard that we need to give 100%? We pack our schedules wall-to-wall, we answer emails the instant they arrive, and we operate from a baseline of being completely full. 

But this 100% effort hampers your ability to create at your best. When we have no margin, we become overwhelmed leaders making compromised decisions. We’re racing so hard that we lose our peripheral vision, presence, and creativity.

And here’s where the rush costs us the most: leadership.

When I’m operating under extreme pressure, I look at my overflowing to-do list and think, “I’ll just do it myself. It’ll be faster.” That frantic energy is the death of delegation. We rush to execution, failing to take the two minutes needed to clearly assign the task, coach the team member, or empower them to handle it next time.

The irony is that by doing it ourselves right now, we guarantee the task returns to us again later. We save two minutes today only to lose twenty minutes tomorrow.

Building Your 15% Margin

The 85% rule is the antidote to that frantic treadmill. By planning to work at 85% capacity, you intentionally build a buffer into your day. That 15% of margin is where presence lives. It’s the space you need to pause before you react, to truly listen when a team member needs support, and to respond to challenges with clarity instead of panic.

It’s the space for thoughtful delegation and high-quality decisions. It allows you to resolve things completely the first time, preventing problems from ever returning.

This week, I invite you to try running your day at 85%.

What would that look like for you? Maybe it’s blocking out the first and last hour of your day for uninterrupted thinking (instead of meeting). Maybe it’s intentionally cutting 15% of the items on your current to-do list and handing them off, or letting some of the meetings on your calendar happen without you. At a minimum, it could look like taking three conscious breaths before you open your inbox.

Notice what happens in that margin. Does your clarity improve? Do you find yourself making better decisions? Let’s find out what it looks like to slow down in order to speed up!