According to Gil Rendle and Alice Mann of the Alban Institute, "Balcony space describes taking a position sufficiently distant from day-to-day operations and worry in order to see the larger picture. The opposite of balcony space is reactive space, in which the leader must constantly deal with the immediate person or problem that confronts him or her."
For me, balcony space is like time on an airplane — time when people and responsibilities of daily work and home life disappear. There are not piles of dirty laundry that need to be washed, phones that need to be answered, and e-mail that needs to be read and responded to. Balcony space creates time, room, and energy for us to ask new questions, dream new possibilities, and discover new solutions.
— Rochelle Melander, A Generous Presence