"Serve and thou shall be served"

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom recently celebrated her "Platinum Jubilee" marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952.  She is the Queen of the United Kingdom as well as fourteen Commonwealth nations (including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and carries a number of titles as a result.  I have always been fascinated by the various titles and honors that individuals hold as a result of their position.  Of interest, during the early years of George Washington's presidency, Congress argued about what title he should carry, before settling on "Mr. President" (apparently, John Adams wanted to call the President "Your Highness" or "Your Most Benign Highness").    

I recently learned that the Pope also carries a number of titles.  My favorite is the "Servant of the servants of God" (which is translated into Latin as "Servus servorum Dei").  In other words, the Pope is recognized as a servant leader.  Servant leaders are leaders who focus primarily on the growth and well-being of the people and the communities to which they belong. Rather than accumulating and exercising power at the top of the leadership hierarchy, servant leaders share their power by putting the needs of others first and helping their teams to develop and grow personally and professionally.  "Servant leadership" is also embodied (in my opinion) in the High Reliability Organization (HRO) principle of "Deference to Expertise".

There is a passage in Meditations by the Roman philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius that I believe perfectly summarizes the essence of what it means to be a servant leader.  He said:

"One person, on doing well by others, immediately accounts the expected favor in return. Another is not so quick, but still considers the person a debtor and knows the favor. A third kind of person acts as if not conscious of the deed, rather like a vine producing a cluster of grapes without making further demands, like a horse after its race, or a dog after its walk, or a bee after making its honey. Such a person, having done a good deed, won’t go shouting from rooftops but simply moves on to the next deed just like the vine produces another bunch of grapes in the right season."

Simply put, servant leaders don't make noise about performing a good deed or service to another.  They are like the vine that produces grapes without expecting anything in return!  As Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give."  And Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.  Serve and thou shall be served."