When we serve others, they grow and so do we. This is a simple (but not easy) recipe for great leadership, coaching, mentoring and life. Service is one of the CASTLE® Principles (see ONE: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership). A parable illustrates the principle:

A rich man sent his servant to the marketplace, and there the servant came upon a beggar. The beggar fell to his knees and cried out, “Please sir, might you spare some of your master’s money so that I might have a bite to eat?” The servant replied, “What have you done for my master that you should be given some of my master’s money? Is there no good that you can do in the world that you must grovel at my feet and beg?”

The servant walked away giving the beggar nothing, for the servant had nothing of his own to give. But the beggar followed the servant to the rich man’s home. He began working in the master’s fields for free. He weeded the fields. He planted the seeds. He watered and pruned the vines. He gathered the grapes at harvest time, and pressed the grapes into wine.

When the rich man heard about what the beggar was doing, he sent his servant to bring the beggar to him. “What shall I do with the beggar?”, the servant asked. The rich man replied, “He is no longer a beggar, but is my son. Bring him into my home, he shall eat with me!”

“The Beggar’s Lesson”, unknown source; this version comes thanks to Lynn Tracci.