Inverted Triangle

I have been involved in the table tennis club since its inception.  I was actually involved in its inception.  I remember standing with the guy who set up the club and saying to him, “if you start a club, I will support you.”  Next thing he had started a club.
I soon found out that to support meant more than turning up to play.  I was amazed at what he and his wife did.  They did a great job.  My turn soon came to run it, and it was really only then I found out all that running a club involved.
One thing that was done that I reckon provided a great foundation was to have a club Chaplain.     The guy was a table tennis player and had been Chaplain to the Queensland Bulls cricket team.
He is a lovely man.  People come and go, and new ones come.  He is no longer with the club, but visits when he can.  Of the many things he said, one stands out in my mind above all others.  He introduced the concept of servant leadership.
People treat it like it is a new idea, but it is old really.  Only in my lifetime have I have seen a change in thinking.  He likened leadership to an inverted triangle.   Most visual images of leadership show a triangle with the boss at the top and the “workers” at the bottom.  In between are various levels of management.
His thought was that leadership should be like that but with the triangle upside down and the leader at the bottom.  Basically the thought is that leaders should serve.  Any boss at any level always should have respect, but leaders need to know that decisions they make that need to be obeyed, need to be decisions that are best for all rather than just best for themselves.
In a sense this is a no brainer.  Someone got rich on the speaking tour promoting this idea but to me it stands to reason that if you keep the majority happy there will be no disquiet (there will always be unhappy people, but the best that can be done is to mitigate their influence).
Something occurred to me this morning that to me validates the idea of an inverted triangle.  We commonly say “the buck stops here” in reference to the head of an organization.  Our buck is a coin.  It sinks.  When the triangle is inverted, it sinks to the head of the organization.
I do like the idea of the triangle being inverted.  So often the head honcho is removed from those they existed for.  It makes sense to me to have the boss close to those they serve.  The only way to know something, is to have my ear to the ground.  I am more likely to hear what those I exist for are thinking and saying.  Also, I am more approachable.
They reckon one person influences 15.  If my experience is good, I tell 15 others who in turn tell 15 others.  That means a lot of people returning.  If on the other had I have a bad experience the reverse is true.  Some companies go belly up for that reason.  I bought a meal at a place and it was a gross meal.  I have told some of those I know about it.  A heap of us would not go back.  The joint has since changed hands.
Leadership to me is about serving.  The title may be glamorous but the task, while rewarding, is not.