“The consequences of the regulation regarding the use of footpaths were rather serious for me. I always went out for a walk through President Street to an open plain. President Kruger’s house was in this street – a very modest, unostentatious building, without a garden and not distinguishable from other houses in its neighbourhood. The houses of many of the millionaires in Pretoria were far more pretentious, and were surrounded by gardens. Indeed President Kruger’s simplicity was proverbial. Only the presence of a police patrol before the house indicated that it belonged to some official. I nearly always went along the footpaths past this patrol without the slightest hitch or hindrance.”
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Real authority doesn't need a grand house to announce itself. A leader who lives plainly, indistinguishable from the neighbors except for a necessary guard, signals that the office is about service rather than display, and the contrast lands sharply against showy wealth held by people with far less responsibility.
When to use it
- A company founder who keeps a plain desk in the shared office instead of a corner suite lined with trophies.
- A town mayor who still shops at the local market and drives an ordinary car despite holding real power.
- A team lead who takes the smallest office and lets the newer staff have the window seats.