“If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you”

“If service/serving is below/beneath you, leadership is beyond you” is a saying that has been printed on many images. The saying is somewhat related to Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you will be your servant.” Authorship of the leadership saying is uncertain.
 
“If service is below you, leadership is beyond you” was posted on Twitter by Matthew Walls on January 12, 2014. “If serving is BENEATH you, leadership is BEYOND you! #servantleaders #unusualhope” was posted on Twitter by Jerome Gay Jr. on March 10, 2104. “If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you” was posted on Twitter by David Cape on March 11, 2014.
 
“‘If service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.’  Oscar Santos Leadership Winston-Salem Alum” was posted on Twitter by John R Bost on June 10, 2015. “If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you - Jefferson Santos” was posted on Twitter by Siphokazi Mcaka on July 1, 2015. Oscar Santos definitely said it in June 2015, but there is no evidence that he said it in 2014. Jefferson Santos is an author, but the quotation does not appear in his book, Higher Life Design (2015).
 
   
Bible Gateway
Matthew 23:11 New International Version (NIV)
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
     
Twitter 
Matthew Walls
@sciencev_floors
“If service is below you, leadership is beyond you.”
7:29 PM - 12 Jan 2014
   
Twitter
Jerome Gay Jr.
@jeromegay
If serving is BENEATH you, leadership is BEYOND you! #servantleaders #unusualhope
2:20 PM - 10 Mar 2014
 
Twitter 
David Cape
@footwasher1
If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you.
6:20 AM - 11 Mar 2014
   
Twitter
Christian Business
@CCB_SA
“If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you.” - @footwasher1
6:10 AM - 17 Mar 2014
 
Twitter 
tplane
@tplane
If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you. #Verge14
9:47 AM - 29 Mar 2014 from West Bradley, TN
 
Twitter
WriteRN 🧜‍♀️ ❌ 🇺🇸
@WriteRN
If service is below you, leadership is beyond you!
7:59 PM - 9 Jun 2015
   
Twitter       
John R Bost
@mastercounsel
“If service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.”  Oscar Santos
Leadership Winston-Salem Alum
7:25 PM - 10 Jun 2015
     
The Chronicle (Winston-Salem, NC)
June 18, 2015
Leadership Winston-Salem celebrates its 30th year
By Tori Pittman
For The Chronicle
(...)
Oscar Santos, senior vice president with BB&T, made his point to the audience about not having leadership without going through some type of service.
 
“If you think that service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you,” Santos said.
 
Winston Salem (NC) Journal
The Readers’ Forum: Sunday letters
Jun 27, 2015
SYLVIA OBERLE, Winston-Salem
A remarkable feat
(...) 
Their actions are summed up in an often repeated quote: “If service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.”
Oberle is the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County. – the editor
       
Twitter
Siphokazi Mcaka
@SpokyMcaka
If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you - Jefferson Santos.
6:49 PM - 1 Jul 2015
 
White Tiger Martial Arts
Is Leadership Beyond You?
July 28, 2015
“If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you.” – Unknown
 
16 August 2015, Sunday Republican Herald (Pottsville, PA), “Hamilton leads PSU receivers” by Jourdan Rodrigue, pg. B1, col. 5:
“If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you,” one message reads.
     
OKC Friday
Hall students learn serving is the highest form of leadership
Luke Williams•Fri, Oct 09, 2015
(...)
One thought that drove Heritage Hall students throughout the day was said best by Steven Gillmore, director of technical theatre and volunteer at Canterbury: “If service is below you, then leadership is beyond you.”
 
Indy Star (Indianapolis, IN)
5 questions with The Plaid Agency’s Samantha Schwartz
Amy Lynch Published 5:00 a.m. ET Aug. 11, 2016
(...)
Question: What does leadership mean to you?
Answer: “My junior year student council speech stated that the best leaders know when to move to the front and when to follow from the back. I still believe this to be fundamentally true. Being a leader is not a title that can be assigned; leadership is a quality that’s earned as a habitual calling and undertaking. If serving is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.”
   
New Haven (CT) Register
Pastor Eldren Morrison honored by Varick Memorial AME Zion Church
Rev. Eldren Morrison leaves Varick Memorial to lead Georgia parish
Published 7:57 pm EDT, Sunday, August 28, 2016
(...)
Pastor Jeanette Lucky, before Morrison began his sermon, said the congregation is grateful for Morrison’s leadership.
 
“If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you,” Lucky said. “And we have a leader.”
     
Strategic Finance
SERVANT LEADERSHIP: NOT JUST BUZZWORDS
BY MEREDITH ALBRIGHT, CMA, CPA
October 1, 2016
(...)
Remember, serving isn’t mutually exclusive to leading. If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you.
 
Quotations - Volume 7 by Fred O’Bryant (2017)
134. If serving is below you, then leadership is beyond you. — Jefferson Santos
 
Google Books
Leadership from the Inside Out:
Becoming a Leader for Life
By Kevin Cashman
Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
2017
Pg. 95:
If service is below you, leadership is beyond you. —Robert G. Ingersol
 
Google Books
Learning Transformed:
8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow’s Schools, Today
By Eric C. Sheninger and Thomas C. Murray
Alexandria, VA: ASCD
2017
Pg. 207:
If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you.
Unknown
 
Marketing magazine (Australia)   
It’s not about you: how servant leadership unlocks higher performance
BY JAC PHILLIPS ON 19 OCTOBER 2017
(...)
Someone wise once said, “If serving is beneath you, leadership is beyond you.”
     
Facebook
TEDxGeorgetown
October 28, 2017 ·
“If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you.” -Pedro Espinoza
 
1 February 2018, Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), “Youth organizations raise $18,000 with pink fundraisers for cancer,” pg. 3:
“If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you”—this is the anonymous quote displayed prominently on the Elite Soccer Community Organization Facebook event page in celebration of a “Pink Out Soccer Game” fundraiser held Oct. 28, 2017.
       
Facebook
Israel United in Christ
February 5, 2018
IUIC- IF SERVING IS BELOW YOU,LEADERSHIP IS BEYOND YOU. - Matthew 23:11
 
Delaware State News
SOUND OFF DELAWARE: Delaware Veterans Home woes
Jul 26th, 2018 · by Delaware State News
(...)
“If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you.” — Bree Johnson
 
Twitter
Marie Bennett
@Marie_Bennett
If serving is below you, leadership is beyond you.  So very true in the #networkmarketing industry, as we are only successful if we help others achieve their goals & success.  #homebusiness ==>  https://goo.gl/BockqH  <==

4:58 PM - 10 Jun 2019