Being Before Roles
Article of July
The Man Before The Palace
I arrived at the palace of Versailles just before six on a chilly morning. The moon still hung above the palace as daylight slowly reached the courtyard and the grounds remained nearly empty. A restaurant worker stood outside smoking a cigarette before the day began, the silent palace rising behind him. He prepared for another day of work while I prepared to walk through one of history’s grandest monuments. We both shared the same morning, for a brief moment.
Soon, the palace came to life as crowds gathered. The rooms had different expressions of their time. The Hall of Mirrors stood as a symbol of a monarchy at the height of its power. Portraits, sculptures, tapestries, porcelain, furniture, and decorative ceilings radiated the values and artistic traditions of their time.
The same greatness flowed outside into the meticulously designed gardens, fountains, sculptures, and canals. They all were showing something valuable for the people to remember.
There was a beautiful village In the heart of the royal estate representing everyday rural life. It offered a glimpse into the idea of a simpler life that some monarchs might have imagined.
Far away, on a different horizon, Windsor Castle offered a different perspective. Nearly a thousand years of history unfolded through its State Apartments, St. George’s Chapel, and royal collections. Inside the chapel, I stood before the resting place of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. While the grandeur of the State Apartments lingered in my mind, the people whose lives had shaped history rested in remarkable simplicity.
My journey ended at the Tower of London. Fortress, palace, prison, armory, and home of the Crown Jewels, it carried the weight of centuries within its inner walls. Coronations, imprisonment, executions, diplomacy, and ceremony were all part of this single place. It was like stepping into centuries of history when walking through these landmarks
The Tower’s ravens were moving through the grounds with the confidence of creatures that have witnessed centuries of coronations, imprisonment, triumph, and loss.
On my way back, I thought about the palaces I had visited in other parts of the world. Some were smaller. Some had only fragments of their former grandeur, while others belonged to kingdoms whose histories are known mainly within their own regions, but they all preserved the values, ambitions, and aspirations of the people who built them. They represented the ideas, beliefs, achievements, and craftsmanship that their society chose to celebrate.
It occurred to me that thousands of people must have stood behind these magnificent buildings, whose names may never have appeared in history, while their skill made them possible. Did they find fulfillment in their work? Could they have imagined that millions of people would one day marvel at the work of their hands?
I began to wonder what future generations will learn from the world we are building today. Every era leaves something behind. Perhaps, our generation may be remembered for different pursuits, expanding knowledge, advancing technology and protecting individual freedoms.
Centuries from now, people may walk through our museums, laboratories, libraries, and digital archives with the same curiosity we bring to Versailles, Windsor Castle, and the Tower of London. They may be searching for our greatest inventions and trying to understand what we believed was worth preserving.
The Hall of Mirrors, the royal apartments, the gardens, the chapel, and the collections remain vivid in my memory. So does the restaurant worker smoking a cigarette before his shift began. He worked in the shadow of a palace that drew visitors from around the world. I was there for only a few hours, seeing it for the first time. I never knew what passed through his mind with every puff of his cigarette. Perhaps the palace had become part of everyday life for him, while for me it was a journey through centuries of history.
Leadership Lessons I learned From Places I visited
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