The 96 Meter Rule
Why No Buildings in Budapest are Over 96 Metres Tall
If you look at the Budapest skyline, you'll notice pretty quickly that there aren't any skyscrapers. Buildings seem to stand at the same height. The reason is that no building in Budapest can stand at over 96 metres tall. 96 has symbolic value in the country. It was in 896 that Hungarian Magyars first came to the area, and the first stages of the Hungarian Kingdom were born.
St Stephen’s Basilica and the Hungarian Parliament Building both stand at 96 metres tall and represent religion and government respectively. It's an attempt show that neither religion nor government is more important than the other. Shouldn't religion and government be in service of people though?
Twenty-five centuries ago, Lao-tse, a Chinese sage, said:
“The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over all the mountain streams. So the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus, though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be before them, they do not count it an injury.”
Almost all the best leaders that I've encountered – the kinds you'd run through brick walls for – have had this trait. Focus on serving the people you seek to lead. The following will come.
