Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee

[Darris McNeely] This week marks the 60th anniversary of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne of England. It was 60 years ago this week that her father George VI died, making her a very, very young queen at that time. And now for 60 years she has served her people faithfully, dedicated herself and her whole life to service.

[Steve Myers] It's an interesting example because when you think of leadership today there's a whole different view when it comes to how you should lead. And she gave an interesting speech where she talked about how leaders should lead.

[Darris McNeely] Yeah, she did when she actually became queen she dedicated her life to the service of her people and she has done that. Being the queen is hard work. She may be a very wealthy woman and she has a lot of people working for her and she lives in some pretty big houses. But it is very, very difficult, grueling work and one has to dedicate themselves to it. She's 85 years old and she is still working hard. In fact, the speech that she gave this week to mark her 60th anniversary, she said, "I dedicate myself anew to your service." And again, as Steve said, in a time where leaders and politicians aren't always demonstrating the most important aspect of service and showing that by their lives, it is refreshing and it is encouraging and really downright inspiring I think to see a woman of her character, her dignity and her courage continue on at her age—continuing to serve her people, which is really the essence of true leadership.

[Steve Myers] I was reminded of what Christ Himself said about the kind of people that we should be—the kind of people that leaders should be. Here's what He said in Matthew chapter 20 and in verse 27, He said, "Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:27). So, if we're going to be leaders, if we're going to do the things that are right, we've got to be servants. We've got to have others at the heart of our thinking and our service.

[Darris McNeely] And I don't think that you can find any better example anywhere that we look today on the world scene among…within leadership in that of Queen Elizabeth II—an individual, a leader who has dedicated a life of service to her people and wanting to set the highest standard. There's a lot more for us to say about this subject. And we'll probably come back tomorrow and other times in the future during this jubilee year of the queen to comment about that. For Beyond Today, for BT Daily, thanks for watching.