Tradition 2 · February 3

Not One Word About Leaders

Daily Traditions · February 3

The threat today

Read Tradition Two in its Long Form and you will find not one word about leaders, because the Tradition is about where authority sits, not whom to trust. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563) is a single sentence: "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." The line about leaders appears only in the short form (p. 562). Its full version is in the Long Form of Tradition Nine (p. 565): "true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive no real authority from their titles; they do not govern." Servants of the whole means they work for the members. The rumour runs the other way: that a trusted servant is someone you should trust to decide for you. Today the phrase gets printed on a lanyard. A program calls its staff member the meeting's trusted servant, and the room assumes the title came with authority. It came with none. In an A.A. group, the members hand out a job by vote and can take it back the same way, and the title adds nothing to the person holding it. Test it tonight: ask who gave your meeting's leader the job, and whether the group could take it back next month.

Sit with

The Long Form of Tradition Two names an authority and no leaders, and Tradition Nine says titles carry no real authority. Who gave the person at the front of my room the job?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 2 (Big Book, p. 563); short form, Tradition 2 (Big Book, p. 562); long form, Tradition 9 (Big Book, p. 565).

Tradition 2

"For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 2 → Get the app →

← February 2The Voice on the Subway Tradition 2All of February February 4 →Who Could Know Better

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).