Everything made by man may be destroyed by man; there are no ineffaceable characters except those engraved by nature; and nature makes neither princes nor rich men nor great lords.

Rank, wealth and title are arrangements, and arrangements can be undone. What a person actually is, the temperament, the capacity, the way they behave when it costs them, is not conferred by anyone and cannot be revoked by anyone either. Positions look permanent from inside them, which is why people mistake the arrangement for the person, usually until the arrangement changes.

Ask what would remain of your standing if the title went tomorrow, and build a little more of that. Treat the people around you at the level of what they are rather than what they currently hold.