There’s a Turkish proverb that has been tumbling around my brain like mismatched socks in the dryer: “When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.”
Now, I don’t know for certain if it’s Turkish, but frankly, I don’t care. It’s truth. It’s wisdom wrapped in a riddle, served with a strong shot of espresso. And I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count.
Let me paint you a picture. You’re working hard, doing your thing, contributing to the world like a responsible adult. Then poof! One day, someone in a position of power (usually freshly installed, sometimes shiny with LinkedIn-approved lingo) starts juggling ideas with the finesse of a tipsy mime. Strategy meetings feel like improv night gone wrong. Logic exits stage left. Suddenly, your work life has a laugh track you didn’t subscribe to.
Congratulations. The palace is now a circus.
You might think, “Well, we can just clownproof the palace.” Good luck with that. Because when the jester’s running the show, the court starts wearing red noses and the kingdom gets rewired for slapstick. I’ve seen it in nonprofit organizations, corporate offices, boardrooms, and even social movements. A charismatic disruptor who confuses chaos for innovation can turn vision into vaudeville in record time.
And here’s the kicker: That’s part of the reason I stepped into leadership in the first place. I didn’t want to sit ringside and watch the elephants stampede the mission. I didn’t want to be “led” by folks who confuse volume for value or mistake titles for wisdom. I wanted out of the tent.
So I became the ringmaster of my own show. Or tried to. Because here’s the thing—they don’t teach you in leadership school (if such a thing even existed outside TED Talks and overpriced seminars): leadership is less about sparkle and more about steering. It’s making sure the palace stays a place of purpose, not pratfalls.
To anyone out there dealing with a palace-turned-circus, I see you. Maybe it’s time to take the reins. Or at least find the off switch on the calliope.
And to the clowns who think they’re kings? Enjoy the juggling act. But some of us are building castles that don’t need a punchline.
Categories: identity, Leadership, Management, Psychology, society, workplace
psychologistmimi 
“Palace-Orange-Turded-Circus”
Apparently i’ve Been Observing
The Boob-Tube News a Bit Much
Dear Miriam Coloring my Perceptions
Differently as a ‘3 Dog Night’ “Show Must
Go on” Surely Does in Face-Palm-Forest-THiCK Ways
Yet It’s So True This is No Isolated
Meme of the Clown Archetype
of the Human Condition
Bringing Chaos That
Will Ultimately Likely
Lead to Drastic Change
It’s Like Every Other DArK PArt of
Existence Partner in Magnetic Polarizing
Connections is STiLL LiGHT CoLoRinG The
‘Big Top’ Differently Still To Come Yes Even at the
Very Bottom of the Orange Big Flop Yet the Bigger Picture
On the Horizon Far Beyond Our Tiny Little Bitty ‘Yippy’ Human Details
Is the Rest of
Nature and
The Real
Karma
of Action
And Consequence
In ‘Real Time’ Effects Still To come
Whenever Any Wayward PArt Moves Out
of Balance the Rest of the Pond Moves In
To Still the Waters of the Stone’s Destination
on the Bottom
Of the Ocean Floor
It’s A Beautiful Day in
‘Eden’ all the Furred and
Winged Creatures Just
Leave Nature’s Droppings
On
Human
Orange Stuff
‘Eve’ Pass the Popcorn
The Human Circus is At
Work Again While We continue to
‘Afternoon DeLiGHT’
freely play
Hehe for
Now at
Least as
Long as
Eden and
Non-Tariffed Popcorn Lasts…
Yes the SHoW MusT Go oN..:)
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Thoughtfully and carefully put Mimi 😀
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Thank you! Have a great day ahead
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