Are You the Circus Owner or the Ringleader?

Image credit Digby Scott

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I was coaching a leader the other day who runs a big, messy part of a health system. I asked how she'd describe her role.

"I own that circus, and all the problems that come with it."

Then she stopped. I could see her hear her own words!

Then she said, "Actually, it's not my circus. It's everybody's circus. I'm the ringleader, not the owner."

That’s a small yet profound shift.

When you ‘own the circus’, you carry every act. You're the ringleader, and the lion tamer, and the one at the door selling tickets. And for a while that can feel good. You're across everything. Nothing surprises you. People come to you because you're the one who knows. It feels like competence.

But everything running through you isn't leadership. It's more like a bottleneck with your name on the label.

A ringleader holds the space so everyone else can play their part. The lion tamer tames the lions. The acrobats fly. The ringleader's job is to create the conditions for performance.

Leaders who own everything are exhausted, and what they've built tends to wobble the moment they step back. Leaders who run their ring well build something that holds without them.

My client left with a question I think is worth reflecting on: which parts of your circus are you holding onto that were never yours to own in the first place?

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