There was a time when I was called judgemental.
There was a time when I would consider myself the sole decider of matters of urgency in Way & Co. To some extent they all look up to me, and not just the ones with dwarfism.
…but on a more serious note that is by design. I’ve often felt that when you become this sort of leader of a sort of group that there are two ways you can go.
You can be the judge, or you can have a jury.
House of Judgement are appropriately named because they run on the word of a Judge. A higher being that issues decrees and controls all that goes on within their group. I talk about Zeus of course. Now I don’t really have an axe to grind with Zeus – we do favours for each other you see. He understands my particular set of skills. But House of Judgement, they hang on his every word, and whatever he says, goes.
That’s not good. That’s really not good. And I’ll tell you why.
I used to do that, too. When I first took over the Circus I thought the old adage treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen was the way to go. I would punish people left, right and centre, whether they’d done the things they were accused of or not. I thought that would keep everyone in line.
It didn’t.
Those directly under me – my generals if you like – they became disillusioned. They had no say on how things were handled but they were expected to go out and execute the orders. It was they who delivered bad news, they who had to dish out the jobs nobody wanted. And I could sit up in my ivory tower, free from the worries of the little people, sipping some kind of mojito or something.
But one day it hit me just how demoralising that was, and I had to change it all. So now the Circus runs like a jury – everyone in the Circus has their own say, free from fear of punishment or pushback. We don’t always agree but we have a dialogue and then we make the changes people want, and discard those they don’t.
That’s why the Circus will always be stronger than House of Judgement, especially this week. Ajax and Damien are two men who would have been rightly referred to as my generals under the old way. But in this new Circus they are empowered to take risks. Reassured that it’s okay to have their own opinion. And they are not disillusioned.
But Calypso, Gravedigger and Narcissa? All they’ve ever known is the Judge that bangs the gavel and tells them how it will be. Zeus, calling the shots from that ivory tower of his, but where is he? Is he in the trenches with his Generals like I am?
No.
They have to do the dirty work once more. Just how long will it take you all to see what lies ahead for you?
Welcome to the freak show, let us show you the Way!