The Confidants and Upstanders (cont’d)

When the Creative comes under attack, the Confidant serves as a sounding board, validating the Creative’s experiences and sometimes steps into the role of Upstander, pushing back on the Dragon’s false narratives. The participants in relative studies shared repeatedly that the presence of just one Confidant in the workplace provided the necessary glue to retain them in the organization, as opposed to abandoning the ship in search of a better cultural fit, and, at times, even helped them to shift the cultural tide from one of small circle exclusion to big tent and big thinking belonging.