# Lower-Level Confidants By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-04-04 In the current organizational environment, management and executives never know what the workers think and feel. Workers have largely gotten wise to the game and know there is little upside to speaking truth to power in corporate organizations. It's better to leave if you can. So, after a particularly challenging message, managers and executives often seek feedback from individuals they trust to uncover the real response. These lower-level confidants possess a unique power within any organization. They simultaneously have the trust of managers and workers. Often they are left to convey messages between the two parties in ways each can understand. Or, at least, that's the theory. As with the telephone game, messages can often get corrupted and jumbled. Furthermore, these confidants can inject their spin and opinion into the dialogue without the awareness of either party - effectively playing both sides as they see fit. As with all power, corruption is always waiting around the corner. However, more challenging is how the confidant deals with paradoxical world views. Do they lean towards the worker's opinion or that of management? Can they embrace both at the same time? Modern organizations are full of these paradoxes, and hidden within them are truths, beliefs, and progress. If you ever find yourself a lower-level confidant, consider how you can make the situation better for all your fellow humans. #### Related Items [[Truth]] [[Trust]] [[Power]] [[Work]] [[Management]] [[Communication]]