Navigating Corporate Gargoyles

When senior employees become gargoyles, unyielding gatekeepers, the free flow of ideas, feedback, and innovation is stifled.

Have you ever tried to send a message up the chain, only to watch it vanish into the abyss?

You might have encountered a corporate gargoyle. But these aren’t villains. They’re the senior employees stationed near the top of the org chart, silent sentries guarding executive access. Their job is to protect the boss’s time and filter distractions. In theory, it’s about efficiency. But in the end, it’s not just noise that gets blocked. Insights do, too.

When Protection Becomes Isolation

In a previous assignment leading executive communication, I noticed something strange. Decisions didn’t just follow job titles, they followed proximity. The people closest to leadership had become unofficial gatekeepers or corporate gargoyles. They decided what information reached the top, responded to questions with strategic vagueness, and controlled access as if it were a scarce resource.

But even well-intentioned filtering has consequences. When experienced employees start prioritizing protection over connection, the organization pays a price. Leaders lose sight of what’s really happening, and over time, silence becomes the default. At that point, the system isn’t protecting leadership, it’s isolating it. And that kind of self-imposed distance only hurts the organization from the inside out.

Not the Enemy but Not Always an Ally

To be fair, these gargoyles aren’t trying to sabotage progress. They genuinely believe they are preserving order and shielding leaders from distraction. But there is a quiet danger in that role. When everything outside the inner circle is treated like clutter, the real gems — insights, challenges, ideas — get left out. This kind of selective filtering becomes a form of poor communication, even if it’s well-intentioned.

Leadership starts making decisions based on incomplete pictures. Meanwhile, others, whether junior staff or lesser-known peers, hesitate to speak up, unsure where the invisible lines are drawn. Ironically, the people with the most access are often too busy managing information to share it, or in some cases, hoarding it.

When Gatekeeping Slows the Whole System

The ripple effect of poor communication isn’t limited to leadership. It spreads across teams and slows everything down.

• Decision-making weakens. Leaders operate best with the full context. Excessive filtering leads to flawed assumptions.

• Employees disengage. When people feel unheard, creativity fades and morale dips.

• Opportunities are lost. Great ideas can come from anywhere. If only a chosen few have access, many of those ideas never surface.

Breaking Through Without Burning Bridges

So what can you do when the system feels closed, but you still want to make a difference?

1. Build trust first.

In traditional organizations, trust opens more doors than force ever will. Show that you’re here to support, not disrupt.

2. Ask better questions.

Instead of pushing for answers broadly, ask targeted, thoughtful questions. Be specific. If something isn’t visible to you, that’s not your fault—information often lives in closed-door meetings and nuanced conversations, not in formal reports.

3. Leverage executive allies.

If you do have direct access to leadership, use it to advocate for transparency. Most leaders don’t want to be isolated; they often don’t realize it’s happening.

4. Stay resilient.

It’s easy to feel discouraged when you’re shut out. But change takes time, and persistence can wear down even the most resistant structures. That said, know your limits. Protecting your own sanity is part of the work too.

5. Foster open dialogue.

Support initiatives that encourage real conversation—team workshops, skip-level meetings, anonymous feedback channels. Create the conditions where people feel safe to speak.

Turning Gargoyles Into Bridges

The real issues are the system that teaches silence is strength and the leaders who allow that culture to persist. The goal isn’t to bulldoze barriers, but to reshape them. With empathy, curiosity, and a little patience, you can shift the culture toward connection. Not overnight, but one conversation at a time (assuming you haven’t already thrown in the towel for the sake of your sanity).

In guarded environments, every push for clarity is a quiet act of leadership. Even the most rigid gargoyle began as a simple block of stone. With the right approach, they can be transformed into allies.

So if you find yourself standing before one, don’t back down. Speak clearly. Stay grounded. Keep showing up. Connection, not silence, is what drives progress.