When Kristin Chenoweth first belted out “Popular” in the Broadway hit Wicked, audiences laughed at Glinda’s comic timing and bubbly confidence. The song is witty, fun, and full of charm. Beneath the humor lies a sharp cultural critique that speaks volumes about the modern workplace.

Glinda isn’t simply teaching Elphaba how to dress or smile—she’s teaching her how to conform. Conformity, while often rewarded with approval, goes against true psychological safety.

So what can one of Broadway’s most memorable songs teach us about inclusion, leadership, and the cost of confusing popularity with belonging?

Setting the Stage: What Wicked Really Tells Us

Broadway’s Wicked is more than a prequel to The Wizard of Oz—it’s a reimagining of the story through the eyes of two young women: Elphaba, the outcast with extraordinary abilities, and Glinda, the blonde, bubbly student who quickly becomes “popular.” At first glance, it looks like a tale of opposites—one admired and adored, the other ridiculed and feared. Underneath, Wicked is a story about identity, inclusion, and the fragile ways reputation is shaped by the stories others tell about us.

The song Popular captures this tension perfectly. Glinda coaches Elphaba on how to fit in—how to dress, speak, and move in ways that will make her acceptable to others. While lighthearted on the surface, it highlights a dynamic we see in many workplaces: the pressure to conform in order to belong. Popularity, influence, and allyship collide, raising the question: is success about changing yourself to match the culture, or is it about shifting the culture to welcome difference?

For leaders and organizations, Wicked is more than entertainment—it’s a mirror. It challenges us to look at who we reward, who we overlook, and how allyship can transform exclusion into belonging. The truth is, creating psychological safety often starts with a choice: will we use our influence, like Glinda eventually does, to normalize difference and open doors for others? Or will we silently reinforce the systems that keep people on the outside looking in?

The Scene: Coaching or Conditioning?

In the scene, Glinda takes Elphaba under her wing and insists she can make her “popular.” She rattles off advice on fashion, speech, and social behavior:

“Celebrated heads of state,
Or specially great communicators,
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don’t make me laugh. They were popular!” 

It’s all tongue-in-cheek, but it highlights a truth: in many systems, success isn’t tied to talent, ideas, or integrity—it’s tied to performance and perception.

Elphaba doesn’t need coaching in her craft. She needs acceptance for who she already is. Glinda’s version of support centers around polishing away difference until Elphaba blends in.

Workplaces do this too. We create cultures where employees learn that the safest path to success is not authenticity, but assimilation.

Fitting In vs. Belonging

Brené Brown puts it bluntly: “Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be to be accepted. Belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.” (Dare to Lead, 2018).

Glinda’s guidance is about fitting in. It’s a crash course in how to be liked, not how to be valued.

Psychological safety, by contrast, is about belonging. Amy Edmondson defines it as a climate where people feel safe enough to take interpersonal risks—to ask questions, make mistakes, and share ideas without fear (The Fearless Organization, 2019). Belonging means Elphaba’s green skin isn’t a problem to be fixed. It’s simply part of who she is.

When organizations confuse fitting in with belonging, they create high-performing façades with low-performing outcomes. Employees wear masks, innovation stalls, and diversity becomes decoration rather than transformation.

The “Popular” Trap in Organizations

Why does popularity matter so much in both Oz and the office? Because it brings short-term safety.

• Visibility Bias: Popular employees are often favored with promotions, recognition, or “stretch assignments,” regardless of skill.
• Silence Incentives: To maintain popularity, people avoid rocking the boat. They agree, nod, and smooth over conflicts instead of addressing them.
• Performance Over Authenticity: Energy shifts from contribution to impression management. Employees worry more about how they appear than what they deliver.

Timothy R. Clark’s 4 Stages of Psychological Safety (2020) helps us see the problem. Popularity may grant “inclusion safety”—the feeling of being accepted in the group—but it blocks progression to the higher stages: learner, contributor, and challenger safety.

After all, you can’t challenge the status quo if your approval depends on never questioning it.

InKNOWnative’s approach starts long before Inclusion Safety of Clark’s framework. Read more about InKNOWnative’s approach in InKNOWnative Insights: How to Use InKNOWnative’s Step-by-Step Training to Build Sustainable Psychological Safety.

Neurobiology of Popularity: Why the Brain Chases It

Matthew Lieberman’s social neuroscience research explains why popularity feels so irresistible. Our brains process social rejection as physical pain (Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, 2013). Being left out hurts—literally.

Read InKNOWnative Insights: You Can See Physical Pain. You Can’t See Exclusion Injury. Your Brain Feels Both.

That’s why Glinda’s advice feels attractive. Who wouldn’t want to avoid the sting of exclusion? While popularity soothes short-term pain, it doesn’t heal the deeper wound of not being seen.

Belonging, not popularity, is what actually regulates stress, builds resilience, and fosters creativity. Paul Zak’s research on oxytocin confirms that trust and authentic connection release neurochemicals that make us feel safe, bonded, and motivated (Trust Factor, 2017).

Popularity may win applause—but belonging wins trust.

The Hidden Cost of “Popular” Cultures

Many organizations pride themselves on being “great places to work” because people get along and appear happy. That appearance of “harmony” can hide harm.

• Groupthink: Teams overvalue consensus and underplay dissent. Big risks go unchallenged until they explode (think Enron, Boeing 737 MAX, or OceanGate’s Titan submersible).
• Talent Drain: Those who refuse to play the popularity game—like Elphaba—leave, taking their brilliance with them.
• Diversity Loss: Superficial inclusion efforts fail because true difference is quietly suppressed.

Google’s Project Aristotle (Duhigg, 2016, New York Times Magazine) found that the single most important factor in high-performing teams was psychological safety—not charisma, not popularity. Teams succeed not because members fit in, but because they can speak up.

Leaders as Glinda—or as Guardians

Glinda isn’t malicious. She genuinely believes she’s helping Elphaba. Good intentions don’t erase harmful impact.

Leaders today often play Glinda without realizing it:

• Coaching employees to “be more likeable” instead of more authentic.
• Rewarding those who network over those who innovate.
• Valuing optics over outcomes.

The shift from Glinda-leadership to guardian-leadership requires courage. Guardians of psychological safety protect authenticity, not assimilation. They reward learning, not just likability. They normalize failure, not just applause. Allyship.

Rewriting the Lyrics for Workplaces

Imagine if “Popular” had different lyrics:

Instead of: “Don’t make me laugh. They were popular!”
We might sing: “Don’t make me hide. They were authentic!” 

Instead of: “La la, la la! You’ll be popular, just not quite as popular as me!”
We might hear: “La la, la la! You’ll belong here, just as much as me.” 

It sounds silly, but it reframes the heart of the issue. Organizations can either write a script of conformity—or a song of belonging.

Practical Steps: From Popularity to Psychological Safety

How do leaders ensure their cultures don’t get stuck in Glinda’s version of support?

1. Redefine Inclusion. Inclusion is not conditional. Remove performance-based acceptance and explicitly value difference.
2. Reward Dissent. Publicly thank employees who ask tough questions or challenge assumptions.
3. Unmask Metrics. Don’t just measure engagement by smiles or “fun” surveys. Track psychological-safety metrics through tools like Amy Edmondson’s Fearless Organization Scan. Learn more by reading InKNOWnative Insights: What To Expect With A Fearless Organization Scan-Step-by-Step.
4. Model Authenticity. Leaders who admit mistakes and show vulnerability signal that masks aren’t needed.
5. Shift Social Capital. Highlight contributions from less “popular” team members. Rotate airtime in meetings. Ask the quietest voice what they see. 

Final Curtain: Belonging Over Applause

Popular is catchy, but it’s also a cautionary tale. The pursuit of popularity can mask the absence of belonging. It can fill a room with laughter while leaving individuals silently unseen.

Psychological safety doesn’t demand performance. It demands presence. It doesn’t require costumes. It requires courage.

When workplaces trade popularity for belonging, they move from shallow applause to deep connection. They move from fitting in to authenticity. They move from silenced potential to defying gravity. Read InKNOWnative Insights: Defying Gravity: What Wicked Teaches Us About Psychological Safety.

So next time you hum along to Popular, remember: the real magic isn’t being liked. It’s being safe enough to be yourself.

If you want to bring psychological safety into your organization but aren't sure where to begin, start here by reading this InKNOWnative Insights: How to Use InKNOWnative’s Step-by-Step Training to Build Sustainable Psychological Safety. 

Citations

Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley.

Clark, T. R. (2020). The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation. Berrett-Koehler.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect. Crown.

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.

Zak, P. J. (2017). Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies. AMACOM.

Duhigg, C. (2016). “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team.” The New York Times Magazine.

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