the.com/lightning rod

means A pointed metal rod mounted high on a structure and wired to the ground, designed to intercept lightning strikes and safely channel the electrical current into the earth instead of through the building.

from Invented and named in the 1750s by Benjamin Franklin, who reasoned from his kite-and-key experiments that lightning was electricity and could be guided rather than fought. He proposed grounded iron rods atop buildings and ships to 'draw the fire' away harmlessly — a literal device that quickly became a figurative one, since by the 1800s 'lightning rod' was already being used for a person who draws criticism or anger away from others, absorbing the strike so the rest of the structure stays intact.