Why the Best Idea in the Room Often Goes Unspoken
Strong hierarchy and a drive for harmony can silence the people who know most. Inclusive leadership is the practical fix.
Most Asia Pacific nations score high on power distance and collectivism, with Australia and New Zealand the notable exceptions (Hofstede, 2011). In plain terms, people defer to authority and value group harmony. That builds trust. It can also keep expertise out of the room.
In high power distance settings, junior members may stay quiet even when they hold critical knowledge. Their willingness to speak depends on whether the leader creates an inclusive environment (Guo et al., 2022). Collectivist norms add a second brake: fear of “loss of face” can stop people from challenging the group (Wang & Shi, 2020).
Inclusive leadership is the practical fix.
We interviewed 66 non-executive directors across Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania. They described the same problem and a consistent set of remedies (Steel, 2026):
Consult before the meeting. One director noted the boardroom is often “just the final step.” Testing ideas in small settings reduced loss of face and made challenge safer.
Invite, don’t wait. Respected chairs went around the table and drew out quieter members. As one director put it, it is “not only what’s being said, but what’s not being said.”
Explain the decision. Trusted leaders integrated several views and then shared their reasoning, so people accepted the outcome even when it was not their first position.
Adapt the delivery. “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say that matters.”
Structured round-robin speaking and explicit invitations to dissent have also been linked to better participation in high power distance teams (Ashikali et al., 2021).
Implication for SMEs. Small leadership teams are rarely free of hierarchy. A founder or long-tenured manager can have the same silencing effect as a board chair. Silence is a risk signal. Leaders who ask for dissent, in private first if needed, reduce the chance that a known problem stays unspoken.
Limits. This is an exploratory study of volunteers, and the interview data were coded against a preset framework. The findings suggest practice. They do not prove outcomes.
References
Ashikali, T., Groeneveld, S. & Kuipers, B. (2021). Review of Public Personnel Administration, 41(3), 497–519.
Guo, Y., Zhu, Y. & Zhang, L. (2022). Current Psychology, 41, 1301–1310.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014
Steel, A. (2026). Inclusion as strategic advantage. In The Handbook of Inclusive Leadership (Ch. 12). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111662145-013
Wang, F. & Shi, W. (2020). Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120953558
