The key to navigating the “new new-normal” is our capacity to lead.
Why Defiant Leadership Matters in Today’s World
Defiance…leading in the new new-normal
Defiance is usually understood as the act of resisting authority and rules, or opposing forces by showing open contempt, or refusing to obey as a challenge to power. In the face of the divisive authoritarianism at the core of the “new new-normal”, resistance might be considered an option. However, any outburst of resistance fails to recognize that defiance is less about drama and more about where personal conscience collides with compliance.
Defiance is about choosing to act in line with our values when there is pressure to do otherwise. Defiance might be as small as saying “no,” asking for clarification, or simply pausing instead of rushing along with the group. At other times, it means speaking up, challenging authority, or maybe walking away.
Defiance is a practice: a skill we can strengthen over time. Some days we might comply, other days we might resist. What matters is that we have the awareness and the tools to make the choice consciously, rather than letting fear or habit decide for us.
Developing a Defiance Compass is a navigation tool to orient us in difficult situations. Extending a metaphor we used previously, this Defiance Compass is a 3-legged stool:
- There is the Values Leg [Decision]: What are the values that matter most to me?
- There is the Safety/Impact Leg [Context]: What type of situation is this? Is it safe to resist? Will it have a positive impact? Or long-term negative consequences?
- There is the Responsibility/Ability Leg [Action]: What does a person like me do in a situation like this? How can I take responsibility and act in a way that is consistent with my values?
Learning to defy strategically matters. It protects personal integrity, strengthens our business and political institutions, and helps sustain social capital relationships. Defiance is our capacity to lead the “new new-normal”.
[Excerpts from “How to Practice Defiance When It Matters” by Sunita Sah in Greater Good Magazine, January 9, 2026]
Leadership does not involve title or salary, position in society or an organization, size of budget control, number of people we can command, number of operations we can control, number of degrees or academic credentials we earned, or any other ways we traditionally think of leadership. Leadership is about how we lead, not just about what we do.
How we lead involves:
- Competencies and capabilities – are we trustworthy?
- Skills, Knowledge, Aptitude – are we competent?
- Capability to handle volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity – are we resilient?
- Credibility to nurture and sustain success – what values drive us?
The leadership challenge is “to be aware”
- Situationally: The ability to make sense of forces at play and the impact of our actions.
- Emotionally: The ability to be attuned to the cadence/tempo of situations and context.
- Consciously: The ability to be attentive to our inner world (thoughts) and the outer world (people), leading to purposeful decisions rather than reactions.
- Mentally: The ability to embrace self-leadership and self-initiation with self-confidence.
Building awareness strength is our opportunity to be great, be heroic, make a difference.
The Three Legs of Defiant Leadership: Respect, Responsibility, Self-Worth
Defiant Leadership is acting on values against pressure, involving courage to question the status quo, innovate, and uphold integrity, ultimately enabling true change rather than just maintaining systems. A defiant leader focuses on authenticity, responsibility, and skill development in everyday situations, making it a crucial skill for driving progress.
Defiant Leadership is a 3-legged stool:
There is the Respect Leg: reprising the Defiance video from Facebook:
Respect is not complicated. It is not an equation to be solved nor a battlefield to be won. It is the simple daily act of allowing others the same dignity you would want for yourself. If you wake up in the morning unafraid, and if you move through the world without worrying that your skin, your name, your love or your faith will get you harassed, beaten or killed, then you should want the same for everyone.
And not because you are obligated, not because it is required of you by law or by social pressure, but because in the great and terrible lottery of birth you were given a gift and the only truly human thing to want to do is share it. And it is the only real respect that matters.
There is the Responsibility Leg: doing the things we are supposed to do, and accepting the positive or negative outcomes of our actions, involving our conscious decision to complete a task and our behavior to be reliable and trustworthy
- Personal responsibility is a duty or task we are required or expected to do and be accountable for our actions, obligations and their consequences;
- Moral responsibility involves something we should or must do because it is ethically right within the context of personal and social values;
- Corporate responsibility involves policies and procedures that support sustainable development to be economically viable and profitable; committed to having a positive impact on society; respecting/preserving the environment.
- Financial responsibility is managing money and assets in a way that is productive and in the best interest of individuals, families, organizations.
- Work responsibility is the duty to perform or complete tasks on time, on budget, error- and damage-free.
There is the Self-worth Leg: our subjective evaluation of our value and worth in the sense of being good enough, distinct from self-esteem, which relies on external factors such as social status, success and achievement to define worth, whereas our value is there simply because we exist and our worth comes from what we can.
Building Competence, Confidence, and Connection
Building Defiant Leadership, we need to be
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Competent, that is, capable, developed through practice and experience;
- which builds our Confidence, that is, being self-assured that we are capable, and knowing we can handle challenges and setbacks;
- which in turn empowers us to be Connected, that is, able to foster positive bonds with others.
- which builds our Confidence, that is, being self-assured that we are capable, and knowing we can handle challenges and setbacks;
Defiant Leadership involves a continuous personal growth cycle where our skills improve [Competence], enabling us to trust our ability to try [Confidence], because we have built a supportive network [Connection]. Resilience builds on this Defiant Leader growth cycle. And that is our capacity to lead in the “new new-normal”.
Victor Deyglio, Founding President, The Logistics Institute
This blog is the fourth installment in the series The New New-Normal. We recommend reading the blogs in sequence:
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