Breaking out of the echo chamber
How women can have strong opinions without losing influence
Women pay the price of being unlikeable.
Let’s be real: for women in corporate, speaking your mind often feels like stepping on a landmine.
Women are conditioned to avoid strong opinions. We’re quickly labeled negatively for being assertive, while men receive more respect.
Research from Singapore Management University found that “if a woman self-promotes to enhance their status, they may be perceived as less likable or hireable.” In contrast, men with the same mentality were seen as “having a business sense, being ambitious, competitive, or aggressive.”
According to Cambridge University’s research on congressional hearings, women are more likely to be interrupted.
Being amicable and harmonious is seen as a stereotypical female trait. When women display the opposite, we face backlash and risk hurting our ability to get hired or promoted.
While staying agreeable may feel safer, it eventually becomes a glass ceiling for women who aspire to lead. Companies need leaders who can find novel ideas, even if unpopular, to avoid stagnation while competitors innovate.
My own career has shown me how quickly strong opinions can backfire.
While helping companies expand into new markets, I found gaps in the project timeline. I realised our sales team had promised a certain delivery date. But my estimates showed the project would take nearly double the time. This posed a risk of completely cancelling the contract, and we had two choices: (1) stay quiet until the delay happened or (2) have the difficult conversation now before implementation. I sent an email highlighting this risk to our C-Suite. Within hours, there was push back and frustration from colleagues leading the project. Later, the resentment between team members made execution more difficult. I regretted damaging relationships to highlight the problem— I questioned if I should have kept quiet. I conditioned myself to not have opinions about red flags to preserve relationships.
When I moved to my next project, I found I was rusty in producing novel ideas and developing strong opinions about the approach. I was going with the flow, and execution was slower than ever.
Despite the feedback, I knew I had to rebuild the muscle of strong opinions for my team. The problem was, I didn’t know where to start. I had been conditioned to be quiet in meetings, not question colleagues, and I started to resent the way things were done and the person I was becoming.
My experience reflects a broader pattern that many women face in corporate settings—the struggle between maintaining harmony and driving necessary change.
The double-edged sword of dissent
Being a naysayer comes with its own set of challenges. Speaking up can lead to isolation, being labeled as difficult, or facing subtle retaliation. Sometimes, valid concerns get dismissed simply because of how frequently you raise issues. The key is to choose your battles wisely and build credibility through a track record of constructive criticism that proves valuable over time.
Despite these risks, dissent can also be the catalyst for industry-changing innovation. So how do you transform strong opinions into career-defining leadership?
Getting ahead with firm opinions
A yes-sayer will only get you so far. To be an industry leader, join the naysayers’ club.
In 2006, Indra Nooyi made the unpopular decision to pivot PepsiCo’s strategy to health and sustainability. She acquired Quaker Oats and Naked Juice and reduced sugar in existing products. During her tenure, the company’s revenue grew by 80%, with 50% coming from healthier products.
Oracle’s CEO Safra Catz was known for her unpopular negotiation tactics and refused to increase the price when acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2009. Despite criticism for being too rigid, she secured Sun at a favorable price, strengthening Oracle’s market position.
These examples show how leaders had to display traits that women are often criticised for to transform and advance their companies.
Building independent thinking
The goal isn’t to be argumentative, but to develop skills to think of big bets when your team depends on it.
On a later project, I tried a new approach. Instead of sending a blunt email, I gathered data quietly and spoke with colleagues first. Then I raised the issue in a team session, asking questions instead of making statements. People were more open, and we fixed the spotted issue before it became a crisis. I learned that speaking up doesn’t have to create conflict—it’s about choosing how and when to raise your opinion.
How do you develop novel ideas when it matters? The answer lies in training yourself to develop strong opinions.
I sit in the boardroom thinking I shouldn’t speak because I’m not an expert. Instead of staying silent, I make it a point to make myself the expert. I talk to internal and external experts about the basics and context behind past decisions. I source data to validate my instincts on questionable methods. I always question (not necessarily out loud) the counterpart’s statements—only part of their statement might be true, branching out to various solutions.
When hiring, select a diverse group of experts with different perspectives who invest the time and effort to build well-thought-out, validated opinions.
Once you’ve committed to developing strong opinions, the next step is to trust—and test—your instincts.
Women have strong intuitions. In stressful situations, the risks in their decisions become clearer. Data should validate hypotheses. If you sense a problem, investigate it thoroughly.
Build a coalition around your perspective.
Stress test your thinking with your peers. See what questions or perspectives they have to counter your argument. Gather more data points to see if their concerns or risks are addressed by your solution.
Involve stakeholders early. Get buy-in on the problem first, then shape the solution together. Avoid the mistake of trying to convince people of the solution when they didn’t realise they had a problem. If your stakeholders don’t appreciate the problem, they won’t appreciate the resources spent fixing it.
Debate actively, but adhere to the decision.
Be open to other perspectives with convincing arguments. Assume your counterparts have done the same due diligence. Consider what the other party knows that you don’t. If you reach a dead end and can’t convince them, respect it. Be ready to change your opinion. Once the team decides, commit fully—even if it wasn’t your idea.
These strategies help you avoid the echo chamber and contribute meaningfully to decisions that shape your company’s future.
Final reflections
As a woman, you may have conditioned yourself to be a yes-sayer to rise to a certain level of influence. To break the glass ceiling and get to the top, you need to make bold, often unpopular decisions. While being a naysayer isn’t easy, staying silent costs even more.
To build this muscle,
Speak to diverse perspectives and become an expert.
Validate instincts with data.
Question assumptions and explore alternatives.
Build strong opinions—and a case to persuade others.
Investigate concerns thoroughly.
Choose and champion the best solution.
Start today by asking, ‘What if we did this differently?’ That single question is the first step in breaking out of the echo chamber—so your voice, your ideas, and your leadership can shape the future.