Redefining Defiance as Action Aligned with Values
Summer is a great time to dive into books that challenge conventional thinking, spark innovation, and deepen understanding of the ever-changing business landscape for leaders. This series features some of the newest titles by faculty and alumni. For more recommended reading, check out the books on Dean Andrew Karolyi’s shelf.
For many people, the word “defiance” conjures images of rebellion, confrontation, or disobedience. But in her book Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes (One World 2025), Sunita Sah invites readers to rethink that word—and to see defiance as a deliberate, values-driven act.
“In Sanskrit, ‘Sunita’ means ‘one who has good conduct or behavior,’” says Sah, professor of management and organizations in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “To live up to my name, I needed to be obedient, to follow the rules, to do well in school—to be compliant. But as I grew older, I learned what it truly means to be ‘good.’ Satisfying the expectations of others while betraying your true values is not good. In fact, my research has taught me it’s dangerous.”
The book has struck a chord with readers. It has become a USA Today national bestseller and a Financial Times Business Book of the Month, and it won the Gold Medal in Business Ethics from the 2025 Axiom Business Book Awards.
A New Definition of Defiance
Defiance is not necessarily about being loud or actively protesting, Sah says; it’s about aligning action with values: “Defiance means acting in accordance with your true values when there is pressure to do otherwise.”
In Defy, Sah investigates personal choices—such as ignoring someone’s advice or questioning a colleague’s trust—and everyday moments such as a young professional questioning a manager’s directive, a student speaking up in class, and a team member setting a boundary in a meeting. Defy also showcases remarkable historic and contemporary cases of defiance such as the actions of Rosa Parks and Colin Kaepernick. She also teases apart compliance and consent, emphasizing that true consent is intentional.
Practicing Defiance
Introducing five stages of defiance, Sah offers tools to say no, even in the face of pressure to just go along with others. First, we experience internal discomfort when values and external expectations conflict. Then, we recognize that discomfort, knowing that we might need to act. Third, we express our concerns through statements or questions like, “I don’t feel right about this,” and, “Are you sure this is necessary?” Next, we signal the possibility that we might not comply by saying something like, “I don’t think I can do what you are asking.” Only in the final stage do we truly act in defiance with a “considered decision to act on our core values,” which Sah calls our “True No.”
“Defiance is a practice, not a personality trait,” says Sah, adding that it’s useful to practice different scenarios and even role-play before we need to act.
Rigorous and Personal
Sah says that at her speaking engagements, readers—from students to young professionals to corporate leaders—have told her that the framework has helped them speak up in difficult moments.
“The writing process itself was both rigorous and personal,” says Sah. “I drew not only on decades of research in behavioral science and organizational psychology, but also on stories from people navigating quiet acts of resistance in everyday life. It was important to me that defiance be portrayed not just as loud protest, but as a values-based practice—something that can be learned, modeled, and sustained.”