INTRODUCTION

It is not surprising that a particular kind of silence may be misunderstood as harmony by a superior in a hierarchical workplace. In this culture, employees do not push back; meetings proceed without friction, and directives are followed without question. In many Southeast Asian countries, this silence is often shaped by deep-rooted norms around respect for authority and the preservation of face; however, beneath that surface, disengagement quietly emerges. In their 2021 report on workplace relationships, Aaron De Smet and associates at McKinsey discovered that the quality of an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor forecasts the employee’s experience, and that burnout and attrition are prevalent in environments where leaders neglect the human aspects of work. The implication is unsettling but important to consider, and that is in societies where hierarchy is most established, the cost of leadership lacking empathy may be highest precisely because it is least evident.

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