What Can Managers Do When Upper Management Causes Incivility?

Disrespectful behavior is a huge problem afflicting the workplace: U.S. workers collectively experience more than 208 million acts of incivility per day in their everyday life, according to the SHRM Q3 2025 Civility Index.

A myriad of reasons — from differences in political viewpoints or opinions on social issues to racial, ethnic, age, or generational differences — are behind the growing cases of unprofessional conduct in the workplace. 

But there’s often another cause of incivility that is overlooked: upper management.

“Upper management definitely plays a role of either fostering or discouraging incivility,” said Jenn Graham, founder and CEO of Inclusivv, an Atlanta-based company that provides tools and training for organizations and individuals to have courageous conversations on challenging topics.  

“This doesn’t mean leaders are always trying to be uncivil,” she said. “It just means their behavior carries more weight, simply because of the authority and visibility that comes with their role.”

Small Behaviors Add Up 

Even small things such as interrupting, overlooking someone’s input, or not giving credit “can feel much bigger when they come from someone in a position of power,” Graham explained. Sometimes it’s not direct incivility, but the conditions leaders create, such as rewarding aggressive competition, ignoring toxic behavior, or focusing only on results instead of people. “Often, it’s less about what managers are doing and more about what they aren’t doing to stop the problem,” she said.

Tracey Newell, author of Hers for the Taking: Your Path to the C-Suite & Beyond (Advantage Media Group, 2025), and former president of Redwood City, Calif.-based software company Informatica, agreed, saying that senior company leaders define the environment for all employees — and that’s not always a good thing. 

“Executives set the tone for a company’s culture. When senior leaders model respect, integrity, and a focus on the customer, those values will cascade throughout the company,” she said. “But when leaders fail to engage deeply with employees at all levels, they risk appearing disconnected from the realities of the front line.”

If executives or senior managers, for example, use dismissive language, show favoritism, or ignore disrespect, Graham added, “employees can take that as implicit permission to do the same.” 

“The bottom line is that upper management often plays a pivotal role in shaping workplace culture. If they fail to model civility, the problem spreads,” Graham said.

Resource Hub: Civility at Work 

What Managers Can Do

The good news is that there are things that middle managers can do to address incivility even if their bosses don’t — even though it can be a difficult task. 

“While shifting an entire company’s culture can be challenging, managers have the unique ability to shape the culture within their own teams,” Newell said. “Because they engage daily with employees, they can set clear expectations, act on feedback, and remove obstacles that hinder success. By encouraging open dialogue about what’s working — and what’s not — managers create a culture of trust and accountability that drives performance.”

Toolkit: How to Build a Strong Organizational Culture 

Graham pointed to four specific approaches individual managers can take if upper management is in fact contributing to incivility in the workplace.

Encourage leaders to seek feedback through anonymous surveys or 360 reviews on how their behavior affects others. Often, senior leaders and upper management “are not even aware of the impact they are having,” so providing a safe space for them to discover that without shame or blame is key, Graham said. Ideally the reviews should be coordinated through an outside coach or consultant to offer a trusted perspective, she said. Then, coaching on emotional intelligence, communication, and inclusive leadership can help.  

Model civility. Middle management can help turn the tide in the workplace by demonstrating respect by actively listening, giving ample credit for contributions, and discouraging interruptions, Graham said. Also, admitting mistakes openly signals psychological safety and makes it OK for others to do the same, she said.

Establish clear standards. The organization should define what “respectful workplace behavior” looks like and include it in policies, training, and performance evaluations, Graham said. Middle managers can encourage upper management to do that, but they can also try to define such behavior for their individual teams as well. 

Provide clear communication guidelines. Managers can establish clear communication guidelines for their team to set expectations around respectful interactions. Managers can proactively train team members — and themselves — on how to recognize and address incivility early, before it escalates. “We all know miscommunication can cause angst, stress and incivility,” Graham said. “So be proactive by offering trainings on communication so that [team members] know how to intervene with dignity and respect for all involved.” 

That can help buffer teams from negative influences, promote a healthier workplace culture, and ensure that issues are addressed constructively — even when upper management falls short.