An uncomfortable truth is that incivility rises because too many leaders and citizens have come to believe it works. In the January edition of Municipal World, I explore this in my article on leading with civility in uncivil times and ways to turn the cultural tide.

In the short term, it may look effective to intimidate staff, win a meeting, force an outcome, even win an election with toxic behaviour. Incivility may win a battle, but in the end we lose the war for good governance and human flourishing.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1. Civility Is a Precondition for Governability

Cities cannot function when fear replaces trust and intimidation replaces process. Civility is what keeps disagreement within the bounds of decision-making rather than tipping into paralysis or chaos. Incivility is a main reason why we are seeing an increase in institutions facing governance paralysis and collapse.

2. Incivility Is a Costly Culture Risk

Toxic culture drives resignations, burnout, security costs, legal exposure, and decision gridlock. Leaders who fail to treat incivility as a real risk are governing without a full dashboard. For more, read: Axe the Incivility Tax.

3. Civility Protects Institutional Memory

When experienced public servants are harassed, shouted down, or pushed out, cities lose judgment and continuity. Civility safeguards the quiet knowledge that allows institutions to function through change and crisis.

4. Civility Sustains Democratic Legitimacy

People do not trust decisions made in environments that feel coercive or contemptuous. Civility does not guarantee agreement, but it preserves legitimacy when consensus is not possible.

5. Civility Is Not Niceness—It Is Self-Mastery

Leading with civility requires restraint, clarity, and courage under pressure. That is not weakness. It is discipline. And discipline is what separates leadership from reaction. For more, read: Why Civility is Strength, Not Weakness.

6. Incivility Spreads Faster Than Policy

Culture is contagious. When leaders model contempt, it cascades and intensifies into council chambers, workplaces, and neighbourhoods. Civility is the countervailing force that slows and redirects that spread. For more, read: When Public Service Becomes Dangerous.

7. Performative Outrage Undermines Collaboration

Outrage feels decisive, but it corrodes the conditions required for long-term problem-solving. Complex municipal challenges, such as housing, infrastructure, and climate resilience, require leaders who can collaborate and cooperate with diverse institutions and institutions for the long haul, not just win the room.

8. Civility Creates the Conditions for Democracy

Healthy disagreement, or civil discourse, is the lifeblood of democracy. It is the primary means by which a people can be deemed worthy of self-governance, of democracy. Civility makes room for dissent without destruction, challenge without humiliation, and truth without domination.

9. Civic Leaders Are Always Modeling

Every meeting, response, and refusal teaches citizens how power works. Civility models citizenship worthy of a democracy, especially when tensions are high. You are either "trickling down civility" or "trickling down incivility".

10. Civility Is How Leaders Win the Long Game

The cities that endure are not the ones with the most most uncivil leaders . They are led by people who can hold tension, protect process, and govern for all, not just their faction. Resilient communities have high levels of trust and social cohesion, two qualities that can only exist in environments of civility and respect for human dignity.

➡️What is to be done? Join the movement for civility!

🎟️Limited seats! Register today for Civility Summit 2026: Leading through Uncivil Times.

Engage with civic leaders and sages from around the world who Lead with Civility. Together, we can turn the cultural tide.

🎥Explainer video (3 min)..