Leave the Bullhorn at the Door
by Pamela Coleman
October 2026
Incivility in American life is everywhere – in the coffee shop, on the highway, and at the barbecue grill. It’s in the workplace, too. SHRM's Q2 2026 Civility Index shows it at its highest level since tracking began. The top driver of the rancor? Politics.
When employees give each other the stink-eye at work because of perceived or real political differences, engagement suffers. SHRM reports that productivity losses and absenteeism from incivility surpass $2 billion per day. Per day. In Fortune magazine, a SHRM researcher suggests "cultural clarity" as a remedy. This makes sense. Coherent cultural standards unify employees, reducing the tension that can arise when people are on opposite sides of an issue.
In a former role, we had an employee who blessed everyone they worked with each day, often suggesting they needed to seek a higher power. Some people brushed it off. But others were deeply offended, and we sure heard about it. Their faith was clearly sincere and deeply important to them. The problem was that colleagues were being asked, every day, to receive something they hadn't invited. Only after we shared our cultural standards did they begin to understand that, in our workplace, everyone needed to feel welcome. Politics works the same way. What we believe isn't the problem. How we treat each other is.
“Bring your full self to work” is a siren call for Millennials and Gen Z, so shedding parts of one’s identity before coming to work can feel stifling and even confusing. A coherent cultural framework goes a long way toward restoring psychological safety and doesn't ask people to leave who they are at the door. It tells everyone how they’ll work together, no matter what they believe.
The outside world will stay loud. Inside, your people can still know who you are and how you treat each other. Who will you be as you conduct business? What will help you be successful? How will you work together to drive outcomes? Those are the questions my Cultural Coherence Model helps leaders answer, and when things get loud, those answers give people something steady to stand on.