“She belittled, humiliated, and bullied staff. She would expect you to work 24/7. She would call at 4 AM and expect an answer. She was abusive and there was very high turnover in the organization.” This quote came from a Canadian fundraiser in response to the question, “Please describe your worst leadership experience you have had in your fundraising career.” Unfortunately, this fundraiser’s experience is all too common in our sector.
In 2018, with the support of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy - Canada and Hilborn:ECS, I conducted a survey of Canadian fundraisers exploring leadership in our sector. I found that between 10% and 30% of all leaders demonstrated toxic behaviours. My research, along with the growing body of research into the impact of toxic leadership, has led me to believe that many of the problems in the Canadian fundraising sector — high turnover, employee disengagement, stagnant fundraising results — are due to the prevalence of toxic leaders in our sector.
When I speak about toxic leadership I’m not simply describing bad leadership or an absence of good leadership. Toxic leadership is a set of practices that destroy trust, undermine confidence, and create intolerable working environments.
In 2008, Andrew Schmidt identified five types of toxic leadership: Abusive, authoritarian, narcissistic, self-promoting, and unpredictable leadership.
Abusive leadership is what most people think of when they first hear the term toxic leadership. Abusive leaders insult, harass, and belittle their employees. More than 10% of Canadian fundraising leaders frequently demonstrate abusive leadership behaviours. Although the least common form of toxic leadership, abusive behaviour is still far too common in our sector.
Authoritarian leaders are the classic “my way or the highway” type of leader. Micro managers, they reject input from their staff, shut down discussion, and demand absolute obedience. Almost 20% of Canadian fundraising leaders frequently or very frequently demonstrate authoritarian leadership behaviours.
Narcissistic leaders have an unrealistically positive view of themselves. They feel that they are above the rules. They ignore employee’s suggestions, assuming that if the idea isn’t theirs it isn’t any good. This was the most common form of toxic leadership with more than 30% of leaders frequently demonstrating narcissistic leadership behaviours.
Self-promoting leaders excel at impression management and managing up, putting their own needs ahead of those of their team. They often take credit for their team’s success and their employees’ good work. More than 20% of leaders frequently demonstrate self-promoting behaviour.
Unpredictability is the secret sauce that makes all toxic leadership worse. Unpredictable leaders will be warm and welcoming one moment, then vicious and cruel the next. Employees never know what to expect and this unpredictability keeps them on edge all the time. More than 20% of Canadian fundraising leaders frequently demonstrate unpredictable leadership behaviours.
The impact of toxic leadership is clear. Fundraisers with toxic leaders are more likely to quit their job and, more alarmingly, are more likely to leave the fundraising profession entirely. Further, toxic leaders are considered less effective by their employees. Worse, fundraisers are less willing to put in extra effort for toxic leaders.
If the Canadian fundraising sector wants to fix the fundamental issues of high turnover, low employee engagement, and stagnant fundraising results, we need to deal with toxic leadership. Responsibility for addressing this issue lies with our boards and senior leaders who need to identify and confront the toxic leaders that report to them.
Mikhael Bornstein, MA, CFRE is the Associate Director of Philanthropy | Ecojustice and is on Faculty for CAGP and George Brown.
