Toxic Leadership, Narcissistic Behaviours, and the Black Woman’s Leadership Journey

"When personal agendas become more important that your team or, the overarching organisational vision and values... Your workplace performance will suffer, your staff will start feeling disempowered, and failure will ensue." #TheEISavvyCoach, 2026

And So, The Journey Begins… The leadership journey of a Black woman is often navigated through complex terrain shaped by race, gender, power, and perception. While leadership is challenging for many, Black women leaders disproportionately encounter toxic leadership cultures and narcissistic behaviours that impede progression, undermine credibility, and exact a profound emotional and psychological toll. These dynamics are not incidental; they are embedded within systems that were not designed with Black women in mind. Understanding how toxic and narcissistic leadership manifests, and how it uniquely impacts Black women, is essential to dismantling barriers and cultivating healthier, more equitable leadership environments.

Defining Toxic Leadership and Narcissistic Behaviour - Toxic leadership is characterised by patterns of behaviour that harm individuals, teams, and organisations. It often includes manipulation, intimidation, lack of accountability, coercive control, and the silencing of dissent. Narcissistic leadership, a common form of toxicity, is marked by grandiosity, entitlement, hypersensitivity to criticism, exploitation of others, and an excessive need for admiration.

While these traits are damaging in any context, their impact is intensified when power is exercised over individuals who already occupy marginalised positions. For Black women leaders, toxic and narcissistic behaviours intersect with systemic racism and sexism, creating a compounded form of harm that is both personal and structural.

The Intersectional Burden on Black Women Leaders - Black women leaders operate at the intersection of race and gender, often contending with stereotypes such as the “angry Black woman,” the “strong Black woman,” or the assumption of incompetence or threat. Toxic leaders, particularly narcissistic ones, frequently exploit these stereotypes to justify exclusion, gaslighting, and punitive responses to assertiveness or excellence.

Behaviours that are praised as confidence or decisiveness in others may be reframed as aggression or insubordination when displayed by a Black woman. Narcissistic leaders may feel especially threatened by Black women who demonstrate emotional intelligence, strategic clarity, and moral authority, qualities that challenge fragile egos and destabilise hierarchies built on dominance rather than competence.

Toxic Leadership Across Racial Lines: When “Skin Folk Ain’t Your Kin Folk” - A critical and often unspoken reality of the Black woman leadership journey is that toxic and narcissistic leadership is not limited to White leaders. Black women can, and do, experience profound harm from Black leaders who replicate oppressive leadership models rooted in proximity to power, internalised racism, misogynoir, and patriarchal norms.

The phrase “skin folk ain’t your kin folk” captures the painful truth that shared racial identity does not automatically translate into shared values, protection, or solidarity. In some cases, Black women leaders face heightened scrutiny, betrayal, or silencing from Black leaders who perceive their competence, integrity, or emotional intelligence as a threat to their own status or assimilation within dominant systems.

For some Black leaders, survival within historically White-dominated power structures has required conformity to extractive, authoritarian, or narcissistic leadership styles. When reproduced, these behaviours can be just as damaging, if not more so, because they violate expectations of cultural understanding and communal care.

Black women subjected to toxicity from Black leaders often experience a unique form of disillusionment. The harm cuts deeper because it disrupts assumptions of shared struggle and mutual advocacy, leaving little space to name the abuse without being accused of disloyalty, division, or ingratitude.

Tactics Experienced by Black Women - Black women leaders frequently report recurring patterns of behaviour that impede their leadership journey:

These tactics not only stall progression but also create environments where Black women must expend excessive emotional labour simply to survive, rather than thrive.

Psychological and Emotional Impact - The cumulative effect of toxic leadership is significant. Chronic exposure to narcissistic behaviours can lead to emotional exhaustion, diminished self-trust, anxiety, and burnout. For Black women, this is often compounded by the internalisation of responsibility, feeling pressure to remain resilient, composed, and exceptional despite persistent adversity.

Moreover, the expectation to mentor others, represent diversity, and carry organisational values, while being denied protection or advocacy creates a leadership paradox. Black women are often expected to lead without being supported, to give without being replenished, and to endure without complaint.

Implications for Leadership Progression and Legacy - Toxic leadership environments do more than harm individuals; they distort leadership pipelines. When Black women are pushed out, side-lined, or silenced, organisations lose critical perspectives, relational intelligence, and ethical leadership capacity. The absence of Black women from senior decision-making roles perpetuates homogeneity, reinforces inequity, and signals to future leaders that advancement comes at too high a personal cost.

For Black women themselves, the impact extends beyond a single role or organisation. Repeated exposure to toxic leadership can lead to disengagement from formal leadership spaces altogether, redirecting talent away from institutions that urgently need transformative leadership.

Reclaiming Agency and Redefining Leadership - Despite these challenges, Black women continue to redefine leadership through authenticity, emotional intelligence, and community-centred approaches. Reclaiming agency may involve discerning when to confront, when to exit, and when to build alternative leadership pathways outside traditional power structures.

Healing-informed leadership, peer support networks, coaching, and culturally attuned emotional intelligence frameworks play a vital role in restoring voice and vision. Naming toxicity, rather than normalising it is an act of resistance and leadership in itself.

There’s Enough Room - Truly, there’s enough room on the leadership platform for everyone along their own respective leadership journey; and owe it to ourselves to find the right platform, support and culture to thrive in!

Remember, toxic leadership and narcissistic behaviours are not merely interpersonal issues; they are systemic obstacles that impinge on the Black woman leadership journey. Addressing them requires more than resilience from those harmed, it demands accountability, cultural humility, and structural change from organisations and leaders alike.

When Black women are allowed to lead without distortion, suppression, or psychological harm, leadership itself is transformed. The journey toward equitable leadership is inseparable from the work of dismantling toxicity and affirming the full humanity, brilliance, and authority of Black women leaders.

To find out more about me, what I do and, my service offerings: Jacqueline A. Hinds MA (HRD) CEIC MCEP