CASE STUDY
Upskilling Leaders Through Rapid Growth and Return-to-Work
CHALLENGE: No time to build relationships
A California state department faced a perfect storm: leaders hired and onboarded during full-time telework, rapid growth, nonstop high-pressure work, and a return-to-work mandate.
Because so many leaders had never built relationships in person, they lacked the foundation that used to form naturally in hallways and meetings. The department also doubled in size, and managers were expected to deliver without the time or support to develop their leadership skills. Stress rose, leadership development lagged, and relationship-building became both harder and more critical.
After trying online learning bundles and other manager training, the leadership team chose Civility Partners because they needed real-time practice, dialogue, and connection. They wanted training that was grounded, practical, and human, meeting managers where they were and helping them navigate the real conversations happening in their teams.
THE WORK: A high-impact, six-month manager learning cohort
Civility Partners designed and delivered an in-person cohort to strengthen leadership capability, rebuild cross-team connection, and equip managers with tools they could use immediately.
Across six courses over six months, the cohort focused on the moments that matter most:
- Relationship-building and community: Managers had structured space to connect, share experiences, and build trust across a growing, dispersed department.
- Practical communication + emotional intelligence tools: Leaders learned “real-life” ways to start hard conversations, address issues early, and communicate clearly without losing authenticity.
- Flexible approaches for different leadership styles: Dr. Toni Herndon’s facilitation supported varied styles, so leaders could be effective without feeling like they had to “become someone else.”
- Boundary-setting with empathy: Managers practiced listening, solution-seeking, offering reasonable flexibility, and setting clear limits without trying to fix everything for employees.
- Clear, shareable report-outs: Leadership valued the summary insights and reporting from our team, which made it easy for our contact to communicate themes, feedback, and progress upward.
- Strong coordination and responsiveness: The client highlighted Civility Partners’ proactive scheduling, communication, and follow-through.
OUTCOMES: Measurable change
Our cohort always includes a short pre- and post-training assessment of the managers from their own team members, which provides insight into how they actually manage rather than building training off of their own perceptions of their own management. The pre- and post-assessment showed improvement in manager behaviors, for example:
- Agreement with “My manager keeps the team informed of upcoming changes before they are made” increased from 87% pre-training to 100% post-training.
- Agreement with “My manager holds people accountable for respectful behavior” increased from 84% to 94%.
The department also reported:
- Stronger leadership connection as managers felt less isolated and more comfortable reaching across the department.
- More confident managers with better tools for hard conversations, especially knowing how to start sooner and address issues directly.
- Improved emotional intelligence and effectiveness, with a steadier, better-equipped leadership bench.
- Healthier boundaries during complex employee situations, balancing empathy with clear limits.
- Unusually high engagement – people wanted in. Managers who were not in the initial cohort were “miffed” and asked how to join. Rare for a 12-hour program, and creating the need to run a second cohort. The client described energy in the room, with laughter, engagement, and real discussion even on challenging topics.
What they loved about working with Civility Partners
The client described the experience as real, usable, and supportive. Participants “adored” Toni’s style, noting she is confident, humble, and authentic, and she makes difficult conversations feel more human and less intimidating. They called the program “phenomenal,” adding: “We are all in on Civility Partners… The material allowed our staff to be vulnerable, share what they were experiencing, and get real-world feedback right then and there. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
