Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better
Every week, you’ll get insights and actionable steps to help you navigate personal growth and professional success.
Episode 211 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Mayor Kathy O’Nan of Mayfield, Kentucky
Brought to you by Zencity
On the night of December 10, 2021, an EF-4 tornado tore directly through the heart of Mayfield, Kentucky. Within minutes, the town’s historic downtown was flattened. Municipal buildings were reduced to rubble. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. And yet—amid the darkness, destruction, and overwhelming uncertainty—a leader showed up and stayed.
The federal grant you’ve relied on for three years just got eliminated. Your most experienced department head announced their retirement with two weeks’ notice. New state regulations completely changed how you deliver core services to your community.
Welcome to Summer 2025!
This week, we’re diving into Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese?” – a deceptively simple parable that offers profound insights for municipal leaders navigating the constant change that defines local government.
Episode 209 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Laura Philpot, City Manager of Maple Valley, WA
Brought to you by Zencity
When Laura Philpot started her career, she wanted to build big things—bridges, stadiums, and infrastructure that would last for generations. But somewhere between a concrete canoe competition in college and a salmon stream restoration project in Maple Valley, Washington, her vision shifted.
Episode 208 of The HaltingWinter Podcast – Featuring Mayor Alan Keck of Somerset, Kentucky
Brought to you by Zencity
What if your city’s next big leap forward didn’t come from a strategic plan, but from listening—really listening—to the people who live there?
Every municipal leader knows the frustration: a simple community need that should take weeks to address somehow requires months of procedures, approvals, and departmental coordination. Good intentions have accumulated into bureaucratic barriers that prevent the very outcomes you’re trying to achieve.
What does it take to lead three towns through a pandemic, manage multimillion-dollar infrastructure without debt, and still have the humility to literally fill potholes in high heels?
There’s a moment in every city leader’s career when you realize something sobering:
You’re making decisions with 80% of the information…
…while the people you serve, and often the people you report to, only see 15%.
Your Monday morning department head meeting sounds like a support group for municipal leaders dealing with impossible circumstances.
“The council doesn’t understand what we actually do.”
“Citizens expect miracles with no resources.”
“If they’d just listen to us, none of this would be happening.”
Everyone nods sympathetically. The complaints feel valid. The frustrations are real.
What makes someone walk away from career stability, a steady paycheck, and a long track record of success—just to step into the chaos and risk of small-town leadership?
For Wesley, the answer goes all the way back to a childhood in England, a handwritten letter to Mensa, and a simple belief: that he was meant to make his corner of the world a little better.
When you think about local government leadership, your mind probably goes to bustling city halls, policy debates, and big-city mayors making headlines. But in the quiet lakefront village of Pentwater, Michigan, where the year-round population barely breaks 900, leadership looks a little different.
And that’s exactly why it matters.
