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 305 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most cities talk about culture. Very few engineer it.
In Episode 305 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, I sit down with Ken Striplin, City Manager of Santa Clarita, California, a leader who has spent more than 30 years inside one organization, rising from intern to city manager.
Episode 304 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most city managers didn’t grow up dreaming about becoming one. Many of them didn’t even know the role existed.
For Jeff Weckbach, Township Administrator of Colerain Township, Ohio, it all started with a college assignment. He was told to interview someone in a field he might be interested in. So he reached out to Cincinnati’s city manager at the time…Milton Dohoney.
You sit in your office between a difficult council meeting and an emergency department head call. The budget’s tight. The union’s upset. A resident complaint just hit the media. And you think: “What control do I actually have here?”
More than you realize.
Episode 302 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Small-town leadership carries a unique kind of pressure.
You don’t just serve the community; you live in it. The people affected by your decisions see you at school events, church, and the grocery store. When something goes wrong, they know exactly who to call.
Episode 301 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What does 38 years in local government teach you?
For Brian Heck, City Administrator of Montgomery, Minnesota, the answer isn’t strategy alone. It’s resilience.
You’re three weeks into budget season when a council member stops you in the hallway with another priority. Your calendar is already impossible. Your to-do list keeps growing. And somehow you’re supposed to be strategic while drowning in the tactical.
So what’s the answer?
Episode 298 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most municipal leaders don’t wake up one day with a perfectly mapped-out career plan. They step into responsibility when the opportunity, or the crisis, arrives.
That’s exactly what happened to Abbie Ogborn, City Manager and City Clerk of Wright City, Missouri.
Episode 298 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if one of the most misunderstood qualities in leadership is actually one of its greatest strengths?
After more than 30 years serving as a town manager, city manager, and county manager across North Carolina, Craig Honeycutt has a simple but powerful perspective:
Compromise is not weakness.
And criticism is rarely personal.
You can’t match private sector salaries.
Your pay scales are rigid as concrete.
Your bonus structure? Practically nonexistent.
And if motivation really came down to money, you’d be watching your best people walk out the door every single day.
Except that’s not what the research shows.
Episode 296 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Cities don’t move forward because of plans alone.
They move forward because of people who know how to turn ideas into action and who are willing to stay long enough to see the work through.
