Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better

The Leader’s Lens

Every week, you’ll get insights and actionable steps to help you navigate personal growth and professional success.

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Episode 314 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

There’s a quiet reality unfolding in local government right now.

Leaders are stepping into some of the most demanding roles in public service…far earlier than ever before. And many of them know it.


Episode 313 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

Most local government leaders aren’t struggling because they lack effort. They’re struggling because they’re leading inside a system that was never designed to create clarity.

Every year, budgets are built. Conversations happen. Numbers move. And by the end of it, millions—sometimes billions—of dollars are allocated across an organization.

But step back for a moment and ask a simple question: What are we actually funding and why?


Episode 311 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming the dominant conversation in local government.

But most leaders are asking the wrong question.

It’s not “Should we use AI?”
It’s “What will we do with the time it gives us?”


Episode 310 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

What if leadership in local government isn’t about the position you hold…but the impact you make?

In Episode 310 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Benjamin Bitter, City Manager of Maricopa, Arizona, offers a perspective that cuts through a lot of the noise in today’s leadership conversations.


Episode 308 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

What prepares someone to become a city manager?

For Jessica Leavins, it wasn’t a straight line…it was a calling.


Episode 307 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies

What does shoveling horse stalls have to do with becoming a city administrator?

More than you’d think.


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.


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.