Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better
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Episode 251 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
How do you go from digging trenches in 100-degree heat to leading a full-service city of 40,000 people?
For Enrico Villegas, City Manager of Hutchinson, Kansas, the answer lies in grit, growth, and an insatiable will to learn.
Enrico didn’t take the traditional path into city management.
He grew up in a small, working-class town in Iowa, raised by a mother who juggled multiple jobs to keep the lights on. After earning a psychology degree, he jumped into a teaching job in Japan, without ever having been on a plane.
That early leap of faith set the tone for the rest of his career: uncomfortable, unpredictable, but always moving forward.
When he returned home, Enrico took a landscaping job installing sprinkler systems. He spent long days digging six-foot trenches through solid rock, work that would break most people. But for him, it built perspective.
“Whenever I have a bad day as a city manager,” he said, “I look at that picture of the hole I dug and ask myself—which is easier?”
That one moment, that one photo, became a lifelong reminder that hard days are a privilege compared to hard starts.
While working as a project inspector for the City of Olathe, Enrico’s curiosity kicked in. He started asking questions others didn’t:
Why this street and not that one?
How do we decide which projects get funded?
When no one had the answers, he went home and taught himself.
From benefit districts to bonding structures, from code books to franchise agreements, Enrico studied the craft of city management through what he calls “The University of Google.”
He wasn’t chasing titles, he was chasing understanding. That hunger for knowledge carried him through roles in Shawnee, Lawrence, and Warrensburg, where he became an Assistant City Manager and Public Works Director.
Today, as City Manager of Hutchinson, Enrico leads a full-service city known for the Kansas State Fair, the Cosmosphere, and a thriving tourism economy. But he’s not here to manage the status quo, he’s here to move the city forward.
In his first months on the job, he led the demolition of a long-blighted hotel that had plagued the community for years. That single act became symbolic, a city willing to take action instead of waiting for permission.
For Enrico, leadership isn’t about arriving, it’s about evolving.
“I’ve always led with the team by my side. The rising tide lifts all ships.”
That mindset—paired with his conviction to lead with purpose—has transformed not just departments, but the culture of an entire organization.
Enrico’s story is a reminder that great leaders aren’t born or appointed. They’re built—in the dirt, in the discomfort, and in the decisions that demand courage.
Listen to Episode 251 on The HaltingWinter Podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, and all major platforms. –> www.HaltingWinter.com
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Learn more at tylertech.com/winter →
The HaltingWinter Podcast celebrates and elevates the people who power local government. Through in-depth conversations with leaders from cities, counties, and communities of all sizes, host Seth Winterhalter explores the journeys, challenges, and innovations happening in municipal leadership across America.
