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.
You’ve seen the quarterly reports. Pages of metrics showing increased activity across every department. More permits processed, more inspections completed, more programs delivered. Your team is working harder than ever, yet you can’t shake the feeling that all this effort isn’t translating into the community impact you envisioned when you chose public service.
If this resonates, you’re not alone—and you’re not stuck.
This week in the Municipal Leadership Development Community, we’re diving deep into John Doerr’s insightful book “Measure What Matters.” This isn’t just another business book with concepts that don’t translate to government. It’s a framework that has transformed organizations from Google to the Gates Foundation and it’s perfectly suited for the unique challenges of municipal leadership.
The OKR (Objectives and Key Results) system Doerr champions offers something most municipal leaders desperately need: a way to align departments around outcomes that actually matter to residents while creating transparency that drives performance.
Consider these common municipal leadership challenges:
The Silo Problem: Your departments work hard but often at cross-purposes, each pursuing their own priorities without understanding how their work connects to shared community outcomes.
The Activity Trap: You measure what’s easy to count (permits issued, programs offered) rather than what actually impacts residents’ lives (economic opportunity created, quality of life enhanced).
The Alignment Gap: Your strategic plan sits on a shelf while daily operations drift away from your most important community priorities.
The OKR framework directly addresses each of these challenges with proven strategies that work in complex, multi-stakeholder environments like municipal government.
Throughout our five-day exploration, MLDC members will dive into:
Monday: How to distinguish between measuring activities and measuring impact and why this distinction transforms organizational focus
Tuesday: The art of crafting objectives that inspire alignment across departments while providing clear direction for innovation
Wednesday: Designing key results that track outcomes residents actually experience rather than internal processes they never see
Thursday: Creating transparency that naturally drives collaboration instead of relying on command-and-control management
Friday: A practical implementation roadmap designed specifically for municipal organizations, complete with pilot strategies and change management approaches
Plus our Virtual Book Club where municipal leaders from across the country discuss real-world applications, share implementation challenges, and learn from each other’s experiences.
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) Summer Special is happening now, giving you access to not just this week’s transformative content, but an entire community of municipal leaders committed to growing personally and professionally.
When you join the MLDC during our Summer Special, you get:
✓ Complete access to our expanding library of municipal leadership content, including deep dives into the books that are reshaping how effective leaders think and operate
✓ Weekly Virtual Book Clubs where you connect with peers facing similar challenges and discover practical solutions that work in real municipal contexts
✓ Implementation resources including templates, guides, and tools specifically designed for local government applications
✓ A community of practice where you can ask questions, share successes, and learn from municipal leaders across the country
✓ All content and community access through the end of 2025 at our special summer pricing
The Summer Special for MLDC membership won’t last forever, but the impact of joining a community committed to outcome-focused leadership will transform how you lead for years to come.
This week’s exploration of “Measure What Matters” is just the beginning. Imagine having access to similar deep dives into the leadership principles that are reshaping municipal government, plus a community of peers who understand your unique challenges and are committed to finding solutions.
Join the Municipal Leadership Development Community Today and start your journey from measuring busy work to measuring meaningful impact.
Because your community deserves leaders who don’t just work hard—they work on what matters most.
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) is a professional growth community exclusively for city managers, administrators, and local government leaders. Each week, we explore insights from transformative books and apply them specifically to the unique challenges of municipal leadership. Join Seth Winterhalter, President of HaltingWinter Municipal Solutions, and leaders from around the nation to build stronger cities through stronger leaders. Learn more at HaltingWinter.com.
