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.
When’s the last time you made a decision you regretted?
Not a catastrophic mistake. Just something where you looked back later and thought, “If I’d had ten more minutes to think about that, I would’ve handled it differently.”
Now ask yourself: Were you hurrying when you made it?
I’m guessing the answer is yes.
This week in the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC), we’re diving into The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. If you’re a city manager, county administrator, or department head who feels like you’re constantly behind, always rushing, and perpetually exhausted, this might be the most important leadership book you read this year.
Because here’s what I’ve learned: The biggest threat to your effectiveness isn’t budget constraints or difficult council members. It’s hurry.
Let me be clear about something: Local government is legitimately urgent. Water mains break. Staff have crises. Councils need answers. Communities face emergencies. That’s real. That’s the job.
But urgency and hurry aren’t the same thing.
Urgency is when you need to respond quickly. Hurry is when you’re moving so fast you can’t think straight, making decisions without processing them, having conversations without being present, rushing through your day and ending up exhausted without accomplishing what matters most.
And that difference? It changes everything, especially if you want lasting impact.
Every week, the Municipal Leadership Development Circle takes a proven leadership book and translates it into the unique reality of local government. This week, we’re exploring how to eliminate hurry from your leadership, not by doing less, but by approaching your demanding work with intention instead of reaction.
Here’s what I know about local government leaders: You don’t have time for fluff. You don’t have budget for programs that don’t deliver. And you definitely don’t have energy for another thing that promises transformation but delivers platitudes.
That’s why the MLDC is different.
Every single week, you get practical leadership development specifically designed for the unique pressures of local government. Not generic business advice that doesn’t account for civil service constraints, political realities, or public scrutiny. Real insights you can actually use on Tuesday morning when the council’s asking questions or Thursday afternoon when your best department head walks into your office looking discouraged.
And you get it inside a community of local government leaders who understand your world. People who get what it’s like to lead under a microscope. Who know the pressure of 24/7 expectations. Who’ve lived through budget crises, personnel nightmares, and community conflicts that make the news.
For less than the cost of one leadership conference, you get 52 weeks of development. Weekly blog posts. Daily podcasts. Conversation guides to use with the people you lead. And a community of leaders who are doing this work alongside you.
It’s by far the best investment you’ll make in your daily leadership this year.
Right now, you have a choice. You can keep hurrying through your leadership, hoping somehow you’ll catch up. Or you can start learning how to eliminate hurry from your work without eliminating effectiveness.
Join the MLDC today at haltingwinter.com/MLDC.
Because your community doesn’t need a leader who’s always busy. They need a leader who makes good decisions, builds strong teams, and is still standing five years from now.
Become that leader. Join us today.
The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) is a professional growth community exclusively for city/county 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 across North America to build stronger cities through stronger leaders. Learn more at HaltingWinter.com/MLDC.
