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 371 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
Local government leaders are constantly asked to solve complex problems.
A struggling organizational culture. Aging infrastructure. Workforce shortages. Political division. Public expectations that continue to rise.
The temptation is to jump straight to solutions.
Episode 370 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
Communities don’t become exceptional by accident.
Behind every thriving downtown, every well-maintained park, every new library, and every neighborhood where people feel connected is a team of public servants making thousands of intentional decisions over many years.
Few people understand that better than Brenda Eivens.
There’s a moment early in The Ride of a Lifetime where Bob Iger describes what he inherited when he became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005. A legacy institution with a proud history. A culture resistant to change. Internal politics that had calcified over decades. A workforce that had seen enough leadership transitions to be appropriately skeptical of the new one.
If you’ve spent any time in local government, you recognized that organization immediately.
Episode 368 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
Few people grow up dreaming of becoming a town manager. Erica LaCroix certainly didn’t.
As a child growing up in rural Maine, she was convinced she’d become a veterinarian. That dream led her to Michigan State University, where she earned a degree in Animal Science with plans to attend veterinary school. But when that door didn’t open, another one did…one she never expected.
Episode 367 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
What if the best career isn’t the one you planned?
That’s the question at the heart of my latest conversation with Garrett Corbin, Town Manager of Carabassett Valley, Maine.
Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936. It has sold over 30 million copies. And it has never gone out of print. It sits on more shelves than almost any leadership book ever written.
And if you asked most leaders whether Carnegie’s principles actually show up in their day-to-day work — in their staff meetings, their hard conversations, their interactions with elected officials and community members — the honest answer would be no.
That gap is worth paying attention to.
Episode 365 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
Before we dive into Eric Swanson’s remarkable career, it’s worth pausing on the advice that defines both the man and this episode:
“Just keep showing up.”
It sounds almost too simple. But anyone who has spent time in local government knows it may be the hardest leadership lesson to live.
Episode 364 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Sponsored by Tyler Technologies
When people think about local government, they often think about roads, budgets, permits, or public meetings.
Ken Pulskamp sees something much bigger.
After nearly four decades in local government, including helping build the City of Santa Clarita from its earliest days, Ken believes local government has a far greater purpose.
“We are architects of the good life.”
Episode 362 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most leadership stories celebrate the moment someone says “yes” to a promotion. Benjamin Marentette’s story is different. When he was unanimously selected to become the City Manager of Traverse City, Michigan, he turned the job down.
Not because he lacked the qualifications. Not because he didn’t love his community. And not because he didn’t aspire to lead. He simply knew he wasn’t ready. That decision became one of the defining moments of his leadership journey.
