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 293 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
There’s a moment in local government when leadership stops feeling theoretical.
It’s when someone flags you down in the parking lot.
When a resident recognizes your car.
When your presence, good or bad, shapes how people feel about their city.
Episode 292 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
In local government, silence rarely gets celebrated.
There are no headlines when water runs clean, streets stay plowed, budgets balance, or council meetings end without conflict. Most days, the absence of complaints is the only signal that things are working.
Charles Darwin changed how we understand the world. Nineteen groundbreaking books. Discoveries that shaped modern science. Meticulous experiments and global correspondence.
He worked about four hours a day.
Not because he was lazy. Because he understood something most municipal leaders have forgotten: work and rest aren’t opposites. They’re partners.
Episode 290 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most people think leadership is about policy, process, and performance.
But anyone who’s spent time in local government knows the truth: leadership eventually becomes personal.
Episode 289 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What does leadership look like when your city is the end of the road?
In Episode 289 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth sits down with Becky Windt Pearson, City Manager of Anchorage, Alaska, to explore what municipal leadership looks like in one of the most demanding environments in North America.
This week in the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC), we’re exploring “The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It” by Jennifer Moss. And if you’re a city manager, county administrator, or department head watching your best people burn out despite every wellness initiative you’ve tried, this book is going to challenge everything you thought you knew.
Episode 287 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Small cities are often described as simpler.
Easier.
Less complicated.
Anyone who has served in one knows that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Episode 286 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Local government leadership isn’t designed for longevity.
The pace is relentless.
The politics are unforgiving.
The expectations are often unclear and rarely reasonable.
Most city managers don’t leave because they lack competence. They leave because the work slowly erodes clarity, energy, and conviction.
You’ve seen it happen.
The brilliant new hire with impressive credentials struggles after six months. The long-serving employee who started at the bottom is now solving problems no one else can touch.
Council rejects a proposal you’ve worked on for years. Some leaders mentally draft resignation letters. Others start thinking about how to approach it differently next time.
How do you explain the difference?
Episode 284 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Some leadership roles come with applause.
Municipal leadership rarely does.
When a city is under financial strain, when public trust is fragile, and when the problems on your desk were created long before you arrived, leadership stops being theoretical. It becomes personal. Heavy. Relentless.
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, I sat down with Rose Beverly, City Manager of Paris, Texas, to talk about what it actually looks like to hold the line when a city is struggling.
