Introducing: The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) - Save 50% During Launch Phase
Every week, you’ll get insights and actionable steps to help you navigate personal growth and professional success.
Are you trapped in the productivity paradox? As municipal leaders, you might often pride yourself on being the first in, last out, and handling multiple crises simultaneously. But what if this dedication to productivity is actually holding you back from true leadership effectiveness?
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth Winterhalter challenges our fundamental understanding of municipal leadership with insights from Peter Drucker’s “The Effective Executive.” Through a compelling story of a city manager caught in the productivity trap, we explore why doing things right isn’t the same as doing the right things.
Hello, Impactful City Leaders!
Welcome to this week’s edition of “The Leader’s Lens!” This week at HaltingWinter Municipal Solutions, we explored the transformative power of emotional intelligence in municipal leadership through Daniel Goleman’s groundbreaking book. The insights couldn’t be more timely as city leaders navigate increasingly complex stakeholder dynamics and organizational challenges.
What happens when you grow up in a family where public service runs deep? For Martha Bennett, City Manager of Lake Oswego, Oregon, watching her father’s career in city management wasn’t what initially drew her attention – in fact, she was so determined not to follow in her dad’s accounting footsteps that she almost missed her calling in municipal leadership altogether.
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Martha shares her unique journey from a “city hall kid” to becoming one of Oregon’s most respected municipal leaders. Her story offers invaluable insights for anyone invested in the future of local government leadership.
Right now, something extraordinary is happening among municipal leaders across the country. City managers, department heads, and municipal leaders are gathering in a unique digital space, marking the beginning of a transformative journey together.
As you read this, the inaugural members of the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) are:
As a city manager, you face moments every day where technical expertise alone isn’t enough. That contentious council meeting, the frustrated department head, the concerned community group – these situations demand a different kind of intelligence. One that determines whether you merely manage challenges or truly lead through them.
That’s why this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast is crucial for your leadership journey. We’re exploring Daniel Goleman’s groundbreaking work on “Emotional Intelligence,” specifically through the lens of municipal leadership where the stakes are high and the pressures are constant.
Imagine: It’s 7:30 PM at your latest council meeting. A routine agenda item has unexpectedly erupted into a heated debate. Council members are growing frustrated, citizens in attendance are getting restless, and your staff is looking to you for direction. In this moment, your technical expertise isn’t what matters most – it’s your emotional intelligence.
Hello, Impactful City Leaders!
I hope you enjoyed rest and rejuvenation over the past week with Christmas and New Year’s. There’s nothing better than the sight of smiles and sounds of laughter from my children – the best rejuvenation elixir and motivator as we launch into the new year. While I’ve been preparing for the exciting launch of the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC), this week’s newsletter highlights some of our best content from 2024 that you might have missed.
“I don’t have time for professional development.”
It’s a common refrain among city managers, and understandably so. Between council meetings, community crises, budget challenges, and departmental oversight, finding time for leadership development can feel impossible. But what if the path to transformative growth didn’t require hours of your already-packed schedule?
Picture yourself in your office at city hall on a typical Tuesday morning. Your inbox is overflowing with urgent requests, three department heads are waiting for critical decisions, and the mayor just texted about an emerging community crisis. Meanwhile, you’re trying to maintain focus on the long-term strategic initiatives that will shape your city’s future. Sound familiar?
This is the daily reality for city managers across the country – a complex dance of immediate demands and strategic vision, political navigation and organizational leadership, personal well-being and public service. But what if there was a framework specifically designed to help you not just survive these challenges, but transform them into opportunities for growth and impact?
As we approach the final days of 2024, I’m reminded of Stephen Covey’s profound insight about proactive leaders: “They pick up the phone while others are letting it ring. They act while others are being acted upon.”
This principle has never been more relevant for municipal leaders. In my conversations this week alone, I’ve heard two distinct perspectives:
“I need to wait until the new budget cycle to think about development.”
“I can’t afford another year of reactive leadership.”
One of these leaders will transform their municipality in 2025. The other will be having the same conversation next December.
