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.
Being a municipal leader can feel like being on an island. You carry the weight of community decisions. You navigate complex political waters. You balance countless competing priorities. And too often, you do it all alone.
Here’s what nobody tells you in leadership training: the “lone wolf” approach to leadership isn’t just inefficient – it’s outdated. The most successful leaders I work with have discovered a powerful truth: real growth happens in community.
Recently, an executive leader shared something striking with me: “I did everything right today – attended all the meetings, handled two crises, even made it home for dinner. So why do I feel like I’m failing?”
This conversation perfectly illustrates what Matthew Kelly identifies in “Off Balance” as the fundamental flaw in our thinking about success. We’re measuring the wrong things. For city managers, this insight is particularly powerful because you’re already measured by countless metrics:
“If you stop performance reviews, even if you don’t have a plan to replace them, your organization will improve by probably 20-30% immediately.”
This bold statement from Sam Anselm, City Administrator of West Plains, Missouri, sets the tone for one of our most provocative and practical episodes yet. In Episode 127 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Sam joins us to challenge everything you thought you knew about municipal performance reviews.
My breaking point came on a Sunday afternoon. As a lead pastor of a growing church, I had just finished delivering two morning sermons, attended two leadership meetings, and was preparing for an evening event. On paper, I was succeeding. In reality, I was empty.
This moment mirrors what I hear from city managers across the country. The calendar says you’re managing your time well, but your mind, body, and spirit tell a different story. This is where Matthew Kelly’s insights in “Off Balance” become transformative, especially for municipal leaders.
We all know the script: “Leaders are readers.” It’s written in every leadership book, preached at every conference, and probably pinned somewhere on your office wall. But let’s be honest – between council meetings, crisis management, and countless emails, when exactly are you supposed to find time to read? And even when you do, how do you turn those insights into real change?
As someone who coaches municipal leaders across the country, I see this struggle constantly. The intention is there, but the execution? That’s where things fall apart.
Picture Philippe Petit on the morning of August 7, 1974, stepping out onto a wire suspended between the Twin Towers. “I was a little anxious on that first crossing,” he later told the NY Post, “because we never checked how strong the anchor point was on the other side.”
For city managers, this image might hit uncomfortably close to home. Each day, you step out onto your own professional tightrope, often uncertain about the strength of your anchor points. On one side: your commitment to public service. On the other: your personal well-being.
A city manager recently told me: “I’m doing everything the books tell me to do. I’ve time-blocked my calendar. I’ve set boundaries. I’ve delegated. So why do I feel like I’m failing?”
This haunting question echoes through city halls across America. As municipal leaders chase the ever-elusive ideal of “work-life balance,” they’re finding themselves more frustrated, more exhausted, and more disillusioned than ever.
But what if we’ve all been misled?
In August 2024, I had individual conversations with nearly 50 city managers across the United States, from communities of 1,500 to cities of over a million. One question consistently stopped them in their tracks: “How are you doing personally?”
The uncomfortable silence that followed spoke volumes.
Dear Fellow Servant Leader,
I’ve sat in a similar chair to the one you sit in. I’ve felt the weight of responsibility that doesn’t clock out at 5 PM. I’ve missed family dinners for emergency meetings, checked emails during my child’s recital, and sacrificed countless personal moments on the altar of service. I know what it means to make life “hard on me and easy on everyone else.” And I’ve learned – sometimes the hard way – that this path isn’t sustainable.
Hello, Impactful City Leaders!
This week, I’ve smiled broader than the Cheshire cat while seeing so many posts from city managers and administrators sharing their community’s holiday celebrations. From Christmas tree lightings to community parades, these events showcase more than just seasonal spirit – they demonstrate the unique magic that happens when municipal leaders and their teams pour their talents into creating memorable moments for their communities. The joy on employees’ faces as they serve their neighbors reminds us why we chose public service in the first place.
