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 246 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if one day could change your entire career?
For Tansy Hayward, City Manager of Thornton, Colorado, that day came when she shadowed a local government leader as a college student and discovered the purpose that would define her life’s work.
Episode 245 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What would make someone turn down the NFL to serve in local government?
For Ifo Pili, it wasn’t about walking away from football, it was about running toward purpose.
You hired someone with an impressive resume. Great credentials. Solid experience. Stellar references. All the technical skills your department needed.
Six months later, you’re dealing with frustrated staff, damaged relationships, and declining morale. Despite their qualifications, this person is making your team worse, not better.
This is the bleeding neck problem facing local government leaders across North America: we’ve gotten really good at hiring for competence, but we’ve forgotten to hire for character.
Episode 242 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
National headlines shout about division. Political fights dominate cable news. But when residents turn the faucet, drive on the road, or walk into city hall, they aren’t asking for red or blue solutions; they just want their community to work.
That’s where local government steps in.
Episode 242 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
When hundreds of Kentucky’s city leaders came together for the Kentucky League of Cities Annual Conference, the energy in the room was unmistakable. Mayors, clerks, and administrators gathered not just for sessions and speeches, but to connect, share stories, and remind each other why local government matters.
Episode 241 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if the utility billing clerk became the city’s CEO?
That’s not a hypothetical; it’s Amber Vogan’s story. And it’s one every municipal leader should hear.
You’ve done everything right.
Competitive salaries. Solid benefits. Regular recognition at staff meetings. Department appreciation events. You even advocated for their budget increases at council.
Yet another resignation letter lands on your desk. The exit interview says the same thing you’ve heard before: “I didn’t feel appreciated.”
You’re frustrated. You’re confused. And honestly? You’re a little angry. Because you do appreciate them. You’ve been showing it. Or so you thought.
Here’s the problem: You’re speaking a language your team doesn’t understand.
Episode 239 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies and Zencity
What does leadership look like when tragedy strikes?
For Ghida Neukirch, City Manager of Highland Park, Illinois, that question became more than hypothetical on July 4, 2022, when a mass shooting devastated her community during its annual parade.
In Episode 239 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Ghida shares her remarkable journey, from fleeing civil war as a child to leading through one of the darkest days in Highland Park’s history, and the lessons she carries for every city manager and local government leader.
Episode 238 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Zencity and Tyler Technologies
City management is often described in terms of budgets, ordinances, and long-term planning. But those who’ve sat in the chair know the reality is far more volatile: power struggles, political pressure, and crises that erupt with no warning.
In Episode 238 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, we sit down with Lori Curtis Luther, City Manager of Overland Park, Kansas, to hear the unfiltered truth of leading a city when the spotlight turns harsh and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
You prepared thoroughly for the budget meeting. Your analysis was comprehensive, your recommendations sound, your presentation logical. The department heads nodded in agreement.
Then the community activists arrived at the public hearing.
They didn’t want your methodical breakdown of fiscal constraints. They wanted acknowledgment of their concerns. Connection. Urgency. Your analytical approach, the one that works perfectly in administrative settings, now created distance when you needed engagement.
Same leader. Same preparation. Wrong dimensional approach.
