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.
You know that situation you’re facing right now? The one that feels impossible?
What if the problem isn’t the situation itself, but the story you’re telling yourself about it?
Episode 270 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Every so often, someone enters the local government arena who refuses to accept the quiet limitations we’ve all inherited—constraints around risk, innovation, culture, and what a “small city” is allowed to become.
Intashan Chowdhury is one of those leaders.
Episode 269 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most people outside city hall never see the tension local government leaders carry. They don’t see the governance dynamics behind the scenes, the pressure to deliver services with limited resources, the weight of decisions that shape lives and neighborhoods for decades.
But every so often, a conversation cuts through the noise and reminds us what this work is really about.
Episode 269 is one of those conversations.
You’ve earned the promotions. Built the resume. Gained the respect. Checked all the boxes.
So why does something still feel missing?
This week in the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC), we’re exploring David Brooks’ The Second Mountain, a book that puts words to what many accomplished local government leaders are feeling but can’t quite articulate.
Episode 267 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Some cities live at a steady hum. Carbondale, Illinois, often lives at full volume.
With a major university, a long history of activism, and national issues regularly surfacing on local streets, Carbondale is one of those rare communities where protests, politics, and public pressure are part of the weekly rhythm. And for City Manager Stan Reno, that’s not a crisis — it’s the calling.
Episode 266 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
Most people spend their careers trying to avoid storms.
City managers don’t get that luxury.
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, I talk with Rebecca Grill, City Manager of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a leader whose entire career has been shaped by one defining principle:
When the storm forms, don’t wait for it to pass. Run toward it.
You’re sitting in your office. It’s 7 PM. The budget still doesn’t balance. Your phone has three unread texts from a council member who’s “just checking in.” The community meeting from earlier today is still replaying in your head and not in a good way.
And you’re thinking: “How did I end up here?”
Episode 264 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
When cities talk about homelessness, the conversation usually turns toward capacity, compassion, and cost. But very few leaders talk about navigation—how impossible it is for someone without ID, transportation, or support to move through a maze of agencies, forms, and requirements that even seasoned professionals struggle to understand.
And that’s exactly where this week’s guest shines.
Episode 263 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
If you’ve spent any time in local government, you know the job isn’t just about projects, policies, or paperwork. It’s about possibility—the possibility that a city can grow, adapt, and serve its people better tomorrow than it does today.
You know that moment. The one you don’t talk about at staff meetings or mention at conferences.
You’re sitting in your office after the council meeting where everything went sideways. Or you’re in your car at 7 p.m., staring at the steering wheel, wondering why you’re still doing this. Or you’re lying awake at 2 a.m., replaying the public hearing where residents blamed you for problems you didn’t create and can’t solve alone.
And the question surfaces: “Why am I doing this?”
